u/Fischlerder

The Batch of Honour

Salutations!
Some days ago I finished all the scenarios of V&V on Hard difficulty. As I found out that it's one of those dlcs, overlooked by most players due to its bad reputation, I decided to make a separate review and dive into it with the goal to make a fair critic of its overall quality. This post would have been made much sooner, if it wasn't for my curious need to explore some scenarios a little more. My journey began on the 20th of May and has -probably- ended today, on the 30th, having acquired all but 4 of the achievements. Due to the vastness of this dlc, I feel the need to devide this review in 3 sections, mainly: The Bad (scenarios which have damaged the reputation of this dlc), the Good (high quality scenarios often overlooked because of the former) and the Overly Ambitious (scenarios too grand in scope, usually ignored). Without further ado, let's begin!

The Bad
Vortigern, Ironside, Finehair, Karlsefni, Otto
These scenarios have been the centre of criticism for this dlc since its day of release. Since most players start their playthroughs with them, these 5 scenarios are the main culprits for what the playerbase thinks when V&V gets mentioned. The usual accusations of "grindy" gameplay (Vortigern and Otto), limited pop limit (Finehair, Karlsefni) and way too dragged on/dull objectives (Ironside, Finehair, Karlsefni, Otto) correspond to the flaws of these 5. I, on my part, agree with the criticism. Vortigern feels like a half-finished scenario, Otto has a lot of artificial difficulty, without rewarding or helping the player in any way, and all the other 3 Viking scenarios are basically filler, unnecessary additions for an otherwise interesting time period. All of them need to be reworked or at the very least patched.

The most disappointing for me was Vortigern. The historical subject is extremely interesting and the idea of being left alone, abandoned by everyone, trying to defend what little you have, is very fascinating. BUT, the scenario doesn't give the player anything to work with. There are no side objectives, events or any kind of breathing room for the player. You can't approach the mission in any way other than recruiting Saxon bands, rushing the Picts and then hoping to survive until the year 500. It's ridiculous to see such a scenario with so much potential, wasted like it's nothing. Bari 4 and Hautevilles 5 follow the same design idea, but do it in a way that complements their challenge. Hautevilles 5 in particular was made by Filthydelphia, the same creator and designer, so I don't know why he doesn't remake Vortigern. He has all the talent required, he knows how to make an interesting scenario... but I digress.

Otto has basically the same issues: lack of side-objectives, extremely harsh towards the player etc. Vassals are an interesting addition, but it's not a fulfilling one. They're incompetent and extremely annoying to deal with, meat shields being the only role they can play.

The 3 Viking scenarios I mentioned could be removed from the game and no one would bat an eye. While I like the novelty of their design, they are not fun to play. Ragnar (a scenario we're gonna see a little later) is enough by its own and doesn't need all that filler to accompany its steps.

My successful attempt at beating Vortigern on Hard difficulty

The Good
Xie An, Charlemagne, Robert, Komnenos, Stephen, Temujin, Mstislav, Constantine XI, Fetih, Shimazu, Nobunaga, Drake
This is basically the main part of the review. These scenarios are of good quality overall, even if I consider some of them boring (Charlemagne, Temujin and Drake). The best amongst them are Mstislav, Nobunaga and Constantine XI, while others like Robert and Komnenos, explore different concepts and ideas, which add a lot of flavour into the structure of their missions. A playthrough for each usually lasts 1-2 real life hours, depending on how well you know each scenario. They fall into 3 categories: (1)The build-up and destroy, (2)The Raid-dependent and (3)The Passive income ones.

--Build-up and Destroy
These scenarios are structurally similar to the classic archetype of "boom economically and then destroy everyone". Let's start with our newest member, Xie An.

Xie An is the last addition to V&V and includes assets added from the Three Kingdoms DLC. It's one of the most "orthodox" scenarios of the bunch and it's probably like that due to the initial negative wave of criticism V&V received (at least that's what I suspect). It has a nice flow and it's pretty straightforward on what you need to do. While a bit overwhelming at first with all the enemy attacks taking place at the same time, it offers enough tools to make the player experience enjoyable.

