I think the developers are going in the right direction. I really love the ambience of the game, this includes some of the incredible sound tracks.

The only thing (for me) holding it back right now is the balancing. Aspects is horrible to play against, I feel the White Truce mechanic is just way too overpowered vs. agressive factions. I was literally waiting with my armies on their borders for the Truce to end, only to be forced into it again a turn after declaring war. For a peace forcing faction their armies also seem to scale very well in comparison to some others.

The minor faction powers also need to be a bit more balanced I think. I remember one of my first games the enemy AI had 80% crit rate on all their units because a lot of those minor faction villages were close to their home.

Also I'm not sure about the victory paths, but they feel unbalanced/unfinished so I ignore them for now.

I still really do enjoy this game. And believe it will be very nice once finished.

Thought it looked exactly like another Civ-like, turned out to be quite original in terms of gameplay. Definitely recommended.

Might be a good game some day, but right now it's so barebones it barely counts as a game.

As a casual 4x genre player, EL2 is easy for anyone to pick up and play but provides enough variety and depth for replayability. Currently the 5 factions (6th to be added in the future) feel unique with distinct designs and playstyles. The art direction and music are fantastic as to be expected from the Endless Franchise.

Overall game is in great shape for early access, with consistent dev logs and game updates providing new content, balance, and bug fixes.

Would recommend for people interested in trying out a 4x game for the first time or for veterans of the genre.

Im begging you don't ruin the game with this stupid badge system for constant negative diplomacy. No one likes when 4x games the ai constantly hates you for next to no reason. I would imagine players want more ways for positive diplomacy, not negative diplomacy. Negative diplomacy is solved in the click of a button by declaring war. Focus on positive diplomacy(oh wait yall cant, which is why every 4x games positive diplomacy sucks ass and you focus on negative constant war diplomacy)

Wait wtf lmfao, did yall actually try to balance the ai snowballing from artificial cheating by having it stupidly declare war often and suicide its units into the player xD, yall cannot be that dumb. Yeah thatd be great if we could even build a single unit by the time the ai gets 2 to 3 full stacks.

Obecnie gra jest w dobrym stanie, wciąż brakuje balansu pomiędzy questami frakcyjnymi, mimo to rozgrywka jest stosunkowo płynna

I try to avoid EA titles, but ones that benefit the most from incremental addition of content are 4x games like this. At the time of review, there are a healthy amount of factions (5 I think). I played a solo campaign of each and they all felt unique and interesting, with some varying drastically in gameplay. I enjoyed my time with each, especially the way the map changes and expands throughout the length of the game. It is hard to say whether I prefer this game or the first Endless Legend more. I will have to come back and update my review after the game is fully released. There is plenty to do and experience as of writing this review, and I'm looking forward to seeing where this goes.

Endless Legend was the best 4x game I have ever played. The faction design, the world, the story, the writing, and the mechanics were all top notch. Even mechanics that were not well received by everyone, namely combat, I thought were very compelling and added depth to the game which others in the genre lacked.

Endless Legend 2 is, appropriately for a sequel, better in almost every way by this point. The standout mechanic is the monsoons and tidefalls which are a substantial upgrade on the winter mechanic from the previous game and ensure that the exploration part of 4x remains relevant all game. The city management is fundamentally good (though district cost scaling is an issue, but its getting balance passes so hopefully will be improved) and it is engaging to try and plan out a city. The population management is, actually, a standout for me as well. Other 4x games, including EL1, often include the presence of other cultures or peoples but do not mechanically differentiate between distinct pops. Endless Space 1 was unique in actually caring about the fact that different species of pops would have different capacities and preferences. This game also cares about how different populations will have different capabilities and actually rewards the player for managing their population and growing a diverse population. It is legitimately fun, at least for me, to look at the pool of different populations and carefully consider how introducing a new population would affect the empire. It also adds a whole new dimension to deciding which minor factions to integrate (an excellent mechanic making a comeback from EL1) because beyond the per village bonus and new military unit there is also the population's unique capabilities to consider. The further development on heroes and notable characters is also a good foundation that still needs some work but with that work will be very fun.

There are some issues though. I think combat is, overall, a step back. Much of the complexity of EL1 combat has been taken away and as a result most of the depth has been lost. Unit types and upgrades are not very interesting and the solution to most problems is to simply throw the biggest stat stick you have at it. The limit on only two armies engaging in a battle at a time further reinforces that you should simply throw whatever has the biggest stats in, quantity does not have any quality of its own in this game. limiting armies to one battle per turn and taking away all remaining movement points after attacking also leads to annoying situations where trying to chase down many small armies becomes an annoying chore. Some of the writing still needs further passes and some aspects of city management still need some work. But outside of combat the fundamentals are excellent and even combat could be fixed with further balancing.

Overall, I fully recommend this game to anyone who enjoyed EL1 or 4x games generally. I truly believe this could be the best 4x game of all time with some work.

Overall a solid 4X. Still in beta testing (or "open access", as they call it these days), so lots of bugs and room for improvement.

Fun turn-based RTS game with skippable lore.