Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition

This is a true work of art, an amazing game rich in historical content and meaningful gameplay. However, as others have said, the most recent update was riddled with incredibly poor decisions. It is actually hard to believe they decided to push this update and missed its critical bugs. Who approved this? And let me guess: gen AI was used to create this update, right?

The worst problem for me and many players is campaign progress being erased for ALL scenarios. I am not even trying to get silver or gold medals and I already spent nearly 300 hours across the past 8 months, playing campaigns from the base game and its expansions (only for bronze medals, the lowest possible rank when completing a scenario).

Since the update on April 10, ALL my progress has been erased, and people with silver and gold medals (instead of basic bronze like mine) have seen their medals downgraded too. You have to understand that getting a gold medal on one of these hundreds of scenarios is really difficult and requires a lot of time and careful strategy. No one is playing through all this again after a careless update erased everything.

This is one of the most epic f*ck-ups I have seen in the world of gaming. It is very hard to understand how this update could pass even basic QA testing. And since we haven't heard a single word from the developers in the almost 2 weeks following the update, I am guessing they might be unable to correct this critical bug and will consequently lose a large chunk of their single-player base.

If they ever correct this ridiculous situation, I will continue my progress through those amazing historical campaigns and change my review to the positive one this game truly deserves.

New updates are really good, and they seem to care about the game. I am really interested in seeing where it goes.

Team games are a nightmare. 1 person with a slow computer lags the entire game. This apparently has been a problem for years. Insane that this is an issue

I've played AOE ever since 1999 and loved it until now. Suddenly I'm getting constant Bugsplat in the game and it started for everyone when the last DLC came out. Apparantly they are having a hard time figuring it out. The DLC's are nice and add fun to the game....IF the game did not constantly crash 95% of the time.

Adding Three Kingdoms "civs" to Ranked instead of Chronicles goes against the essence of the game, RoR was already pushing it and chronicle civs bloating the aoe2 civ list in the tech tree . Don't ruin my favorite game.

Best game ever made. Starting playing 20 years ago and was excited to see the DE released. Loved it just as much as the first addition.

Best game in existence. It never fails to deliver. Now in 4K UHD, and suitable for modern times. Despite being an older legendary game, it manages to keep up with times and deliver great visuals while remaining true to its original history and gameplay. I want to thank all the developers who are continuing to put their best effort in making this game relevant in today's time.

The developers have abandoned the 25-year long consistent design philosophy for the sake of a marketing gimmick. They have betrayed the spirit of the game that they were supposed to be custodians of (Ensemble made the original game) and given the community false expectations about DLC content multiple times now. All they had to do was keep releasing medieval civilisations and campaigns - instead they killed the golden goose.

New Three Kingdom civs do not belong in the game let alone ranked. Put them in chronicles or scrap them. Too many heroes, not real civilizations, unbalanced and gimmicky, and HEROES IN RANKED IS A JOKE.

I've spent countless hours on Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition. I've completed nearly every single campaign, including all the DLCs, on the hardest difficulty—and I earned gold medals across the board. That’s how much time, effort, and dedication I’ve put into this game.

However, after a recent update, all my hard-earned gold medals have been downgraded to silver. Every single one.

This is incredibly frustrating. Not only does it feel like my progress has been erased, but it also completely undermines the challenge and satisfaction of pushing through the toughest settings. I didn’t just breeze through these campaigns—I earned those golds fair and square, often replaying missions multiple times to get them perfect.

I really hope the developers address this. Whether it's a bug or an intentional change, it’s demoralizing for long-time players who’ve invested so much into the game. Until then, it's hard to stay motivated to keep playing or chase new medals when your past accomplishments can be taken away like this.

As a Heavy Cavalry In AD 1100 TieFuTu Have Very High Armor，1/3based armor（And FC U Stupid translate Steel Tower
Cavalry） As a Normal Cavalry of WEI Have Fcing 4/3 armor and unique +4armor Tech IN Fcing A.D!!!!470!!!!!

Go F urself What a Great Technology reversing.And F u New DLC Like Japanese's Threekingdom Game history NOT REAL CHINA H.I.S.T.O.R.Y!!!!!

F.U

我曹逆姆的 铁浮屠的是在公元1100年左右的一款拥有高达1/3护甲的重骑兵 曹腻嬷的沙币翻译钢铁宝塔 恁嫲笔的 公元470年的黑光骑兵有4+4+2的甲 三国拥有外星科技还是辽宋金时期外星科技丢失了？ 拟吗闭的做个DLC不按着中国历史做了尼玛妮玛日本游戏里的三国做 做昵4000+的嫲

糙拟吗的

New patch is fantastic but it reverted all my campaign victories from gold (hard) to silver (moderate). fix this!

since the new update coming my campaign progress its gone i've been lost all of my gold medal fuck this dev useless fking update

Is this a good game? Yes. A really fun definitive edition of a classic game I spent so much of my youth playing.

