banished is also has terrible settler AI which makes the game borderline unplayable. one example is if you have 5 units of food which is then distributed to 3 homes. What happens is that 5 units get taken to one house and the others have none. This means that during the winter your population will starve, or have no coats or tools to mine with. There's no concept of a shared resource pool between houses once it leaves the storeroom It means that you can't do anything reliably until you have a huge surplus running of each resource
@@starjadiancloneinvestigato1772It actually makes sense for people to try to stock up if you're in a first family takes all situation and that's why it's recommended not to build houses at the beginning and start with the big building (idk what it's called) that's ment to be a temporary loge for the homeless and switch to houses after you either have enough food or have placed a market (people have kids faster when they have their own house)
@@ThePiotrekpecet only by luck. villagers will retrieve food in batches of 25. Markets just distribute your food to further reaches than storage barns. It still doesn't solve the issue when you have 125 food to spread across 10 houses. I want 12 and 13 food in each house, not 25 in 5 and 0 in 5!!
I CAN'T BELIEVE SOTL ACTUALLY RECOMMENDED ARMADA 3. By far my favorite mod of any RTS game. The Star Trek theme synchronizes with Sins of a Solar Empire's in-game mechanism surprisingly well. If you are a fan of Star Trek and RTS games pls give it a try, it won't disappoint you.
I think I tried Star Trek mods earlier on in SOASE and it felt a bit bland compared to the original game. Mind I have hundreds of hours in Armada 2 with huge nostalgia, but also Birth of the Federation, Bridge command, Starfleet Command(3), Klingon Academy,, but also well over 100h in SOASE (without mods). I think I remember there was an over emphasis on keeping the balance similar to the original game (with only a few capital ships, with huge fleets of frigates, corvettes and some cruisers, each having their own weaknesses), rather than more canon Star Trek where there is less of a ''this ship beats this ship'' thing. How does Armada 3 fare these days ? Can I just build a fleet of Galaxy classes with no huge weaknesses and as Romans spam the D'Deridex warbirds around? I mean also a Klingon fleet, it should be mostly birds of prey, supplemented with Vor'cha's, Negh'Vars, some old K'Tinga's/D4's, en K'vorts? I don't mind filling the ''blanks'' with Armada 2 ships but I miss the fleet composition ''to scale'' with the series in most Star Trek games. In SOASE to much focus on the overpowered Titans imho, with to few capital ships, and way way to much way to squishable frigs and corvettes. Also to much emphasis on special abilities imho and rock paper scissors weakness wise. E.g. 2-3 bird of prays should elmininate a Galaxy class, or a Warbird. But 1 Sovy should easily handle 2 BoP's... In Armada 2, BoP's but even Defiants became completely useless squishy ships once you got to the Battleships, while in DS9 series, a defiant would knock out a Galaxy class ship no sweat.
@@SnoVVdogsPks It's a SOASE Mod. Which unfortunately means having to deal with SOASE AI. So you know, eventually it just turns into a boring slog where you have to chase down the enemy fleet for 40+ minutes on a decent sized maps if you dont want to deal with MP as AI is one of the things modders cant touch with the game.
LOL!!!!!!!!!!! OMG YOU MENTIONED EMPIRE EARTH!!!!!!!! LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!! DID ANYONE KNOW YOU CAN ACTUALLY DOWNLOAD A COPY OF EMPIRE EARTH AND AN ONLINE PATCH TO PLAY PEOPLE ONLINE???????? LOL!!!!!!! :D :D
I would absolutely love a Rimworld series like you suggested, researching various topics and optimal strategies. I definitely think the AOE2 crowd has a lot of overlap with Rimworld.
Only issue is the algorithm penalizing creators for going outside of their normal formula. A 2nd channel would help, but it's painful self-promoting a 2nd channel on the main.
The problem is that there already is channels like that, and they have existed for several years already. So you will not only compete with them. You also have to retread ground someone else already walked on.
Always nice to see Tropico getting a mention. Personally this year I've been obsessed with Against the Storm, a nice Roguelitey city builder that sees you rushing to build a city that pleases the Queen before the forest and Storm reclaims the land you've settled. Its setup forces you to constantly adjust the details in how you build your city as you progress and unlock new options and difficulty levels.
I got Against the Storm a few days ago, and I can't get it out of my head. I like roguelites, city builders not so much usually. But it's so engaging, a match is just the right length, and the meta-progression seems very interesting so far. I'll probably spend a few hundred hours with this one
I started playing Tropico a while ago. IT'S AWESOME! Tropico 3 was on sale for about 3,50 € and I just bought it mainly because it was cheap and I wanted to play something different. I have around 60 hours in the game and I still haven't finished the missions. I'm really looking forward to Tropico 4. People say it's just like 3 but with some nice additions. It will take me a while, especially since I tend to play additional 20 years after finishing the mission objective.
Something that is a great mix of Civ and Age games for me was Rise of Nations and I will always hope that there will be a remaster announced to bring it back with additional content.
As someone who has been watching you since around 2016, I was never expecting a project I worked on to show up on your channel. I worked on Armada 3 and did a bunch of models for the Ages of the Federation follow up. Really awesome small world moment!
@@UndyingNephalim i sadly never met the rest of the team, only knew Gul & Bane through some of the streams & community events. I am gratefull to everyone who worked on this mod, for all the hours it gave me
To me one of the best RTS games ever was 2000 Bulgarian game called Tzar. It was anothe clone of Age of Empires but in some ways it was even better. For example if the unit killed another one hp, armor, attack was increased. Graphics was also really good for it's time. I highly recommend you guys to check this game. One of the most underrated game ever made.
I had that one. Never got the chance to play multiplayer, and there was plenty of cheese in the campaigns, I remember you could kill your own troops for xp 😂 And yes, it had so many unique features. I much enjoyed that you could convert whole enemy towns not with a Priest sweet-talking the buildings into submission, but by swarming them with peasants! - which was much more efficient than razing them. And the Spy / Assassin / Ninja 🥷😂
Bro fr though. I've literally been sitting here for 2 decades waiting for the Stronghold devs to take Tzar and put it into their game. I want a Stronghold game where I can choose between 3 separate cultures.
My recommendation is pretty niche but the Cossack games from 2002 were phenomenal. And Cossacks 3 captures all the enjoyable parts of the original games with improved graphics and gameplay. It’s a 17th and 18th century RTS where you have to manage resources and defeat the enemy nations
anno 1800 is in the christmas sale also under 25$. it deserves a place in this list for sure too. for all the sim city aoe players its a fun alternative
Anno is a wonderful time sink lol Like Civ’s “Just one more turn” but instead it’s “I just need to complete this production chain” or “I just need to settle this one island”. Then before you know it, the game itself is telling you to take a break. I haven’t played much 1800, but I loved 2070 in it’s heyday.
I would love to see a bit of FTL just for fun on your channel. I think the pacing of the game would allow for fun commentary and its just an entertaining watch.
If you enjoy FTL I can’t recommend the “Multiverse” mod enough. It’s an extraordinarily expansive mod that basically multiplies the base game content by 10 but keeps the original spirit.
Personally I hadn't heard of it (granted, it's been years since I've played FTL). Seeing it mentioned in this video had me itching to play again, but hearing of such a mod is what I needed to actually go through with reinstalling it and giving it another go, so thanks.
Against the Storm, its a rogue-lite city builder, just released 1.0 after 2 years of early access. Its a very fun game, since you liked ftl, and seem to be a big fan of city builders its probably a good option. Its also very rain-punk, so its got some very chill vibes and excellent music
I second this. Sank 70 hours in it in Early Access and found it very solid already, now at full release I have picked it up again and having fun with the new Seals challenge system. Also, while it's 30 dollars, are very reasonable price IMHO, this Steam sale it dropped to 20, so it falls under 25 as well
Against the storm probably has the best UI/UX of any colonysim/citybuilder. It's just amazing how much you can do in the game without having to go more than 2 menus deep all the while keeping the game readable and interconnected. It's such a pleasure to play just for this reason.
If you really like FTL, you should give Into the Breach a shot. It is a turn based game from the same makers whereby you manage 3 mechs and, depending on the mission, have to take out enemies, protect buildings and/or demolish objects. Its quite cheap and definitely worth your time ;)
I almost expected you to mention Dwarf Fortress! A lot like Rimworld, but it is THE grandaddy of the genre, with far more depth than is honestly humanly reasonable. The recent release on steam really helped make it much more accessible.
My suggestion: Crusader Kings II or Crusader Kings III. It uses the same Paradox Engine like HOI IV but is set up in early to late Medieval period (like AOE2) and I really like the dynasty building and medieval court shenanigans.
@@mortache Are you sure? Ck3 caught to ck2 with all dlcs ck2 have? Sorry, but I doubt that. Have not played ck3, honestly asking. Do you have all dlc of ck2?