Robert: The calm before the storm

Charlemagne is also a very straightforward scenario and it's probably the easiest one in V&V. It plays like a classic AoK build-up and destroy, with a little twist called "Imperial Score". It's used in a similar way to the Legitimacy mechanic from Chronicles: Alexander the Great, in which you have to do various side objectives to increase it and gain different rewards. It's not a very engaging scenario, but it's probably the best one for people who like the classic AoK and AoC campaigns. Similarly, Robert is also inspired by the classic build-up and destroy campaigns, but it's much more complex in its structure. You plot to overthrow the King of France and you have 90 in-game minutes to form alliances and prepare as much as you can, before the King discovers your machinations. To form an alliance you have to reach 100 favour with the faction you want. Favour is increased by different means for each faction (Aquitaine's favour, for example, increases over time depending on the amount of relics you have collected). A very interesting scenario overall, with a nice mix of diplomacy and economical management. One thing I want to address here before moving on is the replayablitily of this mission. While I understand why some players mention it as the best scenario of V&V, I didn't find it as replayable as they claim it to be. Yes, you can try different alliances if you want, but honestly, I didn't really see much of a difference between my playthroughs.

Fetih, Stephen and Nobunaga are similar in style and I enjoyed all three of them (mostly Nobunaga) for different reasons. Nevertheless, I would have liked Stephen to feel a bit more chaotic (the Welsh and Scottish shouldn't raid only you but the other English factions as well) and Fetih would have been a better scenario if the player could receive frequent reinforcements from land and sea.

--Raid-Dependent
Here we have scenarios in which the player's economy depends heavily on raids across the map.

The two most iconic scenarios of this kind are Temujin and Drake. I was not exactly pleased with the flow of their objectives, as both of them have some very abusable mechanics (I look at you "Little Swan") and they can be a bit tedious at times, but they're fine overall. There's no need for every mission to be full of action and absolute madness.

Well...let me introduce you to the absolute oppossite of what I just said: Constantine XI. It's a completely crazy scenario, full of chaos all over the map. That being the case, I'm not very enthusiastic on revisting it for the achievement. It's very epic for the first 30-40 minutes, but after that point, it becomes very weird due to the junkiness of the ai. Having hundreds of units trying to pass through four tiny wall gaps isn't optimal to say the least. It's a good scenario, but I'd prefer a smaller scale siege with more flavour in the surounding areas.

--Passive Income
These scenarios have an economy based on passive income.

I shall start with Mstislav, because it's one of my favourite scenarios in AoE2. I can't express how much I love this mission. Its structure, its atmosphere, its narrative, everything, yes, everything is perfect. There are so many things to do early on, so many objectives to complete that you're not gonna get bored. Historical and literary references can be seen all over the map: from the lost varangians you meet in a road, to the 4 legendary heroes of Rus mythology (Ilya Muromets, Evpaty Kolovrat, Alyosha Popovich, Dobrynya Nikitich) and the Cuman migration from the east. You meet once again with Kotyan Khan and you interact with the pagan Lithuanians and their German pursuers. This mission is probably the peak of what a Historical Scenario can achieve on its own and it should be taken as a prime example of what AoE2's scenario editor can do. This is what Filthydelphia's style looks like in its purest form. Bravo, Bravo!

Mstislav: Part of the Lithuanian swamps in the West

Now, let's go to a similarly ambitious scenario, with more mixed results: Komnenos. I personally like the spirit of this mission, but it's far from being one of the best. While I understand the limitations Filthydelphia put on the player early on(even after the usurpation), it comes out as a little clanky. As someone who also has knowledge of the events this scenario portrays, the design seems quite a bit off. I'll not get into much detail, but It would be better if the scenario was more focused on the Balkans and Asia Minor. Changing how real events played out was also very weird to me. Nonetheless it's a pretty enjoyable mission once you understand how it works.

