Still the champ of RTS games in my opinion. Basically all civs feel unique, especially since the updates/added content that fleshed everything out. I often find myself falling back into playing and hope they continue to release more content!

I also have about 20 hours in the Gamepass version (and thousands of hours in all the AoEs combined) and after about 25 hours my verdict is in:

It's fantastic!

What did I want and what did most of us want all these years? AoEII, but prettier and deeper. And this is it. The units are smarter, the mechanics are deeper without going overboard, the AI is great, and it's a very nice looking game while still keeping the graphics both classic and functional.

If someone was brand new to the genre or a long time veteran, this is the one, the RTS that has it all.

Better than ♥♥♥.