Have you ever tried the Creeper World series? It's an incredibly satisfying series with a big focus on resource efficiency and turning the tide (literally) of the battle. It might look like a tower defense game, but feels somewhere closer to an RTS.
I've played and enjoyed almost every game you've mentioned on the list. Offworld Trading Company is a fun RTS to play with your friends. It's very board game-like, and while learning it can be a bit tricky, even then the adventure of learning it is fun with your friends.
I was also going to recommend Terra Invicta, it seems right up Spirit's alley given these games. The elevator pitch for those who haven't heard of the game before: It's like if XCOM was a Paradox-style grand strategy game instead of squad-level turn based tactics. You play as the leader of a secretive transnational organization trying to coordinate humanity's response to an alien invasion, working against (or with) both the aliens and other rival factions trying to influence Earth's nations to your side, build up industry, research, and eventually military in space, and in the end fight for control of Earth and the whole Solar System. It's also pretty hard sci-fi with a realistic sense of scale and the technologies (especially space ship engines) are all based on theorized designs that could plausibly actually work, which is pretty cool.
I'd highly recommend Mount&Blade (newest game Bannerlord or older but more modded Warband) It's a medieval themed game where you command a band of troops, but your character also actively fights in the ground themselves. It's strategy + fighting, its great. No gaming experience for me is as satisfying as leading a cavalry charge in the front yourself.
I recommend everyone I know who likes Banished to check out another settlement builder called Ostriv. To me it's the true spiritual successor to Banished, it forges a lot of new ground especially on the economy and simulation side of things that really make your villages feel alive. It also has an expansive 'late game' while still retaining the feeling of Banished that I found a lot of similar games lack. It's been a labor of love of the developer being steadily developed over the past 7 years, and is absolutely my favorite game for chilling out and listening to podcasts like you mentioned.
Medival Dynasty is a fun first person village/city builder. Definitely lacks in combat and story, but is similar to banished in that it is pretty chill to play with something running in the background.
@@OlafJorigsonIts nice they added coop but you can’t play it with randoms, which became a turn off for me and I refunded. I don’t have friends to play it with so if there is no option for random matches, the coop is useless.
To me this is the single most underrated game I own. Best way I can sum it up is imagine a Skyrim-like world in terms of scope, and that the game lets you build a living, breathing village anywhere on the map. You can place the building types as you wish, fill them with workers, and watch those workers get married, have kids and die. I've always wanted a game like this that lets me build up my town as immersively as possible, and to me, this is that game.
Attila is for my money, easily the best TW hands down . . . after Shogun 2, because Shogun 2 has the best variety, since the vanilla game and FOTS play so totally differently. But Attila has some of the best theming in the series with all the throat singing doom songs and I love the destructible villages that can propagate fire because it makes defensive settlement battles much more engaging.
Seeing these games classed as "old" really makes me feel ancient with a lot of the ones i still play to this day like disciples 2, ff7, empire of the ants, heroes 3, hexen/heretic/doom/quake etc.
If you like Tropico, I recommend you give Anno 1800 a shot. It's similar in some ways to Tropico in terms of Island city managing but over multiple Islands and distinctive regions with their own mechanics. It can be a very challenging game at times and switches between casual and "optimised" game styles, whichever suits you best.
Anno has nothing in common with tropico, especially T4... A better suggestion would be Settlers VI, since it has the 90% city builder/10% RTS formula of tropico.
List: 10: Banished 9: 7 Days to Die 8: Tropico 4 7: FTL 6: Middle Earth: Shadow of War 5: Civilization 6 4: Hearts of Iron IV 3: Star Trek Armada III (Mod for Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion) 2: Rimworld 1: Total War: Attila
This is a very similar game to AOE2, but I have to recommend it because I love it so much: Rise of Nations. Like AOE2, except you get to go further in history to the modern day, and unlock nukes and stuff. A good one if you haven't played it!
7 Days to Die is an absolutely incredible game if you have a group of friends who are good at managing their expectations. Super corny/janky in a lot of ways but when you get into it, it's an incredible sandbox where there are a lot of specialized roles to fill and generally just creates a lot of teamwork which is what i think makes survival/crafting games create so many memories
That was an unexpected but interesting kind of vídeo. I'm sure most of us are here for AoE 2 content, but it's nice to see your opinion about other kinds of games as well for a change.
@@DrZaius3141 At least they are consistent and still work on a game years after it would be ready for final release. They brought the game a long way from its humble roots.
Given this list, I think you might be able to bury yourself in Against the Storm. It's a Roguelite citybuilder with a focus on getting small settlements up and running before leaving for the next settlement.
Not a RTS, a visual novel: The House in Fata Morgana. I just picked it up, and It might just be the greatest piece of fiction in any form of media I've ever read, and it might not even be close. Don't let the fact that its a visual novel diswade you, this is my first ever one, and probably the only one. This is peak dark fantasy. Its so good on everything, characters, themes, and the most mind blowing plot twists I've ever seen.
Holyshit, I never expected to see THIFM posted until a video like this. The characters are so realistic but at the same time shouldn't be realistic... They are twisted in a way that is unsettling but no doubt human. I've never seen characters that feel so real. Some of the plot twists actually made me just go back and think for several minutes. Because it's so unexpected, so shocking, but it makes so much sense. It's all been there, but we the readers just refused to see it. It might not really be a "game", more so a novel, but it's my favourite story of all time. It's a genuine masterpiece that everyone needs to experience.
Rimworld is such an amazing story-based base builder. It can seem so simple, but it’s incredibly flushed out even without mods. If you ever need to kill 2-8 hours without noticing, load up that game! Over 500 hours and I’ve never beat it haha
I would definetly subscribe to your (soon to be) space themed youtube channel since that is the main thing I watch on youtube outside your AOE2 vids. Whit that said, keep it up SOTL, you're the best!
Been playing 7 Days since it came out. Yes, it is still in 'Early Access' but the creators are still very active and the modding community is also going strong. Would highly recommend.
If you like city building aspects, I can recommend newly released (well, out of early access) Against the Storm. Game combines roguelike with city builder, where many different fantasy races try to survive through everlasting magical rain. Depending on difficulty it can be as chill as Timberborn or as intense as Frostpunk.
What I really like about 7 days to die is how easy zombies are to kill, until they aren't A three zombies in open may be easy, but even one jumping on you out of hiding makes you mess up, so you are always on your toes
Something space-themed but completely different that I'd highly recommend is Outer Wilds, a first person puzzle exploration game where you explore the ruins of an ancient civilization. It might not sounds like much but there is a lot hiding beneath the surface! It's arguably become my favourite game after AoE2.
Yes!! Outer Wilds is currently the most memorable gaming experience I've ever had. It's truly something special, and I highly recommend anybody who's interested just jump into the game as blind as possible.
I'm amazed at how similar our tastes are. Love you and your content. I'm here if you decide to create content for other games outside the AoE franchise.
Perfect! See, I always watch most of your videos SotL, but I barely play AoE 2 anymore. You just do a good job being consistently entertaining and informative, so I don't really care if it's about a game I'm actively playing or not. So it's great to see and it'd be great to see more of, you trying to branch out to other games with stuff like this (especially since it seems like you share a lot my taste with games, according to this list). Some other games you might want to check out? It's tough to say because it seems like you've got your bases covered. Perhaps if you like Total War more generally, and you especially liked Shogun 2, there's Koei Tecmo's long standing Nobunaga's Ambition games, though they take a long time to learn how to play (like a Paradox game really). If you like space battles and tactics, I'd also recommend the licensed tie-in Battlestar Galactica: Deadlock, which is based on the early 2000s revival series headed by Ronald D. Moore. And if you like FTL but want more strategy and less sci-fi, I found this little indie game called Sigma Theory a few years ago on steam. I'd recommend Domina if you wanted a really cool take on Roman stuff because it was a neat little indie game about running a gladiator school with a killer soundtrack, but I think the dev went nuts or something and had some major conflict with someone at Valve and delisted it? It's some sort of drama I'm not entirely sure about that caused that game to get taken down, not sure what exactly.
Loved the list! I missed Surviving Mars, thought it would be there considering you were using footage. It is sooo satisfying to give an order and see a swarm of little robots doing it piece by piece.
Your picks are nearly 1 for 1 what I would have picked! My only suggestions for you are Kerbal Space Program or either: Factorio or Satisfactory. Side note: Timberborn is Banished w/Beavers and even better IMO.
When speaking of old game recommendations, I always think of Fall from Heaven 2, a dark fantasy themed total conversion mod for Civilization 4:Beyond the Sword. And I think you might like it if you haven't tried it already.
Hearing you give a shoutout to Marbozir made my day. He's an awesome youtuber from Poland. His XCOM runs are great and some of my favorite series around.
