Grand Ages: Medieval - PlayStation 4

I just finished the campaign which introduces the new player to the game. It wasn't easy - but, for me, it was the greatest gaming experience ever! Grand Ages: Medieval is conquest strategy game based on economic trading of goods and colonization. (I cannot stress the importance of colonization enough.) The player must take territories through sending settlers who will establish new towns. These new towns provide opportunity for lucrative trade routes and needed traders. Those trade routes generate the gold which eventually influences other towns to be willing to join one's growing empire. At first, I established new towns to provide everything my people desired. Later, I was establishing new villages solely to meet the needs of neutral towns in the area with the purpose of overwhelming and taking those neutral towns for myself. I did take over a few towns by military force, but the AI has the advantage in most military engagements. Troops are necessary to handle bandits and other wild animals. Military power requires a great deal of time, personnel, and resources. Gold and goods has the advantage in conquest. This game is now my number one favorite game of all time.

Little to no info how to play and it's like playing

Great game

The game is complicated.

I think this can be a very fun game. Although, it can take some time to figure out how to play it. When I first got it, I only played for a little while then put it down because I couldn't quite understand how the game worked and how to get things done within the game-play. So I stopped playing for a while and had the feeling that I had given up on trying, which was disappointing since I really looked forward to this game. However, recently I gave it another chance playing under the campaign mode. This time I followed the tutorial instructions carefully, and was surprised at how fast I progressed, and much of the "fog" in my understanding lifted... One thing I would recommend is to change the interface instructions under "options" so that the in-game tutorial instructions are larger and easier to read... I have fine vision, but it was still hard to read the in-game instructions under the default size. I would like to give this game a 5 because of how much I like it now. However, because it can be so difficult to figure out how to play (compared to most game, and even for someone who is familiar with games like Civilization), I don't think it would be quite appropriate to give the PS4 version a 5. The game is definitely worth buying if it seems appealing to you, but make sure to be patient with the game when first trying it out.

I am surprised to see the negative reviews on this game. This really is Age of Empires or RUSE on PS4 which is so exciting since Age of Empires is now defunct and this genre getting harder and harder to find. This game has one interesting component that RUSE and Age of Empires did not have: an intricate trade system linking your cities to your trading partners. This system takes a little while to figure out, but it is not impossible to master. There aren't many strategy guides online about this game to help, but there are a few that I read that would have helped me out if I had read them before playing. Once you go through the tutorial, it should be a breeze since you can set trade to automatic. Some of the PS4 controls took a few minutes to learn, but I had it basically perfected within the first hour or so the learning curve really isn't really that bad.The trading system really is the root of this game with no need for a large standing army, due to their costs, unless you are about to embark on a military campaign. But when you do have an army attacking another town via a siege, it really is second to none.

I'm giving this game only 2 stars because the graphics aren't great because you need to play the game fully zoomed out and, more importantly, the AI is way too strong even at the "lowest" level and the game is nearly impossible to win. I bought this game here 10 days ago at $21 and NOW it's $14 !!! The original sale price was $40 when it was released late Sept 2015 and in 3 months the price has dropped almost 60% reinforces the issue that the game isn't too good. My advise is for you to go to the Kalypso online forum to read what other gamers have to say before you buy this game. However I will give the 2 star credit because as an economical simulator challenge it's pretty good. BTW, I asked above if this DVD game has STEAM, I got a yes reply, they were wrong it doesn't. To get updates, etc... you do need to register with the developer's web site, not STEAM at all (unless you buy it from there of course).

I wanted good RTS game where you build armies and a kingdom, but this is more of a slow RTS that you have to travel and do all this elaborate diplomacy and extra crap I dont want to have to deal with. Very disappointing in the lay out. Plus the literature you have to read, is extremely small and very hard to read if I sit more then 3 feet from my screen. I have a 36in tv I'm playing on which isn't a huge screen but 6 to 7 feet away I shouldn't be needing to have that hard of a time trying to see the words.