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It grew on me over time, it's so addicting, I think all day ways to optimize my cities and my next moves. It needs some serious attention in the UI, diplomacy and religion but the foundation is there and its solid.
If I were to guess, it was more about the tone of said comment than the content. Plenty of people criticize the game on here and their posts stay up. Hell, a lot of them have made entire threads dedicated to just bashing the game.
I came to the end of the first Era (on xbox game pass) without a single troop, because none is threatening me. Instead I have to (must) check if every improvement in each of my cities has the best perks, what is producing, if they have the right supply: THIS IS BOTH DEEP AND BORING AS HELL!
There is another game based on this mechanic and is a masterpiece: FACTORIO.
In Factorio the fun part is to automate everything to NOT EVER DO what you do in Ara.
But it has a 'History' in the title! And there's still a lot missing!
I haven't managed to get to the last era yet!
No matter what level you play at, when you're at the top of the ranking (prestige) it gets boring and becomes work!
I prefer to try out different maps and difficulty levels.
Please developers, see this as an invitation to do something!
(And @Former, please no fanboy answers, I've taken note of your opinion)
OT: Simply it is not a game you like, like I don't particularly appreciate The Last of Us, but they are both great games.
If you feel Factorio is boring, imagine Ara
I like Factorio, but comparing the two would be like comparing Call of Duty with Total War. Sure they both have war as a pillar, but they’re different genres of game so I don’t expect them to play the same way.
Ara is about managing an economy. If I could fully automate that process any more than I already can, there’d be nothing to think about. I’d just be clicking End Turn until my next war like I do in Civilization.
Factorio, on the other hand, is a logistics-based city builder type game. (I use “city builder” loosely.) The point and fun of the game is setting up your logistical infrastructure to support full automation, so you can explore for new resources to hook to that infrastructure.
Factorio’s automation is engaging because you have to plan, gather materials for, and build the infrastructure to support it. You’re physically going out in the world and laying down conveyors and sorters and it’s satisfying to see that all come together. If the same system were applied to a 4X like Ara, it’d be the equivalent to placing down a building in Factorio, saying “always produce this”, and then forgetting about it, no building or maintenance required. Factorio wouldn’t be very fun if that were how it played.
That's exactly the point: apart for the micromanagement, there's quite nothing more. They developed an entire game around a boring mechanic.
I'm not saying Ara is a bad developed game, but it's not fun to play.
P.S.
I never compared Ara and Factorio, I wrote that Factorio is developed around the same boring mechanic and the fun part (if you like it) is to automate everything.
Where is the the fun part in Ara? Micromanaging everything for the entire humankind history?!
you don't have to check that unless you are playing on grand duke +
there's also optimal and strategic decisions around the micro. so it might be boring for you and a lot of people but it's not for some.
i do think having more of the systems automated would be nice though, even if the user has to do some fun gameplay thing to automate them. it would keep more people interested in the game and allow the devs to further expand on and add resource chains without people complaining too much.
I'll explain via explaining the concept of the gameplay loop. It can be summed up various very similar ways, but for simplicity, we'll use...
Start > Challenges > Goal > Rewards
This main process repeats in every game. Let me illustrate. Since this is gonna get a bit complex, I'll also machine translate it into Italian afterwards.
In Total War, you start with a small army and a few territories. You face the challenge of fighting battles (the core aspect of the gameplay) with the goal of capturing new territory. Why? Because the reward is more income, meaning you can field bigger and better armies, making the next start of the cycle a bit easier.
In Call of Duty, you start with a basic loadout. You face the challenge of defeating other players (the core aspect of the gameplay) with the goal of leveling up. Why? Because you gain new components for your loadout, making the next start of the cycle a bit easier.
In Elden Ring, you start with basic equipment. You face the challenge of fighting enemies (the core aspect of the gameplay) with the goal of getting to and defeating the boss. Why? Because the reward is experience and gear that makes the next start of the cycle a bit easier.
