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AoE II: The master, pole position, an absolute classic, GoaT, fully recommended, all in, yessir, get it as soon as you can!
AoE III: Opinions differ, some love it, others hate it. If you like the time it plays in and don't mind a bit of jank and strange early 3D graphics give it a shot, but I would get AoE II first.
AoMythology: Pretty cool game and still a lot of fun. I still recommend II but if you are dead set on playing with funny monsters from antiquity you cannot go wrong.
AoE IV: Again, opinions differ. It is the most modern one, but for me it lacks a lot of soul. In the last months II had double the amount of players on average than IV, which is quite telling (IV is spiking currently because of a new DLC, let's see how long it lasts).
So, get AoEII DE, you can't do wrong here. If you like it check out IV and AoM. Add III to taste if you are curious. Keep away from 1, especially since you can play the civs from I in skirmish with the Rome DLC for II.
AOE1 is your old grandpa back in the day of 1900s. He's cool, but AOE1 lacks a lot of features. Bad pathfinding, weird balance. It's a game of early RTS era.
AOE2 is the most popular choose right now, but I recommend discovering other options. Game is easy to learn, civs are pretty much similar beside regional skin and Unique stuff. It also has AOE1 as a DLC (Return of Rome), so you can skip AOE1 if you wish.
AOE3 is when you meet an artist. One of the most beautiful game of the franchise. Counters are problematic to learn, but civs are very unique. Just look up some AOE3 civs to get idea. Once you get the hang of it, it's good.
AOE4 is the cousin of AOE2, the second most popular. It's like an independent game to be honest. All units and buildings skin are civ exclusive. Buildings has holy circle of aura that affects your choices of making. It's a good game nonetheless.
Myth is when you want to dip in some magical stuff. It's great, with God's power and units that auto cast their skills. I rather put Myth on hold since Retold coming soon one day.
Campaigns wise, AOE2 is the one which has most campaigns. Competitive on the other hand, 2 or 4, but maybe 3, just about how you enjoy the game.
- AoE 2 is the most played and most popular game in the franchise and that for a good reason as it manages to attract both casual and competitive players at the same time. Tons of campaigns and civs, lots of maps and many ways to play it
- AoE 3 was always seen as the black sheep of the AoE series and is imo an underrated gem in the series. It has a trial version, so you can try before buying it.
- AoE 4 is as Birb said the cousin of AoE 2. It shares similarities but also has original ideas as well as features from AoE 3 and Myth
- AoM is the link between AoE 2 and 3 and focuses on Mythology (obviously). As there's currently a remaster in development, you better want to wait until AoM Retold is out
Strength: Rome/Greece
Weakness: Gameplay
AoE 2.) Medieval Era (England, France, Mongols, Vikings, etc. with knights, crossbows, trebuchets, early early firearms, etc.). This is a polished game. It's been updated for like a decade straight, and it shows. There are a ton of civs, they're relatively balanced, it's easy to learn and hard to master, etc. There is a competitive play community if you're into that. This is the BEST game, esp if you have no preference for time period. It's easiest to learn. I would start here.
Strength: Gameplay, number of civs, medieval
Weakness: Civs might feel too similar at first
AoE 3.) Early Modern Era (Great Britain, Ottoman Empire, USA, North American indigenous tribal civs, British India, Russia, etc. with pikemen/archers early game, musketeers/rifled skirmishers late game, variety of cannons, dragoons, elephant-mounted cannons, etc.). This is the game with the most BREADTH. There are civs from many parts of the world, fewer than AoE 2, but each civ has 3+ unique units instead of 1-2. There are generally more mechanics and units to learn than AoE 2, so if you want to have 10 varieties of heavy cavalry to keep track of, AoE 3 can help. It's moderate to learn, difficult to master. My main gripe is the deck-of-cards system to keep track of, where you build your own strategy options before a game. I would play this game after AoE 2 if you want more units/gameplay elements and especially more guns.
Strengths: Gunpowder, variety of civs/units, differences between civs/units
Weaknesses: Ton of civs/units to learn, harder to learn than AoE 2
Age of Mythology.) Classical Era with Mythological Elements (Greece, early Norse, Egyptians, Atlantis, and China with hoplites, chariot archers, axemen, minotaurs, crocodiles shooting lasers, gigantic anthropomorphic falcon, etc.). AoM is old at this point, but it can be fun and silly. It's between AoE 2 and AoE 3 in terms of strategic depth, where you have to choose some bonuses each time you advance an age. The campaign is fun, and skirmish mode is fun. Personally, I think China feels like an unpolished mod (it was added with definitive edition). I would try this after AoE 2 if you want a less serious game than AoE 3. Apparently a remaster is coming, so maybe wait for that unless you're desperate.
Strengths: Fun silliness, monsters
Weaknesses: It's old, China feels like a mod
AoE 4.) Medieval Era again, with more specific civs (England, Mongols, Delhi Sultanate, Abbasid Caliphate, etc. with knights, archers, crossbows, etc.). This is the newest game, and it's a bit of a work-in-progress IMO. It's a bit hard to learn because each civ has such different mechanics. However, each civ feels much more different than in AoE 2. If you play AoE 2 and maybe some AoE 3 and decide you want a more complex game set in the medieval era, give it a try. I'd call this the most experiment AoE game, and mechanics will probably change over time as more civs are added.