Ever try the Rise of Nations? It's a really great RTS with a lot of similarities with AoE series except that it covers the entire era of humanity from ancient era to modern present day. I have a lot of fun playing those game and it's just so sad that this game don't get enough attention it deserves
I play it when I want to turn my brain off from Multiplayer/Campaigns from the Age of Empires. Love RoN. Another way I describe it to the unfamiliar is that it's AoE with Civilization city building.
The thing I like the most that makes it different from AOE is rare resources and Wonders, I like to imagine all the possibilities that a few Little bonuses match with your civilization.
"I don't have mainstream taste" you say that as a bad thing. This was a soulful list, even if I didn't totally jibe with all the games on it, it showed a real preference in games not shaped by what is popular and what shows up in ads. A cultured mans list of games, bravo, one of the better ones I've seen this year.
I love that FTL still gets recognition nearly 12 years after it's release considering it's an Indie title. I agree with the other commenter suggesting that you upload some FTL runs on your channel, would be a great watch
For people who are still interested in old school rts games, Stronghold just got a definitive edition and it’s wonderful. It leans a bit more into the city building aspect of an RTS than aoe does but it’s a good rts that doesn’t really have an equivalent outside of its own series, kinda like total war games
I really enjoy the arcade game mode of Desert Strike from StarCraft2. It's really chill and laid back with some pretty nice strategy, especially if you have an idea of the units in StarCraft2.
Friend, if you like FTL you must try the "Captains edition" mod along all the submods (including the weapons variety one), it easly triples the game's content and replayability.
One of my personal recommendations for those who are looking for an RTS itch is Company of Heroes 2. During the holiday sales this game and ALL of its dlc and factions can be $20. It’s my go to game for when I’m taking a break from AOE simply because it allows you to be solely a general and not have to worry about economy and resource management as much
Here to support a Spirit video that's not AOE 2! I've loved the game since 99, and I play many other types of games as well lol. And many of those games have maths I would like explained 😅
Hi SotL! Great video! I love the total war games a bunch as well as a lot of other games mentioned here. I would love if you would check out Outer Wilds! It’s a chill 20 hour game where you explore an intricate and interactive solar system while solving a mystery. The less you know the better (the trailer doesn’t do it Justice) and it frequently goes on sale for $15. Anyway, keep it up man! If you ever made videos on any of these games I am sure we would all watch them. Happy New Year!
DISCLAIMERS heart of iron 4 has a lot of features, paths Quality of life improvements, etc locked behind dlc The base game, while servicible, is not really good if you play it unmodded or with no dlc You been warned
I would add one more thing, be perpared to sink a lot ( 50, 80, maybe even 100+ ) hours to just learnig in game mechanics and systems. This is trure for perrty much all grand strategy games, and double so fo paradox.
I had crazy amount of fun with it when it came out. I'm sure you can have amazing time, specially becouse a lot of free updates were added with each DLC.
@wholesomebaker5410 base game is servicible, but a LOT of good featured a locked behind dlc Focus tree isn't a problem cause you can just use mods for that
I tend to like a lot of games, mainly strategy and RPG, I'd find it hard to make a top 10 but can give a list of 10 of my favourite PC games in no particular order. Lots of older ones too, I'm from 1985. Some left a big impression and I feel like many might be close to your interests too since I'm too a fan of history, fantasy and science fiction. -Neverwinter Nights 1. My introduction to D&D and also online roleplaying. Not the most balanced game, but still the only game to date that I have played that was designed specifically for online roleplaying. The easy to use editor and game master client helps a lot with that. -Dungeon Siege 1. Simple hack and slash rpg that embraces the fantasy cliches, but it's so much fun, almost meditative. Great music, no load screens and a great amount of different loot to find. Even the 10th time you will still find armour or weapons with an appearance you never saw before. Jeremy Soule's greatest soundtrack is here I would say. It's also a rare hack and slash RPG where you control a party of up to 8 people instead of just one character. -X-COM 2. Great party turn based strategy game, so many mods for it too. I just really like being able to customise my own troops in so much detail and that they can die during any mission. I prefer playing it on normal difficulty with some tougher monsters added through mods, mainly for the late game to keep it exciting. But it's a game that gives so many interesting war stories. Like the time I abandoned a mission and went for the evac after two soldiers died during the first encounter, leaving another panicked soldier behind to die. But playing it careful, he managed to actually survive and make it to the evac point, killing the several enemies that stood in between. Must have been an awkward flight back home after being left for dead. -Marvel Midnight Suns. More niche I suppose, but it just really clicks for me despite having combat that is turn based with cards. Not much of a card game person at all and my super hero interest tends to be more casual, but here it really works. I also like the downtime, talking with everyone and befriending them, and also adjusting each characters their deck of cards to suit my play style, creating some synergies too between team members. -Age of Wonders 4. It's great fun to make your own factions and evolve them further through different research. It's the best game in the series by far, finally allowing you to train troops and build buildings at the same time in a city. I think you'd like this one too. So many different combinations possible. -Knights of the Old Republic 1. I can recommend the sequel too, but prefer the first one. It has a better story than most star wars movies and I like how it is more mature in tone, a bit more adult. Not in violence in such, but in the dialogue. Especially painfully noticeable after playing The Old Republic MMO which only has cardboard characters and pretty simple stories in comparison. -Jade Empire. Underappreciated gem, possibly Bioware's best game. Closest a game has ever come to bringing me to tears. It's quite an emotional journey, and the Chinese mythology and martial arts are a great theme. It also has quite some humour to it. -Dungeon Keeper 1. There has been a sequel and various spiritual successors, but I will always prefer the grim fairytale look of the first, and it's more frantic gameplay. It's just something else to see a wizard cast like 10 spells in 5 seconds. Like they really go all out. The sequel and other spiritual successors all seem to get too goofy and cartoony. -Assassin's Creed Odyssey. While the science fiction stuff and anything outside of the Animus and the whole Atlantis DLC I don't care for, I do really love exploring ancient Greece, visiting all the cities and sailing around. Such a beautiful visual experience, like being on vacation. Story is pretty alright too, at least Kassandra is a great protagonist. Rare to not be tired of a lead voice actor after 100 hours. -Total war Warhammer 2 total war. Probably my favourite of the total war series so far, I like taking control of different fantasy armies and seeing such armies clash, kind of scratches that Lord of the Rings itch I suppose. I never bothered getting the third, not yet at least. An endless chaos invasion sounds just as boring as the first game, I like being able to turn that off in the second one. I'm never a fan of any faction in a total war game just spawning with endless stacks they did not earn. In Medieval 2 I also disabled the mongol and timurid invasions in the files.
An interesting list, but if you liked Banish and Rimworld, I would suggest playing Against the Storm. A City builder where you have to race to collect and complete tasks before a giant storm destroys the map. It has two features that keep me coming back. The first is the random factor. Buildings/settler types/bonuses/objectives are unlocked throughout the game, but must be selected from a random list. One game might give you a lumber mill right away, while km another game you are forced to use the Carpenter shop, which produces less planks of wood, but provides other resources. The other factor is that you can upgrade the main settlement (that survives the storm) to offer more buildings or better starting resources. This gives the game huge replayability. The game is available on Steam or Epic, but it's currently a better deal on Epic.
I strongly reccomend Frostpunk. It's $6 at the moment and amazing value at the price. I can't speak to replayability as I've only gotten it recently, but it's Rimworld meets League of Extrordinary Gentlemen meets Day After Tomorrow. For the price, best value game I've gotten in years.
Some games I would recommend to aoe2-fans would be: Age of Wonders Cossacks 3 Mount & Blade Overlord 2 Dungeon Keeper (or alternatively "War for the Overworld") Invisible Inc. Don't Starve
if you liked banished, I imagine you'd like farthest frontier which is quite a bit more fleshed out, and includes defending your village against raids to give it some combat
I’ve played probably half of these and enjoyed them all. If you are interested in pre-history, then I’d recommend Dawn of Man as a good city survival builder. Similar to and suffers from the same problem as banished, but you are always preparing for the next raid.
Timberborn is a good city management survival game where you make a city of beavers in a post hooman world. It is still in early access, but there's already a lot of game there and it is currently on sale for about $20(usd) which matches the pricing theme of the video.
I see, you and me would vibe very well Spirit! Attila is also my favorite Total War game, same with HOI 4 as the favorite Paradox Game. Glad I watch you!
Great picks! I, too, am a space nerd and regularly watch all the astrophysics youtube channels (PBS Spacetime, Dr. Becky, etc.). It's way above the price cap here, but I've been really enjoying Starfield. I'm not very far into it because I spend so much time just hopping around and exploring.
based on banished, patron and other city building games in your favorites list, I'd HIGHLY recommend playing Timberborn. It's recent, uses verticality, has a nice modding community and devs that really care about their game. As I've seen throughout time, they are really willing to test with the community and actually remove features from the game that were considered unhealthy until they think of a better way to implement the mechanic they were thinking about.
