Age of Mythology, Sane Critique
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- Опубликовано: 7 июл 2024
- Age of mythology is one of the most beloved games ever made, join me to wallow in the past like a nostalgic hippopotamus, how it compares to the extended edition of 2014 and a comprehensive dissection of the expansion, Tales of the Dragon.
Credits:
The Age of Mythology Reddit for the memes:
/ ageofmythology
TheVipers AOE 2 AI footage:
• AI Championship Finals...
0:00 Prologue
0:53 Introduction
2:03 Game Intro, Lvl 1 Cinematic
4:25 Aesthetics & Graphics
7:03 Lvl 2 Cinematic
8:13 Sound Design
11:20 Lvl 3 Cinematic
12:47 Gameplay Mechanics
14:41 Lvl 4 Cinematic
15:30 AOM's biggest problem
18:02 Lvl 5 Cinematic, Relics
19:20 Lvl 6 Cinematic, the Trojan Horse
21:54 God Powers
23:23 Lvl 7 Cinematic
26:16 The different Factions
28:15 Lvl 8 Cinematic
29:36 Major Gods
30:11 Lvl 8 & 9 (WARNING NSFW!!!)
33:24 Titans Expansion
38:10 Lvl 10 Cinematic
38:42 The Updated Visuals
40:39 Lvl 11 Cinematics
43:00 The launch problems
44:00 Lvl 12 Cinematic
44:48 Quality of Life changes, Multiplayer Woes
46:38 Extended Edition Conclusion
47:47 Tales of the Dragon, Prologue, Lvl 1, Lvl 2 with miscellaneous whinging
52:49 The new units
54:30 Lvl 3, new music and sound. Lvl 4 Cinematic
57:40 The Chinese graphics
59:40 Lvl 5 Cinematic
1:01:45 The Chinese God Powers
1:03:21 Lvl 6 Cinematic
1:04:48 The Chinese Myth Units
1:05:57 Lvl 7, campaign thoughts
1:09:00 The Myths
1:10:32 Lvl 8
1:11:32 Vermillion Bird
1:12:18 Lvl 9
1:13:44 The new factions mechanics
1:17:58 The final Level, The Chinese Titan
1:20:28 Tales of the Dragon conclusion, AOM2?
1:23:00 :P 
Игры
Top tier cutscenes.
“I don’t understand, will it fight?”
Odysseus facepalms.
Arkantos mfw.
"You may feel less like fighting after I PULL OFF YOUR HEAD" is still a quote that lives in my brain.
Loved this game as a kid
@@valritz1489 And there's always [Fires Ballista, Hits Huskarl] "I CAN'T HEAR YOU!! Come a little closer!"
@@gibbcharron3469 That's Odd, I remember it's. "We Surrender... Come a Little Closer!" I just can't remember if it's in the Original or the Extended Edition.
@@emoluv54865 Oh, you're right! I had it wrong, it's been ages since I've played the campaign.
One detail you forgot to mention:
Whenever you lose most of your troops, AoM’s music shifts to a more somber and melancholic tone and stays like that until you retrain your army.
It’s as if the game is telling you “you used to have a big army. What the hell, man?”
*"what the tartarus, man?"
Is that the purpose of the mellow mixes? I never noticed that but that's really cool!
Holy crap I've played the game since the gold edition days and I never realized that
AoE2 is a lot more balanced but damn Mythology was so in depth and creative. Everyone plays differently from the factions, their major gods, and even minor gods and their myth units. The music and sound too while you might not notice it at first is expertly crafted.
It was also very fun using the scenario editor
Where can I download AOM extended edition without any viras for a laptop
@@blairgonsalves9015 steam
@@blairgonsalves9015it’s a steam game- I think it’s on sale right now actually
@@blairgonsalves9015 pretty sure it's on steam
What really stuck with me in the opening cutscene was the sheer brutality of the monsters.
