Age of Mythology: Retold

Age of Mythology: Retold is a thorough revival of the 2002 strategy game that always held a special place within the Age of Empires series — instead of historical armies, it features mythical heroes, giant monsters and direct interventions from the gods. Players gather wood, food, gold and, crucially, favor, whose method of collection differs for each culture, and choose one of the offered gods at each advance through the ages. This unlocks divine powers such as earthquakes, meteor showers or turning enemies into pigs, along with specific mythical units. It's exactly this choice that makes every match feel a little different and keeps the strategy fresh even after twenty years.

The remake didn't just redraw the textures: it brought entirely new models, lighting, dynamic weather and reworked bodies of water, a clearer interface and a range of gameplay tweaks, including adjustments to economy management and unit behavior. The campaign following Arkantos remains intact, only fully rebuilt, and is supplemented with content from the original expansion featuring Norse and Atlantean themes, plus other cultures added after release. The major new addition is the console version — gamepad controls were designed with an awareness that strategy games of this type traditionally struggle on consoles, and it offers smart switching between unit groups and production buildings.

On Xbox Series X|S the game runs smoothly and supports cross-play with PC players, so the community stays undivided. The reception was warm; reviewers praised the respect shown to the original, the quality of the remake, and the fact that the game didn't simplify what always set it apart. For newcomers it's one of the most accessible classic real-time strategy games out there, and for veterans it's a return that didn't betray their memories. Alongside the campaigns, the game offers classic skirmishes against the AI, ranked multiplayer and a map editor, so its lifespan is measured in hundreds of hours. And it's precisely the mythical units that remain what sets it apart from the rest of the series: a giant cyclops or a sea serpent can turn a battle around, but a well-timed divine power can do so far more dramatically.