A Huge Scope for Role-Playing. A Review of the Turn-Based Strategy Endless Legend 2 [Early Access]

Returning to the world of ENDLESS Legend 2, after getting acquainted with the demo, brought many pleasant and not-so-pleasant surprises. New participants have joined the overall race for survival, and many shortcomings have been fixed. But it is still not possible to call the game perfect.

New Participants in the Race for Survival

The game takes place on the oceanic planet of Sayyadhu, which is plagued by numerous cataclysms. Disasters force major factions to become more active, deciding to use the twists of fate to their advantage. The receding water reveals new lands and resources. But new dangers also appear, which can strike a developing empire at the most inopportune moment.

In the demo we explored, it was possible to try out two unique factions. These were the descendants of star colonists from the Sheredin Clan, who specialize in defense, as well as the Aspects, who rely on ranged combat and diplomacy. The latter are able to grow corals, which provide them with significant bonuses.

The new factions boast both unusual appearances and unique mechanics:

The Last Lords

Animated armor, with which the most epic video is associated. Spirits are not very interested in worldly things, and therefore the population does not need food to live. However, they desperately need "dust" - the local currency. They fight to collect dust — and to find a way to get rid of their current situation.

The race has advanced mechanics for interacting with neutral factions. You can create estates to attract the population of assimilated minor factions. This same population is perfect for sacrifice – it is highly likely that this nuance is not mentioned during negotiations.

The Last Lords' initial army consists mainly of melee warriors, and the ability to develop them appears late. This disadvantage is compensated by the ability to restore health when an enemy or ally dies. For some unknown reason, this ability also applies to allies from minor factions.

The Lords' fighters are the only ones who cannot restore health between turns. But they can be instantly healed with dust (as can allies from minor factions). This is often much more preferable than waiting several turns while your squad stands still and recovers.

Tahuki

A race of anthropomorphic reptiles whose way of life is based on a mixture of religion and high technology. In ancient times, they worshiped certain god-like creatures that lived among them. The deities disappeared, but the Tahuki still hope for their return.

The Tahuki are able to use research points to use abilities that give various bonuses. A side effect is the transformation of part of the population into fanatics who are prone to riots. Fortunately, fanatics can be merged into other factions so that they become their headache – and they will thank you for it.

One of the most useful in the entire game is the Tahuki's ability to build observatories. Observatories significantly expand the view, which is always useful. They have two upgrade options: increasing the level of approval and attacking nearby enemies. The problem is that observatories are built in mountainous areas, which can be very rare – because of this, it will not be possible to properly realize the advantage.

Tahuki warriors are well balanced — they are high-quality fighters who perform well in most cases.

With their Aztec theme and background, the Tahuki resemble the Lizardmen from the Warhammer Fantasy world. The Lizardmen also served the divine Ancients, who later abandoned them, and the Lizardmen's technology is a mixture of primitive tools and futuristic engineering marvels.

Necrophages

An empire of giant insects that thrive in war and destruction. They are able to fight with other major factions, and suffer much less from the negative consequences.

Necrophages can only have one queen, and therefore only one city is available for construction. The player will not be able to create camps that turn into cities for resources. Instead, it is possible to dig burrows through which beetles can quickly move and raid. Alas, this function did not work for me.

At first, the necrophage army is weak. At its core, it consists of gluttonous larvae that cannot boast characteristics. Destroying enemies rewards meat, which is necessary for the development of larvae into full-fledged warriors. Also, victory in battles rewards new larvae, but their number does not depend on the size of the enemy squad. As a result, it is beneficial for necrophages to destroy everyone in their path – the killed will help replenish the army with new warriors.

In appearance and habits, necrophages resemble the Shadow Demons from Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic. For the Shadow Demons, it was possible to hire a giant queen who devoured enemies whole. She could spawn larvae on the battlefield, which, after eating enough opponents, developed into full-fledged warriors.