Seeing the minotaur strike a wounded warrior who had no chance against him was horrifying to me as a kid
Me too!
I've always been someone who just wishes to bash back when I'm getting beaten. Like fully throttle back against someone - even if it's just made up stuff like 'you owe us this or do... because the government is pretending it's the right thing to do with no functional scientific evidence (that's why it sucks living in a passive global society). Whenever it comes down to those scenes, it's either I a) go and help the wounded or harassed peoples or I b) just go straight towards wanting to smash the enemy's face in.
The only time I give - c) try and communicate and find some common ground/broker peace, is if I have a background to the current situation.
Speaking of AOM's faulty AI, I have to say as a kid I always thought it was intentional. As mythic units' special moves glitched out more often than normal soldiers, I used to assume it would represent how rowdy, proud and uncontrollable the mythical monsters were at war.
Years later I found out it was just an excuse I made for my favorite game's bad AI pathing and target selection
If you´re immersed enough everything else falls by the wayside. And thats why its so great.
just like we made up gods to have a logic in our lives.@@behemoth9543
The opening cutscene always fills me with so much nostalgia
Oh dude it's fantastic, I haven't seen it in like 20 years and its still one of the best opening cutscenes ever.
First time seeing it scared me alot those minatours. But when playing it and saw I could command them it made me not getting scared anymore. Never I forget that feeling.
10/10 voice acting
Reynold Sanity. Now that's a name I've not heard in a long time. A long time.
I thought he died lol
In the age of darkness, our final hours, he returns
So many fond memories.
Imagine deleting the Poseidon statue and instawinning the campaign...and Athena going like "You dirty cheater"
My favourite thing was the fact that every unit had an "i" button where you could get additional information about the references and history/mythology behind them...even trees and fish had them which was just a super nice way of getting one interested and maybe understanding the developers thoughts a bit better.
Also, it will never not be funny to me to see Achilles riding away from Troy after the mission...
1. The Atlantenas were my favorite civilisation tbh . They were basically this jack of all trades, master of none. Yeah, they had so much easy access to everything, but they didn't excell at anything either.
2. One of my biggest gripes with the game is that you can kinda tell that pieces of story and dialogue were cut pretty close to release. We know this because entire lines of dialogue that add *so much more context* have been datamined over the years.
The Titans DLC and the Antlantean Campaign was probably the biggest victim of this.
The story was good, but asked a ton of questions, introduced new elements and elaborated on *very few* of them.
Like, how did the Kastor and his group of Atlanteans get stranded if Ajax and Odysseus were leading them back to Greece? Were they banished since we know Agamemnon was pissed at Atlantis for ignoring the Trojan War? Did they get lost? Why did Ajax and Odysseus never bother looking for them, especially with Arkantos' son being one of the survivors? Did they assume they were dead? If so, Kastor being the one attacking them actually becomes a *significant* reveal and the lines that showcase Ajax interacting and actually *bonding* with Kastor over his similarities to Arkantos kinda heartwarming.
Its little questions and snippets like these that kinda make the story of the game as a whole bit less enjoyable.And its a shame because it was probably a budget and time issue rather than a lack of creativity.l as , again, we have a good idea of how much was cut super close to release and I genuenly hope Retold takes the time to restore some of this content.
3. Last but not least, this is just geneally a good review. Funny, informative and brought back some nostalgia from having played this game all the time as a kid.
I played this game so much when I was a kid. It was something else.
10:00 speaking of the voices, I was surprised to find out that they aren't speaking gyberish. Greeks and Atlanteans actually speak greek. The Egyptians and the Norse speak what the designers could find back in 2000's Internet in terms of what their languages were like in antiquity. Pretty nice dedication to such a minute detail
Prostagma, my man.
Well, they kind of speak greek but yeah, some stuff makes sense.
@@SwissCheese667 Pani
Norse villagers' "yao" is modern Icelandic's (probably also Old Norse's) "já", which means "yes" (surprise surprise). I didn't know that years ago when I played it, but watching this, I just realized it.