You should check out a game called "Beyond all reason". It's a remake of total annihilation which was a similar era as AoE2. One of the best strategy games of all time.
Hey SOTL, I presume you know the channel History Of The Universe then? I’m such a big fan of their documentary style videos on space and physics, and they’re even easy to understand for somebody with just a slight interest in space or physics or even sciences in general.
I'd recommend trying Lords of the Realm 2 if you haven't already. It's an old medieval strategy game from the mid 90s sort of similar to Total War in having a main strategic map in which you manage buildings, resources, farming, etc. and a battle/siege mode, but easier to pick up.
although i met your channel for that amazing intro song you had in the past :3 👍 I REALLY WOULD LIKE TO WATCH YOU PLAYING OTHER STRATEGY GAMES AND MAKING SHORT GUIDES AND COMPARISONS AS POSIBLE, you have a unique way to present you material bro, im glad im here since you had like 10k subs 😁👌
I recently did a round up for my niece and nephew for Xmas on games that are under $25 that are on Switch and PC (I play on PC they are on Switch). Here is my list; Dave the Diver - this game is similar feel to Stardew Valley, but instead of a farmer, you are a diver. During the day you dive for fish and explore the "blue hole". At night, you run a sushi restuarant. Ori and the Blind Forest - a side scrolling platformer with "metroid-vania" mechanics. The story is amazing and the graphics are beautiful. Start off with basic skills and unlock new abilities to access secrets and new areas of the game. Ori and the Will of the Wisp - the sequel to Ori and the Blind Forest. Continue Ori's story in a new area of the world with new characters. Same beautiful graphics and fun gameplay. Terraria - this is 2d minecraft, with a bigger emphasis on exploration and combat compared to minecraft which is more about mining and building. Still it is a sandbox game and you can play it how you want. Outer Wilds - my favourite game of all time. You start off on a small planet and launch a spaceship up into the solar system. Explore the solar system to learn of a disturbing puzzle. If you can put together all the pieces, you can save the whole solar system! Cross Code - a fun real-time combat RPG. Follow the story of a young girl that is trapped in a virtual world made real via robot avatars. What is the secret behind why you are stuck? How will your friends get dragged into the mystery along with you? In addition to the RPG elements, this game is also filled with puzzles. The range from easy to true noodle scratchers. Tunic - a throw back to SNES style games like The Legend of Zelda: a Link to the Past. An adventure and puzzle game where you slowly unlock the secrets of the world by revealing pages in an SNES style instruction booklet. Can you beat the game? Can you solve the puzzle that has been staring you in the face the whole play throug without you realizing it? Inscryption - a creepy card game that just gets creepier and creepier. Between rounds of the card game there is an escape room style puzzle that you need to solve. Cuphead - a side scrolling platformer with graphics inspired by early cartoons. Fight wacky bosses and try to perfect the levels and fights. Hollow Knight - you are a bug exploring a beautiful expansive ancient world. Explore the world to find bosses and unlock new abilities that allow you to get to places you previous could not access. Untitled Goose Game - a wacky puzzle game where you play as a goose trying to fool those pesky humans.
Been playing DUNE Spice Wars recently, an RT4X made by the lads at SHIRO games - the Northgard devs. I'd recommend both. Also ValleyGirls - I mean Valheim.
Beyond all Reason -Free It's an updated Total Annihilation which is very balanced and easy to get in to, with an epic scale that only escalates as the game goes on. Unlike most RTS games, resources in BAR only escalate as the game goes on. It's normal to see ten thousand units made and destroyed in a game. Excellent UI with a lot of automation. It's free, can't hurt to try.
I can highly recommend Medieval Total War 2 with the Third Age Total War mod and some submods, great game to go and play to chill out, and my personal fav of all the total war franchise
My suggestion to you my friend maybe you already know it or heard about it. But I think Rise of nations is another game to ad to your list. It is the most similar game I've found out of AOE franchise but that still feels like one, but this one has a major role on map and territory control. The periods of time go from the first great empires like the ancient Egyptians to i would like to say is nowdays but bieng a 20yo game id rather say is one age before our current level. In this game all nations have pretty different bonuses that distinguishes them even more than on AOE2, more resources to manage like metal instead of stone, knowledge and in modern ages Oil for things like tanks, airplanes and ships, still has unique units and most importantly they have things called "rare resources" that not only provide passive income of all kind of resources but also provide all kind of bonuses like plus atack to infantry and towers, more building resistance, less spending resources or discount on certain technologies. Other thing i love is you can do a Random map like in AOE and play as normal lr you can go for more like an hearts of iron experience going through a campaign for world domination where every territory provides different bonuses, rare resources and game styles. I hope you give it an opportunity if you haven't.
Awesome video! Really made me feel a true AOE2 fan (and Warhammer too), one game you may not know: blitzkrieg. It is an rts, old hard to find game but really fun if u get blitzkrieg II which is a mod, downloaded and installed as a standalone game. No original blitzkrieg required. Another one is Star wars: Empire at war
This is really awesome man, nice video! I’m also partial to Into the Breech if you want a game similar to FTL, and Overcooked (if you have a group of friends)
i am playing shadow of mordor rn before shadow of war and i got to say it gives me the enjoyment and thrills that i used to get at any games when i was younger. i loved that feeling.
Kingdoms and Castles is a very similar game to Banished. 8 think it's a tiny bit simpler than it but definitly worth a try. Very cute grafic and complex gameplay.
6:30 - Leonardo pointing at the screen
Hi potato, guys here
As a long term sub to both of your channels, I’m happy that there’s such a high crossover between the two games.
Someone smells Civ VI
Banished is the same as Age of Empires but instead of an enemy laying waste to your town, it's you making terrible decisions that kills everyone.
banished is also has terrible settler AI which makes the game borderline unplayable. one example is if you have 5 units of food which is then distributed to 3 homes. What happens is that 5 units get taken to one house and the others have none. This means that during the winter your population will starve, or have no coats or tools to mine with. There's no concept of a shared resource pool between houses once it leaves the storeroom
It means that you can't do anything reliably until you have a huge surplus running of each resource
@starjadiancloneinvestigato1772 you need a market for proper distribution
@@starjadiancloneinvestigato1772 you know you can prevent that by just placing a market right?
@@starjadiancloneinvestigato1772It actually makes sense for people to try to stock up if you're in a first family takes all situation and that's why it's recommended not to build houses at the beginning and start with the big building (idk what it's called) that's ment to be a temporary loge for the homeless and switch to houses after you either have enough food or have placed a market (people have kids faster when they have their own house)
@@ThePiotrekpecet only by luck. villagers will retrieve food in batches of 25. Markets just distribute your food to further reaches than storage barns. It still doesn't solve the issue when you have 125 food to spread across 10 houses. I want 12 and 13 food in each house, not 25 in 5 and 0 in 5!!
I CAN'T BELIEVE SOTL ACTUALLY RECOMMENDED ARMADA 3.
By far my favorite mod of any RTS game. The Star Trek theme synchronizes with Sins of a Solar Empire's in-game mechanism surprisingly well. If you are a fan of Star Trek and RTS games pls give it a try, it won't disappoint you.
I think I tried Star Trek mods earlier on in SOASE and it felt a bit bland compared to the original game. Mind I have hundreds of hours in Armada 2 with huge nostalgia, but also Birth of the Federation, Bridge command, Starfleet Command(3), Klingon Academy,, but also well over 100h in SOASE (without mods).
I think I remember there was an over emphasis on keeping the balance similar to the original game (with only a few capital ships, with huge fleets of frigates, corvettes and some cruisers, each having their own weaknesses), rather than more canon Star Trek where there is less of a ''this ship beats this ship'' thing.
How does Armada 3 fare these days ? Can I just build a fleet of Galaxy classes with no huge weaknesses and as Romans spam the D'Deridex warbirds around?
I mean also a Klingon fleet, it should be mostly birds of prey, supplemented with Vor'cha's, Negh'Vars, some old K'Tinga's/D4's, en K'vorts?
I don't mind filling the ''blanks'' with Armada 2 ships but I miss the fleet composition ''to scale'' with the series in most Star Trek games.
In SOASE to much focus on the overpowered Titans imho, with to few capital ships, and way way to much way to squishable frigs and corvettes. Also to much emphasis on special abilities imho and rock paper scissors weakness wise. E.g. 2-3 bird of prays should elmininate a Galaxy class, or a Warbird. But 1 Sovy should easily handle 2 BoP's...
In Armada 2, BoP's but even Defiants became completely useless squishy ships once you got to the Battleships, while in DS9 series, a defiant would knock out a Galaxy class ship no sweat.
