izigame.me

When an expansion for Endless Legends comes out, I'm like a sugar-starved child in front of a jar of cookies : I pick it up and munch on its content, no questions asked.
So please, do not consider this evil red thumb as a definite "avoid this content" sign, and I shall explain why.
The DLC can be broken down to two major additions : the new game mechanic (the Pearls) and the faction taking the most advantage of it, the Allayi.
Firstly, the pearls. New nodes of pearls appear after the beginning of each winter, awaiting to be gathered (if you steal pearls in another civilization's territory, as expected, they will really not like it- and in diplomatic exchanges, they value the pearls quite a bit too much. 1000 dust for ONE pearl ? No deal, man !).
Pearls have three functions :
1) Once you have constructed the Altar of Auriga, you can "pray" by spending pearls to choose one of three effects to be applied during the next winter. The choice with the most "prayers" will be active. A nice little tweak, possibly favouring yourselve and hampering the others !
2) You can unlock "blessings" by spending pearls- in other words, extra techs and buildings. On paper, more possibilities is neat. Ingame, what you can unlock probably won't make much of a difference. Accessories and armors made of pearls ? Quite weak, except maybe early game, and then only the Allayi shall gather enough pearls at this point in time. No vision penalty for buildings during winter ? Marginal bonus. The new towers providing "retalation effects" when ennemy armies attack on your territory ? Doesn't slow down a serious invasion. While they are on or two great innovations (like the building giving +10 industry on river tiles during winter), generally speaking, it doesn't motivate to pick pearls.
3) Linked to the blessings, some buildings and equipement need pearls to be made.
Now, for the Allayi. Quite a curious race, they are. For the bad part, they have 150% expansion disapproval and need 100% more food to go up a level in population. The catch ? Their units move normally during winter (when they shift form and are more combat-able) and possess high movement capability, they know exactly when winter begin and how long it will last, they know where pearls are on the map even without vision of them.
Plus, the very first part of their quest grant them the God of scouts : the skyfin. The skyfin has 8 moves, flies (no movement penalty due to land) and robs ruins of their content like it's nobody's business. Plus Allayi can find pearls in ruins !
Skyfins are fantastic, no doubt, allowing you to quickly map your surroundings and gather many goodies from ruins across Auriga.
Lastly, they have a special form of borough granting more bonuses, but needing pearls to be built, so, of course, they need loads of them.
Are they bad ? Nope. Even with said penalties, you can make them powerful, and in opposition to all other races, winter is the best time for them to go to war. I would even favor them over the Forgotten.
Now then, why the red thumb ? Well, as Redvolver said in his own review : " I feel it's absolutely optional ", a statement I agree with, but not to the same conclusion. Being optional is really not a problem. Being absolutely so is a bit sad.
Now, it's just my point of view (obviously) but I find that an expansion should bring something more substantial.
The problem is that the Pearl mechanic can be totally disregarded if you do not play as the Allayi. Its impact is just not significant enough.
" Well, sir, if you perceive it that way, just don't bother with it ! " you could say.
Yes, but, well, no. It's really bizarre for me to see that Amplitude made a brillant DLC (Guardians) adding several layers of depth to the game, and then see Shifters (with a higher price !) being so non consequential.
In fine, it is not a bad DLC per se, but I'm taken aback to see so many people writing that it's fairly priced. But I might be biased- I consider many DLC to be overpriced, and thankfully, Amplitude is not in that habit. Yes, I'm glaring at you, Paradox, Stardock...