In Crusader Kings, you start with a small family and some territory. You face the challenge of delicately navigating medieval politics (the core aspect of the gameplay) with the goal of growing your family and expanding your territory. Why? Because the reward is greater income and stronger heirs, which makes the next start of the cycle a bit easier.
And it's the same with Ara. In Ara, you start with a single city center and no resources. You face the challenge of micromanaging your empire (the core aspect of the gameplay) with the goal of creating valuable end-of-chain goods. Why? Because the reward is goods that allow you to build more powerful units and amenities that allow you to grow larger and more prosperous cities, which makes the next start of the cycle a bit easier.
In short, you micromanage so that you can more easily acquire new things to micromanage, so that you can more easily acquire new things to micromanage, and so forth on your way to final victory. It's simply the core gameplay loop. Every game has one.
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In italiano:
Spiegherò attraverso l'illustrazione del concetto di ciclo di gioco. Si può riassumere in vari modi molto simili, ma per semplicità useremo...
Inizio > Sfide > Obiettivo > Ricompense
Questo processo principale si ripete in ogni gioco. Permettetemi di illustrare. Dato che il discorso si fa un po' complesso, dopo lo tradurrò anche in italiano.
In Total War si inizia con un piccolo esercito e pochi territori. Si affronta la sfida di combattere battaglie (l'aspetto centrale del gameplay) con l'obiettivo di conquistare nuovi territori. Perché? Perché la ricompensa è costituita da maggiori entrate, il che significa che si possono schierare eserciti più grandi e migliori, rendendo un po' più facile il successivo inizio del ciclo.
In Call of Duty si inizia con un equipaggiamento di base. Si affronta la sfida di sconfiggere altri giocatori (l'aspetto centrale del gameplay) con l'obiettivo di salire di livello. Perché? Perché si ottengono nuovi componenti per il proprio equipaggiamento, rendendo più facile il successivo inizio del ciclo.
In Elden Ring si inizia con un equipaggiamento di base. Si affronta la sfida di combattere i nemici (l'aspetto centrale del gameplay) con l'obiettivo di raggiungere e sconfiggere il boss. Perché? Perché la ricompensa è costituita dall'esperienza e dall'equipaggiamento che rende un po' più facile l'inizio del ciclo successivo.
In Crusader Kings si inizia con una piccola famiglia e un territorio. Dovrete affrontare la sfida di navigare con delicatezza nella politica medievale (l'aspetto centrale del gioco) con l'obiettivo di far crescere la vostra famiglia ed espandere il vostro territorio. Perché? Perché la ricompensa è costituita da un reddito maggiore e da eredi più forti, che rendono un po' più facile il successivo inizio del ciclo.
Lo stesso vale per Ara. In Ara si inizia con un solo centro urbano e senza risorse. Si affronta la sfida di gestire il proprio impero (l'aspetto centrale del gioco) con l'obiettivo di creare beni di valore alla fine della catena. Perché? Perché la ricompensa è costituita da beni che consentono di costruire unità più potenti e servizi che permettono di far crescere città più grandi e prospere, rendendo più facile il successivo avvio del ciclo.
In breve, si micromaneggia in modo da poter acquisire più facilmente nuove cose da micromaneggiare, in modo da poter acquisire più facilmente nuove cose da micromaneggiare e così via verso la vittoria finale. È semplicemente il ciclo di gioco principale. Ogni gioco ne ha uno.
Yes and in Ara they decided to focus on a boring mechanic that doesn't evolve.
In the other games you wrote about, the gameplay loop expands in what you can do, how effective you become, etc...; in Ara the gameplay loop evolve in even more micromanagement.
I perfectly understand that someone (or even a lot of people) can appreciate this gameplay loop, I'm saying that, in my opinion, choosing THIS as the gameplay loop in a 4x game was a regrettable choice.
Anyway, Steam positive reviews are 67%, like Millennia which is a mediocre developed game (with some good ideas) sold at a budget price.