But wow, the A.I in this game leaves a lot to be desired, whether its you, or the enemy in campaigns, they are really dumb. Their movement is wack, they get stuck a lot, sometimes they'll just think its impassible because a villager is there (why don't they automatically move out of the way?) and theres a lot of chokepoints where the map design / troop design fails.

I also dislike how attacking a city works with the army stances. If you put on defensive stance, they won't actively attack buildings (unless they are offensive buildings attacking your army), if you put on aggressive, usually they'll attack but sometimes veer too far following an enemy all the way across the map and never giving up, there's no inbetween here.

Microsoft is milking this game for all it's worth bloating the heck out of the civ count and adding features that are slowly ruining it HD is legitimately better than this slop ngl

Update on Apr 10, 2025 downgraded all the medals completed earlier.
Give me back my gold medals, you thief!

This is my favorite game ever and the fact they just updated it with new units in the editor is perfect. 10/10 I love the developers for Aoe 2

Today's update wiped years of progress from my campaigns. Over the last 2 months I've worked on getting gold in every campaign and they have rolled back to bronze or silver. I also completed ever campaign a few years ago and now most DLC campaigns show no progress at all. I've played the game for years, ever since I was a child, but this is going to make me take a break. I cannot recommend playing if you only play campaigns as your progress may be wiped, I will be waiting to play until well into the life cycle of the next DLC, The Three Kingdoms.

best rts of all time .. people are just extremely good online like if you are new you are going to lose alot.

The best strategy game ever. If you want to learn to play strategy game AoE2 is the best place to learn them. Skills here apply everywhere.

First game I ever had on my computer 25 years ago and its still getting big updates and expansions. I've only been playing AI skirmishes, but there's a ton of campaigns and a healthy online scene with mod support too.

Well... AoE1 was my first real game. When AoE2 Age of kings released I was 8-9 and it just hooked me on medieval stuff.

Im now 32 and dude...
AoE2 DE is all you need. The game is just so fucking crisp, fun, challenging AND rewarding.

AoE2 DE is the game of my life and now believe it or not my 3 young boys wants to play this over dumb games like Fortnite, Roblox or whatever.

Totaly hooked but in a healthy adult way.
Idk it's just perfect.

I play quite a bit of RTS games and this is the best out there with a great community

almost 6 years in we have new issues that are constantly crashing the game at startup.... FIX THIS SH$%

Cuidado, este es uno de los RTS màs complejos y competitivos que hay. Si esto es lo que buscas, podràs tener meses o años de diversiòn.

An excellent remaster of the original and HD edition, with improved pathfinding, quality of life features and new civilisations for a pretty cheap price (it's not 70$ !). All in all, worth it to play what I imagine the original creators wanted it to be.

people with no rank espeacially asians writing sell every fucking game

K so i love aoe2 , loved aoe2 HD and i still put "No" as recommendation for DE. So why is that? Simple.

Main problem is the route finding. Original aoe2 didnt have the best route finding that's for sure and the engine with it's rotated square tiles were allways iffy to navigate to say the least.

Other problem is the community and dlcs. Again the game was redone in a high quality, lots of modernisations , selectable hotkey layouts , widescreen support, increased graphics and not just cheap remodeling. You can also buy the entire aoe1 as a cheaper dlc. But that's the problem on the long run. THere are SO many dlcs and SO many new civilisations it kind of defeats the purpose of having a selection. Way too many civs with overlapping playstyles, enforced gimmicks, and frankly it's just too many. Who can remember 50 civs speciality and extras unless you are a competitive no lifer who religiously plays this game 24/7.

Now this is not a "no" in a sense that "no dont buy it" if steam would have i'd have given a mixed becuase the rework itself is high quality something which puts garbage like Warcraft 3 deforged into shame. But this dlc cramping with unnecesary extra content is not something what i enjoy or promote.

You can play a lot of single player campaigns, multi is alive as well, coop missions and editor all the goodies.

A classic rts that almost all others are compared to, this is the updated version so it's got some small changes that build up to a fairly different gameplay loop with certain civs such as the british being kind of garbage in this updated version compared to top three in the original aoe 2 conquerors edition.

This is an awesome game from not that long ago. Straight forward to play with multiple civs to choose from.

Its Age of Empires 2. One of the best if not The best strategy game ever made.

This game relives my childhood days. I have played this as the original edition on CD-ROM. I still have the original and gold edition discs, and I still play it on here too. I love this game, it's a classic, and will continue to enjoy this game for many more years to come!

Fantastic game to play with friends. Just don't have a friend with 300+ hours on the game...