Explore, Expand, Exploit, and Conquer

Regardless of the chosen faction, each new run follows a similar scenario. The initial squads found the capital, after which they set off to explore the territory and collect resources. It is necessary to build buildings in areas that will increase the growth of resources and the speed of research into new technologies. Troops are also produced in cities, the diversity of which expands as new technologies are researched.

Reconnaissance is led by heroes who are able to level up and use artifacts. After hiring new heroes, it becomes possible to befriend them with existing ones, which gives various bonuses. Over time, heroes will learn to build estates, which will allow them to choose companions. Once the game decided that my hero was his own companion. This led to a chain of events where the hero's argument with himself led to the appearance of new fighters in my army.

Outside the city live neutral minor factions that constantly produce aggressive fighters. They can be subdued in order to assimilate over time. Depending on the choice of a large faction – the assimilation of small ones will provide new fighters, population for cities, as well as candidates for new heroes, hero companions and council members.

If a battle with wandering squads is inevitable, then a turn-based battle begins. The abilities of the fighters are quite standard, and the ability to hire soldiers from minor factions adds variety to the battles. It often happens that the terrain of the battlefield significantly obstructs the movement of squads. It is easy to find a place where you can block the passage with defenders, and fire at the attackers from a distance – fortunately, the enemy's behavior is predictable.

Monsoons begin periodically. At this time, treasures appear everywhere, and allow you to choose advisors who give bonuses. But it is worth considering that neutral squads become especially aggressive. Also at this time, rifts are activated – giving rise to dangerous monsters that curse nearby cities with their very existence. Rifts can be used for quick movement if the level of development does not allow them to be closed. When nature returns to normal – new lands appear for conquest.

As you progress, the game throws up various tasks. They can be random in nature, or be associated with minor factions. Each major faction has a common and unique line of tasks that give pleasant bonuses for completing them. At the time of passage – the game did not perceive many existing achievements. Because of this, you have to build buildings that you have already built, or hire specific fighters who are already in the army. The most disgusting thing is when the game requires you to level up a hero in the later stages of the game.

Sooner or later, you will have to deal with other major factions. You can conduct diplomatic relations with them – open borders, share intelligence, conclude peace treaties. Declaring war will help to take what you want by force, but the population of most factions suffers from prolonged conflicts. If you come across an enemy city during the war, you will have to spend several turns breaking through the defenses.

A Rich Scope for "File Work"

Even without taking into account the existing shortcomings – ENDLESS Legend 2 suffers from most of the problems of modern turn-based games. The most obvious is the lack of a mini-map, which would greatly facilitate orientation on the ground.

The developers' love for adding provinces around the city is annoying. In the late stage of the game, you already own many cities, and for each you have to spend time searching for a cell for development. Adding a list like in Age of Wonders, where you can choose buildings or actions available for construction, would not affect the immersion in any way!

It is also worth abandoning the siege mechanics, where your powerful squad spends several turns until the game says "now you can attack". It is more concise to use slow siege machines, which still need to be delivered to the place. But immediately after that you can start the assault!

And you don't have to prohibit ending the turn if one of the squads has not yet moved, or nothing is being done in the city. It is enough to notify the player, as it was in "Heroes". And if in Age of Wonders all the tasks were completed in the city, then they began to produce goods there, which had a positive effect on the economy!

Diagnosis

ENDLESS Legend 2 is a bright and atmospheric game. It perfectly conveys the feeling of the epic nature of what is happening, where major factions are fighting for survival, and minor factions are much more elaborate than the usual neutral units from other games.

Since the release of the demo, the game has expanded significantly – acquiring new factions with interesting mechanics. Now it's time to work on balance and bugs, as well as expand in depth — that's what early access is for. If the developers take into account the criticism — in the final version, each new campaign has the opportunity to become a unique and unforgettable adventure.

It remains to be hoped that after ENDLESS Legend 2, the developers will move away from modern trends in turn-based strategies. Problems with maps, stupid mechanics of districts\provinces, and protracted sieges of every oncoming city have become too frequent. And I certainly won't be upset if I'm not brutally jerked around EVERY time someone hasn't moved – a separate warning is enough for this!