Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition

Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition is a modernized version of the legendary real-time strategy game from the late nineties, prepared for current platforms by Forgotten Empires studio in collaboration with Microsoft. On Xbox Series X and S the game arrived in 2022 as a full console port including every expansion released so far and dozens of civilizations from medieval Europe through Asia to the Americas, each with its own units and strategies, supplemented by years of expansions and campaigns based on real historical events and figures such as Joan of Arc or Genghis Khan.

The game keeps the original concept of building a settlement, gathering resources, developing technologies, and waging wars against opponents, which in its time defined the entire real-time strategy genre and inspired dozens of later titles across the whole games industry. On console the controls are adapted using radial menus and smart group commands, aiming to compensate for the absence of a mouse and keyboard, a considerable technical achievement for such a complex genre. Visually the game benefits from recreated models and environments in high resolution, which nonetheless preserve the original, readable stylization and color palette that longtime series fans are used to from the very first release in the late nineties.

Critical reception especially praised the fact that the depth and balance of the original game were preserved even when adapted for a gamepad, which is the exception rather than the rule for strategy games. Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition thus opened up one of the most significant and influential titles in the history of the strategy genre to console players as well, who previously didn't have easy access to this classic, and confirmed that even after decades the game remains thoroughly playable and enjoyable for new and returning players alike.

Why play it: By preserving the depth and balance of a legendary strategy game even after adapting it for a gamepad, which is the exception rather than the rule for the genre, it opens the game up to console players who previously lacked access to it.