This game was absolutely incredible until something happened that made me want to die in battle. I can no longer log into any games, whether it be skirmish or online with a friend. My screen freezes when it's black. There is no help online, so I have no way of playing this game. I tried everything that has been shown online, but it is not working.

This game is a relic they just wont stop bringing out and polishing, like a grandfather on life support.

a classic with so much variety in how you want to play it. Not forced to play it in a certain way, just flexible for the casual gamer or for the insane gamer. Not too complicated, not too many buttons (unless you want it) ... great game to drink to :)

I'm removing my good review. I spent 101 hours playing the Campaign on hard, earning gold medals, working my way through the game until today when I logged in. To find all my gold medals, replaced with silver.... Thinking this was maybe just the way they display it it, i did the first William Wallace one to confirm.. nope.. all my medals for every campaign I've sweated on have been replaced with silver. I want my gold medals back. Not spending all that time again doing all those campaigns

Absolutely perfect game. It has everything you need to enjoy both single and multi player

Still the greatest game of all time. I've been playing since AOE 1 in 1997, and it never gets old. All the new content is superb.

I cannot recommend this game, due to the sheer players attacking so early and continuing to rush players. It's isn't like the olden days, from the 2000's where people actually played properly and enjoyed the game. Nowadays, it's all about points and ranks. Seriously, terribly upsetting to see such a grand masterpiece, become about just points rankings.

this game is very fun i enjoy it and so do all my siblings and it is very cheap

very enjoying easy to learn and a cool game with great sound track

Might honestly be better than the original after 25 years of additional support and content

This updated version of AOE2, brings lots of fun and love that I used to have with the original AOE2 game!

Just a fan from way back. liked how they've resurrected aoe2 and made it have better graphics and much more.

lots of fun and runs on my old ops PC.

Fun strategy game, a little time consuming but definitely competitive and fun! I suggest adding friends because the lobby times can be long but definitely worth it! I have played it for a long time and still find it fun and challenging. Great for multiplayer

1. Gameplay & Mechanics:
• Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition refines classic RTS gameplay with smooth mechanics, deep strategy, and well-balanced civilizations. The mix of economy management, base-building, and tactical battles remains engaging, with quality-of-life improvements like auto-scout, but sometimes problem comes with units pathfinding.

2. AI:
• The AI is much improved, offering a real challenge even for veterans. However, at times, it can feel predictable or overly aggressive in higher difficulties.

3. Multiplayer:
• Multiplayer is the heart of the game, featuring ranked matches, casual lobbies, and co-op campaigns. Matchmaking is solid but can sometimes suffer from lag or disconnects.

4. Graphics:
• The remastered visuals look stunning while keeping the nostalgic charm of the original. Units, buildings, and landscapes are beautifully detailed in 4K.

5. Sounds:
• The enhanced soundtrack and re-recorded unit voices add immersion while staying true to the original. Classic sound effects remain satisfying.

6. Performance:
• Generally stable, but large-scale battles can cause FPS drops, especially on lower-end systems. Occasional desync issues in multiplayer.

7. Replayability:
With 39 civilizations, diverse campaigns, skirmish mode, and custom scenarios, the game offers endless replay value. Regular updates and expansions keep it fresh.

8. Content:
Packed with content, multiplayer, mod support, and frequent DLC expansions. It’s the definitive way to experience AoE2, I love new updates and civilizations and waiting for more civilizations and content.

Pros & Cons:
✅ Classic RTS gameplay with modern improvements (excellent)
✅ Massive content with frequent updates (excellent)
✅ Stunning remastered visuals (good)
✅ Strong multiplayer (good)
❌ Poor unit pathfinding (bad)
❌ AI can feel predictable at times (bad somethings)
❌ Occasional multiplayer desync issues (bad somethings)

Final Verdict & Recommendation:
Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition is the ultimate RTS experience, blending nostalgia with modern refinements. Whether you're a longtime fan or a newcomer, it’s a must-play for any strategy lover. Highly recommended!

i played first time when i was 10 yr old the cd game got it back at 27 the game got better this is the best game ever came out microsoft
best rts ever made and will be i cant see other rts being better than this even the other eoe arent this peak
legendary game unlimited grind lots of challenge bunch of tryhard crazy players and ai this is a game i and you wont stop playing no matter how long time pass. TRY IT if you thinking about it wont regret it i promise

Pros:
Campaigns are great. Not fully historically accurate obviously, but they are very fun and nostalgic. There are tons of campaigns and custom games that you can download from mods sections as well. Combining official campaigns and mods together, there is easily hundreds of hours worth single player content in this game.
Multiplayer vice, have played 1v1 ranked and team games. Black forest games are an amazing experience.

Cons:
Too many paid DLCs at this point. However, I understand that it's required to keep the content coming though.
Civ balance is not where I want it to be, but that's personal.
Pathing is still an issue. Somehow the voobly dudes figured it out better back in the days, get their help!!