@@SwissCheese667 Prostagma indeed haha
I spent hours reading the little info cards for all the units. Sure the in-game units weren't accurate to mythology, but the info cards were giving you an accurate summary of the lore. It made me pretty knowledgeable about mythology (for a 12yo).
i remember growing up without internet so i would just spend hours entertaining myself by reading those info cards when i was like 7
As a kid growing up on Portugal, in a time where the internet was a luxury, this was the game that taught me english. I still remember by heart a lot of full cutsenes. One of my favorite games of all time, for sure.
Prostagma?
@@SiameseCats4ever Izvoli!
To me it inspired me to learn english aswell. The Encyclopedia in the game was rich of lore.
@@SiameseCats4ever Ivolie!
@@ImadZeryouh exactly! That's when my interest on greek mythology grew
I used to watch my dad play this game on our family pc when I was a child. Eventually I began to play it, and continued to play it long after he stopped. I remember getting the Titans expansion for christmas one year even though my dad hated me playing games on the PC, however he knew that we both loved Age of Mythology. After he passed I found comfort and massive amounts of nastalgia in playing the game, even listening to the soundtrack. And after seeing the trailer for Age of Mythology Retold, it brought tears to my eyes as a game that both my father and I invested so much of our time into, is finally getting the light of day it deserves. And I know that when it comes out, my father will be sitting beside me watching me play it.
I remember watching your Rome 2 videos all the way back in 2013 and it was my first exposure to in-depth game critique of its kind, and still inspires me to this day and led me to form my own critique of the Total War franchise. It's great to see the king return and I will always stop whatever I'm doing if Dr. Sane drops a video!
Same
Honestly was the best game review I have ever seen at that time. Better than those who do game reviews for a living. You can tell the passion that he had for the genre and the well thought out criticism for the game.
I mean that the Warscape Engine is garbage has always been obvious, you just had to watch the battles after anything that came out after Medieval 2 which is why I lost interest in all of it. Only Warhammer actually fixed it
@@PuellaMagiHomuraAkemi What do you mean Warhammer fixed it? It is still the same piece of shit...
@@esmeecampbell7396
No its not, doesn't seem like you played it.
In Warhammer my units have collision and multiple units can attack a single entity. There is no 1v1 anymore and collision exists as well so my biggest complaints are fixed which is why its apart from Medieval 2 my favorite TW.
Only bad thing is that in WH3 they rushed it and did some bad stuff to the unit behavior but appearently thats fixed now too? I have to see when I will play it again in a few months.
But yeah Warhammer dont has the cancer problems of all the games before it is what I want to say, its fixed there and WH2 is very polished too. Im sure 3 will reach the same state *in a year or two*
8:20 Fun fact, the ships were originally meant to be larger & function like the ships in Rise & Fall: Civilizations at War do where you determine a ship type by staffing it with land units. This was simplified in production into the ships we know today. During the campaign & in the editor you can access a second type of dockyard next to the normal docks, that additional dockyard is also a remnant of the older naval system that was aborted in production.
Holy shit this is like watching an old dead friend revive back to life after years of being gone. Glad to have you back sanity and I hope this means we can see more of your opinions on how the TW series is going and maybe check out other critiques on series by other TW youtubers like Legend, Volund, and Melkor. Would like if you could look at the Remaster and see how it could have done better but also on the parts it did great like the modding support.
Fun fact: the Nintendo DS got a port of this game in the style of a turn based strategy game as a successor to the Age of Kings port to the DS, and I must say it is easily one of my favorite DS games ever created
It's kind of a spin off but yeah it's an amazing tactical RPG
A surprise, to be sure, but a welcome one.
This is the cutting edge content that I'm subscribed for:)
WHY DOES THE DRAGON SPEAK CYBORG
I can't believe we are actually getting a remake! I knew I survived all these years for a reason. Also can I just say this is such an amazing video, you are really good at this.
