Review:
1.) General opinion
2.) AI and content
3.) Performance
4.) Result ("better than AoE2HD?"/"should i get it even if i have HD Version?")
5.) Summarized negatives

1.) I actually didnt expect a lot. I wanted to try whether the new edition was any good and it should at least come to the quality level of the HD version.

I have to say, it really does. It looks nice, sounds even better, controls are fine and there are nice new additions making the gameplay more enjoyable (no constant field spam in mills for example).
UI changes seem fine to me, i think it looks a lot better, more polished and structured.
The menus are superb, whereas the HD Versions menu ever looked incredibly cheap.
This also means, that you have a lot of options regarding UI settings, font sizes, colourblind settings etc. Theres a lot to tweak.

Keep in mind, im no hardcore AoE pro and thus wont spot possible shortcomings that AoE Veterans need.
For a casual gameplay experience with a classic i played as a kid when it was new (actually i started with AoE 1 but read that its defined version is dreadful), it does a pretty glorious job.

2.) Ai also seems fine mostly. Since im more a comp-stomp casually AoE player, it certainly provides enough challenge to keep me engaged for quite some time.
Factions also are plenty as it contains all factions that have ever been released (including their campaigns).
An integrated workshop (runs well and is structured), challenge maps, scenarios, historical battles, up to 8 players (plus spectator), several modes, better sound and Quality of Life improvements.
I cant spot any loss compared to the HD Version when picking it up.


3.) Performance-wise it seems fine.
Cant really judge because my system could be considered overkill for this game (RTX2080, Ryzen2700X and 16GB DDR4).
Considering my hardware, it probably runs ok-ish to not so great.
I get about 50- 70 fps on absolute max settings. So keep that in mind if you have a "worse" setup (whatever that means).
Some people have experienced crashes, i only got one of those in over 34 hours playtime.
So thats fine i guess?


4.) If you are asking yourself "why would i get this when i have the HD version" or "is it better than the HD version?", then to answer the second question directly:Yes absolutely in nearly every regard (probably except for multiplayer setups, seems like people need more ways to connect properly to each other and create their own dedicated servers).

To answer the first question: It looks and sounds better (not just a bit, but A LOT), has all the content for the game plus new stuff, has quality of life improvements that really mean the world (like automatic field replacement) feels more fluid and modern, feels like a Strategy game made in 2019.
Honestly, AoE2 got me hooked again. I played the HD once in a while but the graphcis didnt age well.
The DE edition though, made it a modern game without losing anything from the original.


5.) My only downsides till now are the following:
- Performance could receive some attention (also stability)

- AI sometimes (not often or regulary) seems to go idle or cant handle certain settings (like gigantic maps). Havent experimented enough to know why it does it, but i had AI matches where no AI player attempted to attack me. I assume its because the map was too huge and they were busy with each other.
Yet, when i started to attack them i saw one AI having several farms but no fields, barely any units and it didnt react competent to my attacks.
Which is weird.
To put that in contrast, i also had matches on gigantic maps where the AI just steamrolled me while another entered my base backdoor.
So i cant at all say that its a bad AI or not working or anything. Its mostly really good and competent.
Only consistent problem i experienced is, that the AI seems to just spam buildings everyhwere.
Gives me sometimes a hard time even if its an ally (or especially then because it might be it just places two mining camps next to YOUR gold blocking your workers).
There are commands for the AI, out of experience i can say it mostly does what i tell it, but with a delay (command "build a wonder" worked instantly, command "attack player X" seems to never have any impact at all.).

- Abilities and some aspects of the game could need more explanation and are misleading.
In my german version for example, the abilities give me false information.
For example it clearly says that Teutons resist conversion through monks.
Yet it just makes them more durable agains them, not immune.
The wording is a bit flawed.
A similar problem is to be fined with cross-effects for upgrades.
To give an example, i cant tell whether upgrade X also upgrades unit Y, because it only lists "Bowmen", but then it also impacts other bow-related units.
I wished the techtree (which you can open ingame easily) would show a precise listing for each upgrade and what unit is affected by it.
You can look at the unit and see which upgrades are available for it, but thats a lot more tedious.
I dont know and its more of a "noob" issue. If you are an experienced player you already know that stuff.
But i had several occasions where i had to search on a wiki to find out whether X does Y or not, although that could be provided by tooltips.
Thats also true for other aspects next to upgrades. I feel like the game often lacks information or treats knowledge as a given.