I've played it myself very fun, but we always run into the problem of the game not saving correctly when we want to quit.
@@SnoVVdogsPks It's a SOASE Mod. Which unfortunately means having to deal with SOASE AI. So you know, eventually it just turns into a boring slog where you have to chase down the enemy fleet for 40+ minutes on a decent sized maps if you dont want to deal with MP as AI is one of the things modders cant touch with the game.
LOL!!!!!!!!!!! OMG YOU MENTIONED EMPIRE EARTH!!!!!!!! LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!! DID ANYONE KNOW YOU CAN ACTUALLY DOWNLOAD A COPY OF EMPIRE EARTH AND AN ONLINE PATCH TO PLAY PEOPLE ONLINE???????? LOL!!!!!!! :D :D
I would absolutely love a Rimworld series like you suggested, researching various topics and optimal strategies. I definitely think the AOE2 crowd has a lot of overlap with Rimworld.
Name it Spirit of the Lawless
Only issue is the algorithm penalizing creators for going outside of their normal formula.
A 2nd channel would help, but it's painful self-promoting a 2nd channel on the main.
@@garethgraves1144spirit of the war crimes.
The problem is that there already is channels like that, and they have existed for several years already. So you will not only compete with them. You also have to retread ground someone else already walked on.
@@9051team Spirit of the Geneva Convention.
Always nice to see Tropico getting a mention.
Personally this year I've been obsessed with Against the Storm, a nice Roguelitey city builder that sees you rushing to build a city that pleases the Queen before the forest and Storm reclaims the land you've settled. Its setup forces you to constantly adjust the details in how you build your city as you progress and unlock new options and difficulty levels.
I got Against the Storm a few days ago, and I can't get it out of my head. I like roguelites, city builders not so much usually. But it's so engaging, a match is just the right length, and the meta-progression seems very interesting so far. I'll probably spend a few hundred hours with this one
I started playing Tropico a while ago. IT'S AWESOME! Tropico 3 was on sale for about 3,50 € and I just bought it mainly because it was cheap and I wanted to play something different. I have around 60 hours in the game and I still haven't finished the missions. I'm really looking forward to Tropico 4. People say it's just like 3 but with some nice additions. It will take me a while, especially since I tend to play additional 20 years after finishing the mission objective.
the music in tropico is so chill!
I've basically only been playing Against the Storm over my Christmas vacation. It's such a well balanced and crafted survival city rogue-lite.
Based Tropico enjoyer
Something that is a great mix of Civ and Age games for me was Rise of Nations and I will always hope that there will be a remaster announced to bring it back with additional content.
love that game, also hoping for a remaster
Love that game. It fulfills AoE's promise of a Civ game in RTS form.
Oh shit yea
As someone who has been watching you since around 2016, I was never expecting a project I worked on to show up on your channel. I worked on Armada 3 and did a bunch of models for the Ages of the Federation follow up. Really awesome small world moment!
bless you mate. Same with Gul & Bane
@@primachpepe8597 And let's not forget Max!
@@UndyingNephalim i sadly never met the rest of the team, only knew Gul & Bane through some of the streams & community events.
I am gratefull to everyone who worked on this mod, for all the hours it gave me
To me one of the best RTS games ever was 2000 Bulgarian game called Tzar. It was anothe clone of Age of Empires but in some ways it was even better. For example if the unit killed another one hp, armor, attack was increased. Graphics was also really good for it's time. I highly recommend you guys to check this game. One of the most underrated game ever made.
I had that one. Never got the chance to play multiplayer, and there was plenty of cheese in the campaigns, I remember you could kill your own troops for xp 😂
And yes, it had so many unique features. I much enjoyed that you could convert whole enemy towns not with a Priest sweet-talking the buildings into submission, but by swarming them with peasants! - which was much more efficient than razing them.
And the Spy / Assassin / Ninja 🥷😂
Bro fr though. I've literally been sitting here for 2 decades waiting for the Stronghold devs to take Tzar and put it into their game. I want a Stronghold game where I can choose between 3 separate cultures.
Yes, listen to this man, Tzar is a hidden gem.
Cossacks Back to War
American conquest was also a great game
My recommendation is pretty niche but the Cossack games from 2002 were phenomenal. And Cossacks 3 captures all the enjoyable parts of the original games with improved graphics and gameplay. It’s a 17th and 18th century RTS where you have to manage resources and defeat the enemy nations
It surely is a niche, I remember playing cossacks barracks of wars in my early childhood and boy was I hooked.
anno 1800 is in the christmas sale also under 25$. it deserves a place in this list for sure too. for all the sim city aoe players its a fun alternative
All Anno games are amazing, and 1800 is the best!
Anno is a wonderful time sink lol
Like Civ’s “Just one more turn” but instead it’s “I just need to complete this production chain” or “I just need to settle this one island”. Then before you know it, the game itself is telling you to take a break.
I haven’t played much 1800, but I loved 2070 in it’s heyday.
I would love to see a bit of FTL just for fun on your channel. I think the pacing of the game would allow for fun commentary and its just an entertaining watch.
Also in VRChat one person made 3d version of FTL like game, i enjoyed even being without VR set
If you enjoy FTL I can’t recommend the “Multiverse” mod enough. It’s an extraordinarily expansive mod that basically multiplies the base game content by 10 but keeps the original spirit.
Pretty sure every FTL player has heard of Multiverse at this point
Personally I hadn't heard of it (granted, it's been years since I've played FTL). Seeing it mentioned in this video had me itching to play again, but hearing of such a mod is what I needed to actually go through with reinstalling it and giving it another go, so thanks.
@@ssssdsdddbb Enjoy man. Good luck nabbing the Rift Waker ;)
@@ssssdsdddbb Multiverse is a little overrated, to be fair, but it sure adds tons of interesting content.
I've never heard of it, but thank you for your dick head response to his comment.
Against the Storm, its a rogue-lite city builder, just released 1.0 after 2 years of early access. Its a very fun game, since you liked ftl, and seem to be a big fan of city builders its probably a good option. Its also very rain-punk, so its got some very chill vibes and excellent music
I second this. Sank 70 hours in it in Early Access and found it very solid already, now at full release I have picked it up again and having fun with the new Seals challenge system. Also, while it's 30 dollars, are very reasonable price IMHO, this Steam sale it dropped to 20, so it falls under 25 as well
Against the storm probably has the best UI/UX of any colonysim/citybuilder.
It's just amazing how much you can do in the game without having to go more than 2 menus deep all the while keeping the game readable and interconnected.
It's such a pleasure to play just for this reason.
I started playing it just before Christmas, its been awesome
This game is a gem.
Yeah came here to recommend it. I love this game!
If you really like FTL, you should give Into the Breach a shot. It is a turn based game from the same makers whereby you manage 3 mechs and, depending on the mission, have to take out enemies, protect buildings and/or demolish objects. Its quite cheap and definitely worth your time ;)
100%, Into the breach is awesome
I almost expected you to mention Dwarf Fortress! A lot like Rimworld, but it is THE grandaddy of the genre, with far more depth than is honestly humanly reasonable. The recent release on steam really helped make it much more accessible.
Dwarf Fortress is the grandaddy of Minecraft too. So basically ancestor of a lot of games these days. XD
@@greenfox1991 Everyone wants a slice of the Dwarf pie, but only the _real_ deal can provide the full experience.
My suggestion: Crusader Kings II or Crusader Kings III.
It uses the same Paradox Engine like HOI IV but is set up in early to late Medieval period (like AOE2) and I really like the dynasty building and medieval court shenanigans.
I prefer CKII to HOI 4 by a long shot. I only just got CK3 on sale and am going to have to learn all the new things.
i prefer ck3 because it's easy to learn and master unlike hoi4, eu4 or even ck2.
CK3 after 3-4 years has caught up to 10 years of CK2 content and also does many things a lot better
@@mortache Are you sure? Ck3 caught to ck2 with all dlcs ck2 have? Sorry, but I doubt that. Have not played ck3, honestly asking. Do you have all dlc of ck2?
CK is totally different. CK is focused on your leader. The stronger your leader becomes by inhereting traits the better. HOI 4 is more war focused.
Have you ever tried the Creeper World series? It's an incredibly satisfying series with a big focus on resource efficiency and turning the tide (literally) of the battle. It might look like a tower defense game, but feels somewhere closer to an RTS.
I've played and enjoyed almost every game you've mentioned on the list.
Offworld Trading Company is a fun RTS to play with your friends. It's very board game-like, and while learning it can be a bit tricky, even then the adventure of learning it is fun with your friends.
This game is fantastic and very underrated
Great list ! I also recommend taking a look at XCOM: Enemy Unknown (Long War mod) and Terra Invicta. Happy new year !