Damn didn't know about this. That's great news
Wonder how much they'll improve the half baked chinese campaign and race
Always love seeing people recognize the greatness of the game. Sound bites burned into your memory is quite right
I always loved the way the Toxotes unit looked in cutscenes, with those big-ass bows. You can even see a group of them disembark in the second mission, but the moment the mission starts, they revert to the normal Toxotes. So weird.
If you play on lower graphics they always look like that.
I knew i wouldn't regret staying subscribed to you after 6 god damn years welcome back man im looking forward to see what you have in store for us
Our time has come
glad to see your back man. And with a classic game as well.
THE LEGEND MAKES HIS GLORIOUS RETURN! DR SANE!!!! I still watch your “why did Rome 2 fail” series until this day, hoping you’d do something Warhammer related lol.
I got sent here by the algorithm. This video was everything I could’ve ever hoped for and more. I’m still regularly playing Age of Mythology (and Age of Empires), and this video still made me feel so much nostalgia and even more love for the game.
Looking forward to your future videos!
glad to see youre alive and kicking. beyond curious to hear what you think of total war in 2022.
welcome back.
Thanks Volound! Beyond watching your videos, the most I've done is get Atilla for 10 dollars in a sale. I had a decent bit of fun with that, played Warhammer 1 a bit after it was in the humble bundle, and launched Warhammer 3 one or two times because it was on gamepass lol. Haven't gone for any of the others...
You've really drilled down into them, and I think you're videos found the core of what I don't enjoy about them. You don't win or lose battles by maneuvering your units into the right positions to encircle enemies anymore, it became impossible to defeat a expensive unit by outplaying them with cheap units. I'm guessing they did that so that players can't abuse the AI like you can in the old games, but now it just means that there isn't much playing going on at all. Its like CA have created the missing link between auto resolve and playing. You can sort of influence the battle, but if you have crap units, you're guaranteed to lose to someone just right clicking on your dudes. I think the power fantasy and the RPG progression are the main kicks people are getting out of the new games, and sure I can switch my brain of and play them whilst watching netflix or youtube to kill time, but there's lots of other games that do that, and the other games are just more fun.
@@reynoldsanity4320 cheers, sane. glad to hear youve been keeping up with the critiques and think i hit the mark. i of course remembered your critiques and angry joes rome 2 review and made sure to give them their proper shout out when i started out with those. felt like taking up a fight that had been mostly been allowed to go cold, and felt obligated to connect the old with the new and give you all your dues.
should say it wasnt actually intended when i started playing TW again that i would make any more critiques. i took a long break (just like you), but came back in 2019 just intent on playing and uploading RTT/RTS (similar attitude to you, pretty relaxed), and total war was there. troy arrived and was shocking and one thing led to another and a lot of further critiquing was done (and i always felt i didnt quite say everything i wanted back with the rome 2 launch). maybe youve occasionally had the same feelings, maybe not. it wasnt something that ever bothered me or pre-occupied me. just motivated me to get to the bottom of things a bit harder now that total war actually had my critical attention again, i suppose.
been pretty funny to observe the train going down the track further without feeling like i was ever onboard. it has arrived at some pretty bizarre places in the meantime. there are even people making high view videos saying rome 2 is good now, that took up my attention a few months ago, you might find those funny if you missed them.
will be interested to see your video on supcom if it ever comes. i havent played either of AoM or supcom, but people urge me to get around to playing supcom all the time. also, ive deliberately avoided playing any of the warhammer games, you could even turn your critiquing gaze upon those if you felt prepared for the possible backlash (but at the same time, people have never been more receptive to warhammer being shat on). its a mostly untapped and possibly very ripe genre - warhammer specific critique. i suppose people are too motivated to just jump on the bandwagon and offer up praise and clickbait, and too reluctant to engage with the fanboys. i think youre 100% spot on about the power fantasy and RPG progression.
whatever the future has in store for you, ill be watching.