At last, but not least, we have Shimazu, a scenario with seemingly two routes of completion, but in reality with only one. What do I mean by that? You, as the player, can either get in touch with the Portuguese and basically play as them for the whole duration of the scenario OR You can focus more on your own roster, the traditional Japanese one. This is the illusion of choice here. If you want to win as fast as possible, You will go with the Portuguese and spam Feitorias like there's no tomorrow (I recommend 4). Getting resources like gold and stone is extremely tedious in this scenario and the resources you get from raiding are pitiful (only 600 gold for destroying the Korean markets, while you've lost units of more than 700 gold-value). Why even play as the Japanese when you can go all-in with extremely powerful gunpowder units? Even if the Shogun invades early, you can spam your powerful towers and obliterate his army and navy with your superior army. What's the point? A fun mission if you go for the Portuguese route, a tedious one otherwise.

Shimazu: My second playthrough using only Japanese

Overly Ambitious
Gaiseric, Ragnar, Seljuk
Here is the grand finale! The scenarios which put HD Honfoglilas to shame! I think You, dear reader, was waiting for this part to come. Let's get started.

Gaiseric is the first -chronologically- massive scenario a player will encounter. It's filled with small side quests and it puts quite a bit of pressure on your shoulders, in order to make you leave Gaul and move into Iberia. From there you have to get ships and sail through Northern Africa to the place you'll settle for good. I really like how hostile the atmosphere feels in this scenario. It really makes you feel unwanted on the lands you go. Overall it was a very smooth and enjoyable experience for me, even though I expected the worst due to the bad comments I read in the forums. The first section with the Franks was quite fun (a little bit of micro never hurts) and I really liked watching the destruction unfold as my Horde pussed forward. A very solid scenario on a very interesting subject.

Ragnar is the next on our list! This is probably one of the most talked about scenarios of the last few years -and for good reason. Its memeable duration always puts it on the spotlight when someone mentions V&V. It's also the nightmare of completionists/ achievement goblins, because finishing all 50 Sagas can take up to 9 in-game hours (around 5 real-life hours). I'm one of the few people who had the patience to achieve that and I honestly don't regret it. For starters, the map is literally ludicrous containing around 260,000 tiles (for reference, 4v4 maps contain 48,000). It's massive and it feels massive. Thankfully, Filthydelphia put here all his talent into use and most of the present regions feel extremely different from one another. It's probably the most diverse scenario in all of the "Age of Empires" franchise. The Sagas give a lot of different objectives and reward you for your curiosity. There are countless references to literary figures and all the works mentioned in the objectives tab actually exist. Your focus will be Scandinavia, but from there you can go wherever you want: from the full of plunder Britain to the forests of Germany and the steppes of Ukraine. It's a very fun and refreshing mission, which has quite a lot of replayability. The narrator also did an amazing job on this one. This scenario is the labour of love and I can't feel anything but joy while playing it.

Ragnar: Before the final battle on my second playthrough

The last scenario of all is Seljuk. At first I didn't really enjoy it as it got more and more difficult at the end. Once the finale hit and the mission was completed, my mind went back to the contents and battles I just went through and honestly... I liked it. It's one of the very few scenarios which made me change my initial judgement. Even now, the more I think it over, the more I aprecciate it... it's very weird. Maybe it's because it reminded me of HD Honfoglilas, which had pretty much the same concept (the gameplay here is much better though). The only thing I'd like to see improved is a better reward for completing each ruler's ambitions. The stat upgrades felt a bit underwhelming while playing. Nevertheless, very nice story telling and excellent execution on the concept of a nomadic people settling in foreign lands and building a new empire.

Final Thoughts

Phew, this has been quite the journey. When I bought this dlc I didn't expect to get much out of it. Negative reviews misled me and made me think of this as a waste of time and money. I'm very happy that I followed my own will and pushed through the initial disappointment I had with a few scenarios. It's a dlc filled with fun moments and unique ideas, ground breaking on their concept. I just wish FE invested a small sum on making a few unique artworks for the scenario cutscenes and hero profiles. It makes me very sad how this dlc was basically abandoned from the get-go by its publishers, but, after this fiasco, the one I feel most sorry for is Filthydelphia himself. He got so much hate for what he did as a passion project, that I don't really think he'll ever revisit his work to improve upon it.

Filthy, If you're reading this, you did great.

Thanks for reading!