Age of Empires 4 took me by surprise. I'm a cast-iron AoE 2 acolyte. More broadly, I think the visual design of RTS games peaked in the '90s - Command and Conquer, Jagged Alliance, and Total Annihilation remain three of the best-looking games of all time, regardless of genre. In theory, AoE 4, which is a real-time strategy game in 3D (I know!) shouldn't work for me. But Relic, World's Edge, and Forgotten Empires' sequel is a more-than-deserving companion to AoE 2. If you haven't played it before, the gigantic Deluxe edition is now available for ultra-cheap.
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