Poggers he is is alive! Your critiques rock! Glad to see you back.
Dude the Ensemble Studios little globe video is so nostalgic to me!!! it's been ages since i saw that little video!! i only saw it when i got Age of Mythology: The Titan... thank you dude for unlocking memories in my brain!!!
Thanks for keeping the volume at a good level. The audio is a super important part of the nostalgia. Great video.
One very cool campaign mechanic in AOM is the Trojan Horse level. You don't actually need to build the Trojan Horse. You can attack the city and if you destroy it completely, you won't have to play the part where they sneak into Troy. You just skip to the next map.
Thank you for integrating the cutscenes into the review. It made it really nostalgic, and gave a great sense about what you were talking. Excellent video. I hope you come back to make more.
I audibly gasped when I saw this. I am thrilled to see a video essay from you again especially in regards to something you actually like this time!
Composition of cinematics, in game footages and commenting of each element is insanely well done. I watched this video like i am watching an episode of one of my favorite series.
Man this is a pleasant surprise, and one of my favourite games too, looking forward to seeing what other videos you make.
The legend himself returns ! Your older videos are all classics. Great to see more content from you.
God I got so many nostalgia chills watching this video. I remember really getting into Ensembe Studio's strategy games when I first played AoE II on a purple egg computer from the Starlight Foundation in the hospital whenever I'd visit my bro. I cannot count how many hours I poured into AoE II and AoM in my childhood. That one interaction singlehandedly made me into a strategy game fiend haha. Thank you so much for creating this!
Fantastic freaking video! The quality, structure and nostalgia trip were incredible. Thank you very much!
Never thought i'd see your stuff again, welcome back !!
YOU'RE BACK!!!
Holy shit you aren't dead
This was truly wonderful!
I always felt that China getting monks that convert is ridiculous. the only other way to convert a unit is an Atlantean god power and that only works twice if you pick that specific god. instead, the Chinese get a buildable unit that can do it as many times as they like for every god
Yeah, this video is going to be a banger, well deserved too. Hope the next video will be in this decade.
Now this is the return I appreciate. Glad to see you back and please do more!
Oh man, that music playing on the background made me so nostalgic for this game... and the opening sequence holds up so well in 2022, they did an amazing job with the CG back then!
Amazing video, thank you for making this! I wish you would've covered the entire story, since your vibe and editing is super chill and enjoyable
this detailed essay was something. thank you 👍
Great to see you back! You really do have the best long form reviews
Hah, glad I had notifications on
Great to see you back, glad I never unsubbed
He's Back!?!?! Dude your Total War Critiques were legendary - and was the first game-critiques I watched growing up. I was certain you were going to go pro & outgrow Angry Joe. Thanks for posting again - love your stuff!!!
Been a long time since you graced our sub boxes, glad to see your content again!
Wonderful vid man!
Glad I stumbled across this gem of a video. You made the whole 1hr 23mins worth watching keep it up man.
This video was a master piece!! Absolutely loved it!!!!!
man, you've earned a new sub for sure. great video, love this game to death.
I came back to the channel to rewatch the Rome 2 sane critique and was pleasantly surprised to see this video. Awesome retrospective! I know it was hecking long as it is, but going through the rest of AoM's main campaign for memes would have been great!
I was literally thinking about this channel and the Rome 2 review randomly last week and then this comes out lol
Really entertaining video man! I love that you added some of my memes👍
It's great to see you again
Oh boy 6 years later and another video glad to have you back
I didn't even recognize the channel initially when it popped up in my feed. Excited to watch this!
What a great surprise, I never thought I'd see another video from you. Welcome back.
In many ways, this seems like a love-letter to a game that I remember very fondly and is probably my favourite game of all time. Amazing review. I'm looking forward to the new version of AOM that they're making!
