Ara: A Work in Progress.

[romanense]

Okay, I know I’m going to get some flak from the so-called experts in the 4X/5X genre and strategy games overall, but please, everyone has the right to an opinion. Some people like the game, some don’t, and then there are people like me who are kind of in the middle—just "hmhmhmhm" and indifferent. But hear me out.

Before I dive in, I want to mention the creator of Ara (great concept, by the way). And before anyone starts throwing shade, let me just say I’ve been playing these types of games long before Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Colonization, which had a similar vibe to what this game is aiming for but on a much larger conceptual scale.

Let me start by talking about the game pre-patch. I played for about two hours, and while the graphics were beautiful (seriously, zooming in on the details was stunning—the nation, the people, the wonders, and the visuals overall were amazing), the game had some major issues. Even so, I decided to stop playing and wait for a new patch.

After the latest patch, there were some good improvements, but unfortunately, it’s still not quite there. For example, "the disabled culling system for human and AI" (not sure what’s going on there). I played almost a full session and started to feel like I was having fun, but then I realized the diplomacy system was way off. Leaders kept popping up every single turn just to remind me we had an alliance—and for no real reason! The trading system felt extremely limited, and the war system is strange, with a turn countdown that doesn’t make sense. I wish the AI would react dynamically, like coming back to negotiate a diplomatic solution when they realize they’re losing. But no, in this game, wars just stop for no reason. What?

Overall, something big was missing in these areas.

Now, I can see the potential here. I’m sure this game will become great in about a year with more patches, mods, and improvements. For now, though, I’ll continue playing the current version while keeping an eye on what Civilization 7 might bring to the table. Strategy games, for some reason, seem to be falling short lately.

[Rusty Booper]

diplomacy has been weak in all 4x games, sadly its trait that seems to need to be balanced after the games are out and data comes in.

[romanense]

You're absolutely right—diplomacy has always been a weak spot in most 4X games. It's almost like developers treat it as an afterthought, relying on post-release patches and player feedback to make improvements. I get that balancing diplomacy is tricky, especially since it’s such a dynamic and subjective aspect of gameplay, but it feels like the genre as a whole could benefit from prioritizing it during development rather than patching it up later. It’s frustrating because strong diplomacy can add so much depth and replayability to these games. This is exactly why I keep going back to Civ 3, 4, and 5—they may not be perfect, but they offer more satisfying diplomacy systems. I really hope future titles start addressing this from the ground up!

[martinolund]

Go read this about war, find the "How to declare War in Ara History Untold" section and you will see a table of what types of wars there are and how long they are going to last (how many turns to unlimited). Maybe that will help explain why your war stopped "for no reason".

https://www.pcinvasion.com/military-and-combat-in-ara-history-untold-mustering-limits-war-and-more/

[romanense]

Originally posted by martinolund:

Go read this about war, find the "How to declare War in Ara History Untold" section and you will see a table of what types of wars there are and how long they are going to last (how many turns to unlimited). Maybe that will help explain why your war stopped "for no reason".

https://www.pcinvasion.com/military-and-combat-in-ara-history-untold-mustering-limits-war-and-more/

I get what you're saying, and while the table explains the mechanics, it still feels like the system could benefit from more dynamic options. The idea of a civ asking for a diplomatic solution mid-war, like suing for peace when they’re losing or offering something meaningful to end the conflict, would add so much more depth. Right now, it feels like wars are just a countdown timer, and once it’s done, that’s it—no narrative or strategic weight behind it. A more organic approach to war and diplomacy would make the experience feel alive, rather than just following rigid rules. Hopefully, they consider adding something like this in future updates!

[SchnitzelTruck]

Originally posted by romanense:

Originally posted by martinolund:

Go read this about war, find the "How to declare War in Ara History Untold" section and you will see a table of what types of wars there are and how long they are going to last (how many turns to unlimited). Maybe that will help explain why your war stopped "for no reason".

https://www.pcinvasion.com/military-and-combat-in-ara-history-untold-mustering-limits-war-and-more/

I get what you're saying, and while the table explains the mechanics, it still feels like the system could benefit from more dynamic options. The idea of a civ asking for a diplomatic solution mid-war, like suing for peace when they’re losing or offering something meaningful to end the conflict, would add so much more depth. Right now, it feels like wars are just a countdown timer, and once it’s done, that’s it—no narrative or strategic weight behind it. A more organic approach to war and diplomacy would make the experience feel alive, rather than just following rigid rules. Hopefully, they consider adding something like this in future updates!

That already happens. Ive had civs ask me for peace in the middle of a war they started while I was kicking their ass. I've also bribed civs into peace with lots of products when they attacked me while I had all my armies in a totally different area fighting a different civ.

[Beanchilla]

While I enjoy this game so much, and it's one of my favorite games of late, the diplomacy aspect needs to be buffed out. While other than grand strategy or old world, most have weak diplomacy, I think this game is built for it. It being economy based means this needs to be at the focus.

[Walderschmidt]

This game is definitely under-cooked, but it has so much potential. My main concern is that this game goes the way of Humankind where it just doesn't get enough attention to be a more complete game like Civ V or Endless Legend II.

[Filo90]

let's hope for a full year of monthly updates like 1.1, game fundations are strong and it just need expansions and refinements in many aspects...