I was also going to recommend Terra Invicta, it seems right up Spirit's alley given these games. The elevator pitch for those who haven't heard of the game before:
It's like if XCOM was a Paradox-style grand strategy game instead of squad-level turn based tactics. You play as the leader of a secretive transnational organization trying to coordinate humanity's response to an alien invasion, working against (or with) both the aliens and other rival factions trying to influence Earth's nations to your side, build up industry, research, and eventually military in space, and in the end fight for control of Earth and the whole Solar System. It's also pretty hard sci-fi with a realistic sense of scale and the technologies (especially space ship engines) are all based on theorized designs that could plausibly actually work, which is pretty cool.
I'd highly recommend Mount&Blade (newest game Bannerlord or older but more modded Warband) It's a medieval themed game where you command a band of troops, but your character also actively fights in the ground themselves. It's strategy + fighting, its great.
No gaming experience for me is as satisfying as leading a cavalry charge in the front yourself.
This! Mount and Blade is fantastic!
Caution: play mont and blade only if you have no goals in life.
M&B Warband has fantastic mods. Warsword Conquest does amazing things with that old game engine!
I recommend everyone I know who likes Banished to check out another settlement builder called Ostriv. To me it's the true spiritual successor to Banished, it forges a lot of new ground especially on the economy and simulation side of things that really make your villages feel alive. It also has an expansive 'late game' while still retaining the feeling of Banished that I found a lot of similar games lack. It's been a labor of love of the developer being steadily developed over the past 7 years, and is absolutely my favorite game for chilling out and listening to podcasts like you mentioned.
Medival Dynasty is a fun first person village/city builder. Definitely lacks in combat and story, but is similar to banished in that it is pretty chill to play with something running in the background.
Yes, I can definetely recommend it. Coop has been added recently, which makes it perfect to hang out with friends.
@@OlafJorigsonIts nice they added coop but you can’t play it with randoms, which became a turn off for me and I refunded. I don’t have friends to play it with so if there is no option for random matches, the coop is useless.
To me this is the single most underrated game I own.
Best way I can sum it up is imagine a Skyrim-like world in terms of scope, and that the game lets you build a living, breathing village anywhere on the map. You can place the building types as you wish, fill them with workers, and watch those workers get married, have kids and die.
I've always wanted a game like this that lets me build up my town as immersively as possible, and to me, this is that game.
Didn't expected Atilla! I tought I am the only person on this world that like base campaign! No other Total War beats battles in Attila
Attila is for my money, easily the best TW hands down . . . after Shogun 2, because Shogun 2 has the best variety, since the vanilla game and FOTS play so totally differently. But Attila has some of the best theming in the series with all the throat singing doom songs and I love the destructible villages that can propagate fire because it makes defensive settlement battles much more engaging.
Seeing these games classed as "old" really makes me feel ancient with a lot of the ones i still play to this day like disciples 2, ff7, empire of the ants, heroes 3, hexen/heretic/doom/quake etc.
I've played all of those. I have Heroes 3 installed on my machine right now
If you like Tropico, I recommend you give Anno 1800 a shot. It's similar in some ways to Tropico in terms of Island city managing but over multiple Islands and distinctive regions with their own mechanics. It can be a very challenging game at times and switches between casual and "optimised" game styles, whichever suits you best.
anno 1800 is so fucking good!!!!
Anno has nothing in common with tropico, especially T4...
A better suggestion would be Settlers VI, since it has the 90% city builder/10% RTS formula of tropico.
ok but anno 1800 is so fucking good tho
List:
10: Banished
9: 7 Days to Die
8: Tropico 4
7: FTL
6: Middle Earth: Shadow of War
5: Civilization 6
4: Hearts of Iron IV
3: Star Trek Armada III (Mod for Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion)
2: Rimworld
1: Total War: Attila
This is a very similar game to AOE2, but I have to recommend it because I love it so much: Rise of Nations. Like AOE2, except you get to go further in history to the modern day, and unlock nukes and stuff. A good one if you haven't played it!
7 Days to Die is an absolutely incredible game if you have a group of friends who are good at managing their expectations. Super corny/janky in a lot of ways but when you get into it, it's an incredible sandbox where there are a lot of specialized roles to fill and generally just creates a lot of teamwork which is what i think makes survival/crafting games create so many memories
That was an unexpected but interesting kind of vídeo. I'm sure most of us are here for AoE 2 content, but it's nice to see your opinion about other kinds of games as well for a change.
I'm just here for the statistics : p
7 days is awesome. The mods are fantastic, and the modding community gives fairly consistent updates to some of them.
Modded Servers are also very friendly when they pve.
If only the devs were as great as the modding community.^^
@@DrZaius3141 At least they are consistent and still work on a game years after it would be ready for final release. They brought the game a long way from its humble roots.
Given this list, I think you might be able to bury yourself in Against the Storm. It's a Roguelite citybuilder with a focus on getting small settlements up and running before leaving for the next settlement.
Not a RTS, a visual novel: The House in Fata Morgana. I just picked it up, and It might just be the greatest piece of fiction in any form of media I've ever read, and it might not even be close. Don't let the fact that its a visual novel diswade you, this is my first ever one, and probably the only one. This is peak dark fantasy. Its so good on everything, characters, themes, and the most mind blowing plot twists I've ever seen.
Holyshit, I never expected to see THIFM posted until a video like this. The characters are so realistic but at the same time shouldn't be realistic... They are twisted in a way that is unsettling but no doubt human. I've never seen characters that feel so real. Some of the plot twists actually made me just go back and think for several minutes. Because it's so unexpected, so shocking, but it makes so much sense. It's all been there, but we the readers just refused to see it. It might not really be a "game", more so a novel, but it's my favourite story of all time. It's a genuine masterpiece that everyone needs to experience.
Rimworld is such an amazing story-based base builder. It can seem so simple, but it’s incredibly flushed out even without mods. If you ever need to kill 2-8 hours without noticing, load up that game! Over 500 hours and I’ve never beat it haha
I would definetly subscribe to your (soon to be) space themed youtube channel since that is the main thing I watch on youtube outside your AOE2 vids.
Whit that said, keep it up SOTL, you're the best!
The vanilla Sins of a Solar Empire 2 is an incredible game too!
Been playing 7 Days since it came out. Yes, it is still in 'Early Access' but the creators are still very active and the modding community is also going strong. Would highly recommend.
If you like city building aspects, I can recommend newly released (well, out of early access) Against the Storm. Game combines roguelike with city builder, where many different fantasy races try to survive through everlasting magical rain. Depending on difficulty it can be as chill as Timberborn or as intense as Frostpunk.
What I really like about 7 days to die is how easy zombies are to kill, until they aren't
A three zombies in open may be easy, but even one jumping on you out of hiding makes you mess up, so you are always on your toes
Something space-themed but completely different that I'd highly recommend is Outer Wilds, a first person puzzle exploration game where you explore the ruins of an ancient civilization. It might not sounds like much but there is a lot hiding beneath the surface! It's arguably become my favourite game after AoE2.
Yes!! Outer Wilds is currently the most memorable gaming experience I've ever had. It's truly something special, and I highly recommend anybody who's interested just jump into the game as blind as possible.
I'm amazed at how similar our tastes are. Love you and your content. I'm here if you decide to create content for other games outside the AoE franchise.
Perfect! See, I always watch most of your videos SotL, but I barely play AoE 2 anymore. You just do a good job being consistently entertaining and informative, so I don't really care if it's about a game I'm actively playing or not. So it's great to see and it'd be great to see more of, you trying to branch out to other games with stuff like this (especially since it seems like you share a lot my taste with games, according to this list).
Some other games you might want to check out? It's tough to say because it seems like you've got your bases covered. Perhaps if you like Total War more generally, and you especially liked Shogun 2, there's Koei Tecmo's long standing Nobunaga's Ambition games, though they take a long time to learn how to play (like a Paradox game really). If you like space battles and tactics, I'd also recommend the licensed tie-in Battlestar Galactica: Deadlock, which is based on the early 2000s revival series headed by Ronald D. Moore. And if you like FTL but want more strategy and less sci-fi, I found this little indie game called Sigma Theory a few years ago on steam.
I'd recommend Domina if you wanted a really cool take on Roman stuff because it was a neat little indie game about running a gladiator school with a killer soundtrack, but I think the dev went nuts or something and had some major conflict with someone at Valve and delisted it? It's some sort of drama I'm not entirely sure about that caused that game to get taken down, not sure what exactly.
Loved the list! I missed Surviving Mars, thought it would be there considering you were using footage. It is sooo satisfying to give an order and see a swarm of little robots doing it piece by piece.
Spirt of the Rim when? I'd love a new game to deep dive in
Your picks are nearly 1 for 1 what I would have picked! My only suggestions for you are Kerbal Space Program or either: Factorio or Satisfactory. Side note: Timberborn is Banished w/Beavers and even better IMO.