Glad your back
Thanks for this video! I was a huge myths & legends nerd back in secondary school and I convinced my parents to get us a PC so I could play this game. Reading all the little entries in the in-game encyclopedia about all the units and technologies was wonderful. That legendary campaign with the siege of Troy, putting Osiris back together; and the fantastic music and voice work that lives rent free in my head - absolute classic game.
I actually had to double-take when I saw this video in my subscription feed after all these years. Welcome back!
I watched this all the way through and I have to say, you were able to lay out just about all the aspects of this game that I fell so fondly in love with as a child; which has now given me a deeper appreciation for what a masterpiece this game truly was. Thank you Mr. Reynold Sanity.
Hot damn, I'm only half way through and I love this half review half playthrough style so much
I really like the pacing of this video. Mixing in the summary of the plot with critique seamlessly. I have seen quite a few long form critiques who summurise the entire plot which on its own can take hours. These reviews often have separate segments to critueque the mechanics. Doing it the way you did makes the video more watchable without me needing to do something else during the video.
Incredible video, this got me to subscribe
So glad to see you're making videos again reynold, your video essays were godtier when video essays weren't even a thing yet
For some reason your joke on Rome 2 diplomacy (King Theoden hearing Gondor calls for aid) from years past came to mind and I still remembered your username to look it up... and found you have made new videos! Overjoyed to see you are still kicking, the world sure needs all the sanity available. I had no idea there was an expansion to good old AoM, seems like it was a blessing of ignorance.
Holy shit, welcome back
Wow a new video! And on one of my favorite games ever!
Great video!
Holy fuck I was hoping SO BAD to find a whole channel full of reviews like this. It's the coziest thing I've seen in so long. Hope u keep it up
Wow blast from the past both with your videos harkening back to Rome 2 and also AoM! Nice vid too
Amazing video! Such a beautiful love letter!!!
I watched it a couple of nights before, thank you. You made me smile after a very difficult day, thank you. Good work, greeting from Corfu island Hellas
Wow. like 7 years ago I already subscribed to this channel and now I find a new video. Amazing
dude this was so good
First time I see a video of yours ... Never seen this style of reviews, but I must say it's amazing. Keep up the good work mate!
Great video, glad I came across it
awesome you come back to talk about another game series you have a lot of experience with. i've never played these games but always wanted to. gonna pick it up as soon as there's a sale.
This is great. And only six months ago! From a game that was created, what, two decades ago?!
Well done. Funny. Informative. And over an hour long?!? Subbed
Really enjoyed this! Thanks
This is a very good video that goes into a lot of detail. Thank you! I love this game so much, still have the original CDs from my childhood (and of course on steam).
Yooooooo. I knew this subscription and notification would pay off one day!
this whole review was super relaxing
Finally you are back. I am very excited.
30 years from now and I'll still be playing AoM, never getting tired of the campaign. Still waiting for AoM: DE ❤
You got your wish in AoM Retold :)
This aged like a fine wine
@@elderscrollsmodding9208 wait, what was that?
@@noneofyourbusiness4133 You might not know this, but a game called 'Age of Mythology: Retold' has been announced.
Welcome back man.
I played the hell out of this game when I as kid. Back then my mother wouldn't allow me to play FPS games because she considered them too violent, but my dad convinced her that RTS games were fine because "hey they're *strategy* games, it's going to be good for him". I have some many fond memories of this game, Warcraft III and later Rome and Medieval II, fostering a love for all kinds of strategy games (except for Civilization, I find them boring : P)
Welcome back!
This was great! (Also, I think you just hit the algorithm).
Welcome back buddy holyshit LOL!
Thank you for a great time. aom and Skyrim are my all-time fav games and it feels great that you've done aom justice here.
Omg yo that intro cinematic to start up the game with the globe. Awww man I havent seen that in way too many years and seeing it again for the first time since I was a child. It brought back good memories. :)