Strengths: Very different civs, newest gameplay features
Weaknesses: Still being polished, learning each civ is a different experience
Summary:
I'd skip AoE 1. Start with AoE 2. If you prioritize ancient civilizations over better mechanics, then try AoE 1. If you want more units, more complexity, or a more modern setting, try AoE 3. If you want silliness, AoM is fun. If you want AoE 2 to be remade from scratch in the 2020's, then AoE 4 is a work-in-progress that plenty of people enjoy.
Tl;dr:
Start with AoE 2. Play a variety of civs/modes, and if you're happy, never leave. If you want more/different features, see above. Based on my own preferences of eventually wanting more units/depth, I did AoE 2, AoM, AoE 3 to start.
- 1: Admittedly, mainly for the nostalgia. It's fun to play, but it should have changed/improved more.
- 2: Used to be absolutely brilliant, and my favourite game of the series (and one of my favourite ever), but currently, the "Definitive Edition" is increasingly terrible. They are trying very hard to force everyone into multiplayer whether you want to or not, breaking basic things such as literal pathfinding and selecting units (lol), and the skirmish AI is genuinely godawful - either extremely easy, or blatantly robotic and frustrating. Imo, play it for the campaigns, but be prepared that once you want to try anything else, it will stop being fun very quickly. It's really one of the worst examples of "corporate wanted line to go up, so they somehow managed to ruin a seemingly unruinable game", and I used to be HUGE fan. The "community", including this forum, is also one of the worst toxic cesspools I have ever seen (and I used to play Call of Duty and League of Legends), which typically speaks for what type of player the devs are pandering to.
- 3: The underdog of the series, which quietly became the best one. It's more complex and harder to learn than 2, but now it's massively fun to play, does a great job at promoting strategy and actual fun over abusive toxic "tactics" that are all over AoE2 right now. And there's just SO. MUCH. DEPTH. I've been playing 200h+ of mostly just single player skirmishes, and I still feel I haven't even properly learned half the civs. Oh, and the AI is actually good and fun to play against, and WILL make you sweat on higher levels not by blatantly cheating, but by actually being tough and smart.
Summary: 2 is probably the best to get into the series, but the DE is currently a messy, buggy trainwreck which gets more "cOnTeNt" at all costs while quality slides off a cliff (and the sheer amount of civs at this point almost kills the game's perfect balance and simplicity). 3 is a bit harder to get into at first, but by far the best game overall at this point.
While AoE 3 is, as I've mentioned above, an underrated game, things like snaring are one of the reasons why I don't play it much except for casual rounds.
Your comment about the community is sadly still off as we're nowhere near CoD or LoL.
1. You constantly blame the problems of the game on the MP community and saying the devs are pandering to us.
2. You have an insane theory in which u think the devs intentionally breaks the game like fking up pathfinding so ppl play MP instead of SP. That doesnt even make sense as pathfinding affects both MP and SP. Your intense hatred for the MP community is really clouding your judgment and the saddest part is you have yet to realize it still.
3. And then you have the audacity to call the community toxic despite you being the toxic one. Ppl are going to be a lot nicer toward u if you just drop the "MP bad, all problems are from MP" way of thinking.
I can't agree more, especially about 2nd as pathing currently is at an all time low.
I just wish Krosis would drop this "ugh MP community is evil" sentiment as that would make things a lot easier for him.
Left as he said he would, but he's back again and just can't help himself.
Literally pages of MP people and some SP people going "Pathing sucks, please fix devs".
We're all getting screwed. He's got blinkers on.
aoe1 I would agree is a flawed jewel, its like System Shock to System Shock 2. If you played it back then you'd probably appreciate it more but if not you'll probably get tired of it.
aoe2 is the richest of all the games imo and so easy to keep coming back to. Seems the most alive as well. Just has the most content overall I think - (Just to clarify this is speaking of Definitive Edition, not HD or CD although both those are great too, but DE is just peak aoe2 except for the pathing)
aoe3 i played a little when it was new and it just doesn't feel like aoe tbh. Kind of couldnt care less about it
aoe4 I cannot speak for as i've never played it, there's people with more valuable insight than me who have said more informed opinions
age of mythology i feel could be hit and miss. I played it when i was younger and it was fun. It hasnt aged that well i feel though and looks a little funny. Gameplay wise I still feel aoe2 has the most content and stuff going on but again if you like the theme this could be a great option for you.
honourable mention outside of the aoe franchise: Rise of Nations, which came out I think off memory in 2001? Something like that anyway. I mention this because its the one game i feel that is closest to aoe while also having you age all the way from the stone age to the near-future. It has a few quite different mechanics but I'd say it was definitely aoe inspired and funny enough, coming back into age2 to DE, it seemed to me some audio and texture assets were pulled from Rise of Nations to be used in aoe2 DE.
- 1/ aka You can not get wrong with AoE2 DE for 5€ now
2\ about AoE1
- AoE1 DE is worth only for nostalgia players, it has bad unith pathing, controls etc, skip it
but... it is good classic RTS in its core, and if You want to try, I really reccomend Return of DLC for AoE2 DE, which port AoE1 into AoE2, and it is worth to play
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2141580/Age_of_Empires_II_Definitive_Edition__Return_of_Rome/
3\ AoE3 DE is free to play in trial version, so You can try before buy (first chapter in campaign)
Yup, SP and MP players are in the same boat regarding pathfinding. Survivalist even made an interesting comparision video with HD's and DE's pathing.
It's also interesting how he's the only one constantly noting that players in this hub are "toxic" whereas in reality, players here are supportive and respectful as long as you act respectful yourself. But that applies to any sub tbh.