When speaking of old game recommendations, I always think of Fall from Heaven 2, a dark fantasy themed total conversion mod for Civilization 4:Beyond the Sword.
And I think you might like it if you haven't tried it already.
Have you tried dawn of civ? Makes it impossible to play any other civ game
Hearing you give a shoutout to Marbozir made my day. He's an awesome youtuber from Poland. His XCOM runs are great and some of my favorite series around.
Ever try the Rise of Nations? It's a really great RTS with a lot of similarities with AoE series except that it covers the entire era of humanity from ancient era to modern present day. I have a lot of fun playing those game and it's just so sad that this game don't get enough attention it deserves
Empire Earth :)
I play it when I want to turn my brain off from Multiplayer/Campaigns from the Age of Empires. Love RoN.
Another way I describe it to the unfamiliar is that it's AoE with Civilization city building.
The thing I like the most that makes it different from AOE is rare resources and Wonders, I like to imagine all the possibilities that a few Little bonuses match with your civilization.
I have a lot of fond memories of Rise of Nations.
I wish Rise of Nations could get the Definitive Edition because that game really deserves it😞
"I don't have mainstream taste" you say that as a bad thing. This was a soulful list, even if I didn't totally jibe with all the games on it, it showed a real preference in games not shaped by what is popular and what shows up in ads. A cultured mans list of games, bravo, one of the better ones I've seen this year.
I dont play AoE 2 THAT much and I just like the content here, so personally would love to see some delving into these other games
I love that FTL still gets recognition nearly 12 years after it's release considering it's an Indie title. I agree with the other commenter suggesting that you upload some FTL runs on your channel, would be a great watch
There are games outside of AoE2?
For people who are still interested in old school rts games, Stronghold just got a definitive edition and it’s wonderful. It leans a bit more into the city building aspect of an RTS than aoe does but it’s a good rts that doesn’t really have an equivalent outside of its own series, kinda like total war games
I was always a fan of Stronghold Crusader. I've been meaning to pick up Stronghold DE. Just been busy with other games at the moment
I got some TotalBiscuit vibes from watching this video. Please do them every Steam sale.
TotalBiscuit has nothing on our boy Sotl
@@KarlKapo certainly not these days, RIP
@@XlightninX never had. TB was overrated
I really enjoy the arcade game mode of Desert Strike from StarCraft2. It's really chill and laid back with some pretty nice strategy, especially if you have an idea of the units in StarCraft2.
Friend, if you like FTL you must try the "Captains edition" mod along all the submods (including the weapons variety one), it easly triples the game's content and replayability.
Commenting here to say: CE is good but the real best expansion, by far, is multiverse.
It's absolutely incredible.
I liked this vid from you, glad to see Stronghold as an honourable mention, i grew up with AoE2 and Stronghold as my first pc games!
You should make another channel called "Spirit Of The Anarchy" where you cover Rimworld.
Yep, when he was discussing the topics he would cover, I had a pang of regret that I wouldn't see them covered.
Wholly agreed, I would watch his Rimworld content!
One of my personal recommendations for those who are looking for an RTS itch is Company of Heroes 2. During the holiday sales this game and ALL of its dlc and factions can be $20. It’s my go to game for when I’m taking a break from AOE simply because it allows you to be solely a general and not have to worry about economy and resource management as much
Now I need an spin-off channel about rimworld
Spirit, I would TOTALLY follow a space/astronomy youtube channel of yours. (Pretty much any channel you create honestly)
Here to support a Spirit video that's not AOE 2!
I've loved the game since 99,
and I play many other types of games as well lol.
And many of those games have maths I would like explained 😅
Hi SotL! Great video! I love the total war games a bunch as well as a lot of other games mentioned here. I would love if you would check out Outer Wilds! It’s a chill 20 hour game where you explore an intricate and interactive solar system while solving a mystery. The less you know the better (the trailer doesn’t do it Justice) and it frequently goes on sale for $15. Anyway, keep it up man! If you ever made videos on any of these games I am sure we would all watch them. Happy New Year!
DISCLAIMERS
heart of iron 4 has a lot of features, paths Quality of life improvements, etc locked behind dlc
The base game, while servicible, is not really good if you play it unmodded or with no dlc
You been warned
I would add one more thing, be perpared to sink a lot ( 50, 80, maybe even 100+ ) hours to just learnig in game mechanics and systems. This is trure for perrty much all grand strategy games, and double so fo paradox.
I had crazy amount of fun with it when it came out. I'm sure you can have amazing time, specially becouse a lot of free updates were added with each DLC.
@wholesomebaker5410 base game is servicible, but a LOT of good featured a locked behind dlc
Focus tree isn't a problem cause you can just use mods for that
I tend to like a lot of games, mainly strategy and RPG, I'd find it hard to make a top 10 but can give a list of 10 of my favourite PC games in no particular order. Lots of older ones too, I'm from 1985. Some left a big impression and I feel like many might be close to your interests too since I'm too a fan of history, fantasy and science fiction.
-Neverwinter Nights 1.
My introduction to D&D and also online roleplaying. Not the most balanced game, but still the only game to date that I have played that was designed specifically for online roleplaying. The easy to use editor and game master client helps a lot with that.
-Dungeon Siege 1.
Simple hack and slash rpg that embraces the fantasy cliches, but it's so much fun, almost meditative. Great music, no load screens and a great amount of different loot to find. Even the 10th time you will still find armour or weapons with an appearance you never saw before. Jeremy Soule's greatest soundtrack is here I would say. It's also a rare hack and slash RPG where you control a party of up to 8 people instead of just one character.
-X-COM 2.
Great party turn based strategy game, so many mods for it too. I just really like being able to customise my own troops in so much detail and that they can die during any mission. I prefer playing it on normal difficulty with some tougher monsters added through mods, mainly for the late game to keep it exciting. But it's a game that gives so many interesting war stories.
Like the time I abandoned a mission and went for the evac after two soldiers died during the first encounter, leaving another panicked soldier behind to die. But playing it careful, he managed to actually survive and make it to the evac point, killing the several enemies that stood in between. Must have been an awkward flight back home after being left for dead.
-Marvel Midnight Suns.
More niche I suppose, but it just really clicks for me despite having combat that is turn based with cards. Not much of a card game person at all and my super hero interest tends to be more casual, but here it really works. I also like the downtime, talking with everyone and befriending them, and also adjusting each characters their deck of cards to suit my play style, creating some synergies too between team members.
-Age of Wonders 4.
It's great fun to make your own factions and evolve them further through different research. It's the best game in the series by far, finally allowing you to train troops and build buildings at the same time in a city. I think you'd like this one too. So many different combinations possible.
-Knights of the Old Republic 1.
I can recommend the sequel too, but prefer the first one. It has a better story than most star wars movies and I like how it is more mature in tone, a bit more adult. Not in violence in such, but in the dialogue. Especially painfully noticeable after playing The Old Republic MMO which only has cardboard characters and pretty simple stories in comparison.
-Jade Empire.
Underappreciated gem, possibly Bioware's best game. Closest a game has ever come to bringing me to tears. It's quite an emotional journey, and the Chinese mythology and martial arts are a great theme. It also has quite some humour to it.
-Dungeon Keeper 1.
There has been a sequel and various spiritual successors, but I will always prefer the grim fairytale look of the first, and it's more frantic gameplay. It's just something else to see a wizard cast like 10 spells in 5 seconds. Like they really go all out. The sequel and other spiritual successors all seem to get too goofy and cartoony.
-Assassin's Creed Odyssey.
While the science fiction stuff and anything outside of the Animus and the whole Atlantis DLC I don't care for, I do really love exploring ancient Greece, visiting all the cities and sailing around. Such a beautiful visual experience, like being on vacation. Story is pretty alright too, at least Kassandra is a great protagonist. Rare to not be tired of a lead voice actor after 100 hours.
-Total war Warhammer 2 total war.
Probably my favourite of the total war series so far, I like taking control of different fantasy armies and seeing such armies clash, kind of scratches that Lord of the Rings itch I suppose. I never bothered getting the third, not yet at least. An endless chaos invasion sounds just as boring as the first game, I like being able to turn that off in the second one. I'm never a fan of any faction in a total war game just spawning with endless stacks they did not earn. In Medieval 2 I also disabled the mongol and timurid invasions in the files.
An interesting list, but if you liked Banish and Rimworld, I would suggest playing Against the Storm. A City builder where you have to race to collect and complete tasks before a giant storm destroys the map. It has two features that keep me coming back. The first is the random factor. Buildings/settler types/bonuses/objectives are unlocked throughout the game, but must be selected from a random list. One game might give you a lumber mill right away, while km another game you are forced to use the Carpenter shop, which produces less planks of wood, but provides other resources.