Review: 1.) General opinion 2.) AI and content 3.) Performance 4.) Result ("better than AoE2HD?"/"should i get it even if i have HD Version?") 5.) Summarized negatives 1.) I actually didnt expect a lot. I wanted to try whether the new edition was any good and it should at least come to the quality level of the HD version. I have to say, it really does. It looks nice, sounds even better, controls are fine and there are nice new additions making the gameplay more enjoyable (no constant field spam in mills for example). UI changes seem fine to me, i think it looks a lot better, more polished and structured. The menus are superb, whereas the HD Versions menu ever looked incredibly cheap. This also means, that you have a lot of options regarding UI settings, font sizes, colourblind settings etc. Theres a lot to tweak. Keep in mind, im no hardcore AoE pro and thus wont spot possible shortcomings that AoE Veterans need. For a casual gameplay experience with a classic i played as a kid when it was new (actually i started with AoE 1 but read that its defined version is dreadful), it does a pretty glorious job. 2.) Ai also seems fine mostly. Since im more a comp-stomp casually AoE player, it certainly provides enough challenge to keep me engaged for quite some time. Factions also are plenty as it contains all factions that have ever been released (including their campaigns). An integrated workshop (runs well and is structured), challenge maps, scenarios, historical battles, up to 8 players (plus spectator), several modes, better sound and Quality of Life improvements. I cant spot any loss compared to the HD Version when picking it up. 3.) Performance-wise it seems fine. Cant really judge because my system could be considered overkill for this game (RTX2080, Ryzen2700X and 16GB DDR4). Considering my hardware, it probably runs ok-ish to not so great. I get about 50- 70 fps on absolute max settings. So keep that in mind if you have a "worse" setup (whatever that means). Some people have experienced crashes, i only got one of those in over 34 hours playtime. So thats fine i guess? 4.) If you are asking yourself "why would i get this when i have the HD version" or "is it better than the HD version?", then to answer the second question directly:Yes absolutely in nearly every regard (probably except for multiplayer setups, seems like people need more ways to connect properly to each other and create their own dedicated servers). To answer the first question: It looks and sounds better (not just a bit, but A LOT), has all the content for the game plus new stuff, has quality of life improvements that really mean the world (like automatic field replacement) feels more fluid and modern, feels like a Strategy game made in 2019. Honestly, AoE2 got me hooked again. I played the HD once in a while but the graphcis didnt age well. The DE edition though, made it a modern game without losing anything from the original. 5.) My only downsides till now are the following: - Performance could receive some attention (also stability) - AI sometimes (not often or regulary) seems to go idle or cant handle certain settings (like gigantic maps). Havent experimented enough to know why it does it, but i had AI matches where no AI player attempted to attack me. I assume its because the map was too huge and they were busy with each other. Yet, when i started to attack them i saw one AI having several farms but no fields, barely any units and it didnt react competent to my attacks. Which is weird. To put that in contrast, i also had matches on gigantic maps where the AI just steamrolled me while another entered my base backdoor. So i cant at all say that its a bad AI or not working or anything. Its mostly really good and competent. Only consistent problem i experienced is, that the AI seems to just spam buildings everyhwere. Gives me sometimes a hard time even if its an ally (or especially then because it might be it just places two mining camps next to YOUR gold blocking your workers). There are commands for the AI, out of experience i can say it mostly does what i tell it, but with a delay (command "build a wonder" worked instantly, command "attack player X" seems to never have any impact at all.). - Abilities and some aspects of the game could need more explanation and are misleading. In my german version for example, the abilities give me false information. For example it clearly says that Teutons resist conversion through monks. Yet it just makes them more durable agains them, not immune. The wording is a bit flawed. A similar problem is to be fined with cross-effects for upgrades. To give an example, i cant tell whether upgrade X also upgrades unit Y, because it only lists "Bowmen", but then it also impacts other bow-related units. I wished the techtree (which you can open ingame easily) would show a precise listing for each upgrade and what unit is affected by it. You can look at the unit and see which upgrades are available for it, but thats a lot more tedious. I dont know and its more of a "noob" issue. If you are an experienced player you already know that stuff. But i had several occasions where i had to search on a wiki to find out whether X does Y or not, although that could be provided by tooltips. Thats also true for other aspects next to upgrades. I feel like the game often lacks information or treats knowledge as a given.