The other factor is that you can upgrade the main settlement (that survives the storm) to offer more buildings or better starting resources.
This gives the game huge replayability.
The game is available on Steam or Epic, but it's currently a better deal on Epic.
Against the Storm is fantastic, it fixes most of the problems city builders usually have
I strongly reccomend Frostpunk. It's $6 at the moment and amazing value at the price. I can't speak to replayability as I've only gotten it recently, but it's Rimworld meets League of Extrordinary Gentlemen meets Day After Tomorrow. For the price, best value game I've gotten in years.
Blasphemy
Hahaha so true
Some games I would recommend to aoe2-fans would be:
Age of Wonders
Cossacks 3
Mount & Blade
Overlord 2
Dungeon Keeper (or alternatively "War for the Overworld")
Invisible Inc.
Don't Starve
if you liked banished, I imagine you'd like farthest frontier which is quite a bit more fleshed out, and includes defending your village against raids to give it some combat
I’ve played probably half of these and enjoyed them all. If you are interested in pre-history, then I’d recommend Dawn of Man as a good city survival builder. Similar to and suffers from the same problem as banished, but you are always preparing for the next raid.
Timberborn is a good city management survival game where you make a city of beavers in a post hooman world. It is still in early access, but there's already a lot of game there and it is currently on sale for about $20(usd) which matches the pricing theme of the video.
There are a lot of similar colony builders out there, but Timberborn stands out. It's fantastic.
I see, you and me would vibe very well Spirit! Attila is also my favorite Total War game, same with HOI 4 as the favorite Paradox Game. Glad I watch you!
If you had a second channel of let's plays of any of these games I'd watch every episode. Thanks for the great content.
Great picks! I, too, am a space nerd and regularly watch all the astrophysics youtube channels (PBS Spacetime, Dr. Becky, etc.). It's way above the price cap here, but I've been really enjoying Starfield. I'm not very far into it because I spend so much time just hopping around and exploring.
Nice try, Todd!
based on banished, patron and other city building games in your favorites list, I'd HIGHLY recommend playing Timberborn.
It's recent, uses verticality, has a nice modding community and devs that really care about their game.
As I've seen throughout time, they are really willing to test with the community and actually remove features from the game that were considered unhealthy until they think of a better way to implement the mechanic they were thinking about.
Spirit, if you want to do videos on Rim World, you should! I'd probably watch them
You should check out a game called "Beyond all reason". It's a remake of total annihilation which was a similar era as AoE2. One of the best strategy games of all time.
Hey SOTL, I presume you know the channel History Of The Universe then? I’m such a big fan of their documentary style videos on space and physics, and they’re even easy to understand for somebody with just a slight interest in space or physics or even sciences in general.
I'd recommend trying Lords of the Realm 2 if you haven't already. It's an old medieval strategy game from the mid 90s sort of similar to Total War in having a main strategic map in which you manage buildings, resources, farming, etc. and a battle/siege mode, but easier to pick up.
although i met your channel for that amazing intro song you had in the past :3 👍 I REALLY WOULD LIKE TO WATCH YOU PLAYING OTHER STRATEGY GAMES AND MAKING SHORT GUIDES AND COMPARISONS AS POSIBLE, you have a unique way to present you material bro, im glad im here since you had like 10k subs 😁👌
I would definitely be down for Spirit of the Law Rimworld videos.
I recently did a round up for my niece and nephew for Xmas on games that are under $25 that are on Switch and PC (I play on PC they are on Switch). Here is my list;
Dave the Diver - this game is similar feel to Stardew Valley, but instead of a farmer, you are a diver. During the day you dive for fish and explore the "blue hole". At night, you run a sushi restuarant.
Ori and the Blind Forest - a side scrolling platformer with "metroid-vania" mechanics. The story is amazing and the graphics are beautiful. Start off with basic skills and unlock new abilities to access secrets and new areas of the game.
Ori and the Will of the Wisp - the sequel to Ori and the Blind Forest. Continue Ori's story in a new area of the world with new characters. Same beautiful graphics and fun gameplay.
Terraria - this is 2d minecraft, with a bigger emphasis on exploration and combat compared to minecraft which is more about mining and building. Still it is a sandbox game and you can play it how you want.
Outer Wilds - my favourite game of all time. You start off on a small planet and launch a spaceship up into the solar system. Explore the solar system to learn of a disturbing puzzle. If you can put together all the pieces, you can save the whole solar system!
Cross Code - a fun real-time combat RPG. Follow the story of a young girl that is trapped in a virtual world made real via robot avatars. What is the secret behind why you are stuck? How will your friends get dragged into the mystery along with you? In addition to the RPG elements, this game is also filled with puzzles. The range from easy to true noodle scratchers.
Tunic - a throw back to SNES style games like The Legend of Zelda: a Link to the Past. An adventure and puzzle game where you slowly unlock the secrets of the world by revealing pages in an SNES style instruction booklet. Can you beat the game? Can you solve the puzzle that has been staring you in the face the whole play throug without you realizing it?
Inscryption - a creepy card game that just gets creepier and creepier. Between rounds of the card game there is an escape room style puzzle that you need to solve.
Cuphead - a side scrolling platformer with graphics inspired by early cartoons. Fight wacky bosses and try to perfect the levels and fights.
Hollow Knight - you are a bug exploring a beautiful expansive ancient world. Explore the world to find bosses and unlock new abilities that allow you to get to places you previous could not access.
Untitled Goose Game - a wacky puzzle game where you play as a goose trying to fool those pesky humans.
Been playing DUNE Spice Wars recently, an RT4X made by the lads at SHIRO games - the Northgard devs. I'd recommend both. Also ValleyGirls - I mean Valheim.
Beyond all Reason -Free
It's an updated Total Annihilation which is very balanced and easy to get in to, with an epic scale that only escalates as the game goes on. Unlike most RTS games, resources in BAR only escalate as the game goes on. It's normal to see ten thousand units made and destroyed in a game.
Excellent UI with a lot of automation.
It's free, can't hurt to try.
I can highly recommend Medieval Total War 2 with the Third Age Total War mod and some submods, great game to go and play to chill out, and my personal fav of all the total war franchise
Wish they would make some Total War games for kids or something that this old guy could play lol. Never able to get too far.
My suggestion to you my friend maybe you already know it or heard about it. But I think Rise of nations is another game to ad to your list. It is the most similar game I've found out of AOE franchise but that still feels like one, but this one has a major role on map and territory control. The periods of time go from the first great empires like the ancient Egyptians to i would like to say is nowdays but bieng a 20yo game id rather say is one age before our current level. In this game all nations have pretty different bonuses that distinguishes them even more than on AOE2, more resources to manage like metal instead of stone, knowledge and in modern ages Oil for things like tanks, airplanes and ships, still has unique units and most importantly they have things called "rare resources" that not only provide passive income of all kind of resources but also provide all kind of bonuses like plus atack to infantry and towers, more building resistance, less spending resources or discount on certain technologies. Other thing i love is you can do a Random map like in AOE and play as normal lr you can go for more like an hearts of iron experience going through a campaign for world domination where every territory provides different bonuses, rare resources and game styles.
I hope you give it an opportunity if you haven't.
Great to see a Marbozir shoutout. I have spent an enormous amount of hours watching his Civ content.
Awesome video! Really made me feel a true AOE2 fan (and Warhammer too), one game you may not know: blitzkrieg. It is an rts, old hard to find game but really fun if u get blitzkrieg II which is a mod, downloaded and installed as a standalone game. No original blitzkrieg required. Another one is Star wars: Empire at war
This is really awesome man, nice video! I’m also partial to Into the Breech if you want a game similar to FTL, and Overcooked (if you have a group of friends)
If you like Rimworld there's a high chance you'll also like Dwarf Fortress, since it's the game Rimworld was inspired by
YES. Attila is my favourite Total War :) This video also makes me want to give Sins of a Solar Empire another go.
i am playing shadow of mordor rn before shadow of war and i got to say it gives me the enjoyment and thrills that i used to get at any games when i was younger. i loved that feeling.
Have you tried Anno 1800? It has so much friggin depth. Constant updates, beautiful game. Just so sick.
Kingdoms and Castles is a very similar game to Banished. 8 think it's a tiny bit simpler than it but definitly worth a try. Very cute grafic and complex gameplay.
Man seeing a really cool numbers based approach like yours in civ 6 content would be awesome
Spirit, believe me, you can upload anything to this channel and all of us would watch it. That's how good you are.
You might really like Frostpunk and Crusader Kings (especially CK 3).
I was SO happy you called out ST Armada 3!! It's such a great mod, I wish there was an actual Armada 3 so often xD
Check out Astroneer, folks! You'll love it. You will too, Mr SOTL.