TL:DR. Don't let the Drama review bombing make you think the game is bad. Game is Fun has some issues but is being worked on all factions are completely different and there is something for every taste here.

Now the long part.
I bought this game for myself and gifted it to my two mates during the Wintersale 2023

We have been playing this game non stop on a CO-OP Campaign on the Immortal Empires map and we are having a blast.

I barely have the energy for gaming lately as most games feel meh but this game has me HOOKED

Now the game isn't perfect so ill list my issues i have with the game first.
1. The loading times even on a SSD anywhere from 30-50 Seconds every time you load into your campaign or manual fights, this is a bit excessive when running a long campaign (If you like Fighting manually or use a faction that the Auto-Resolve function hates you will be spending more time in loading screens) this eats into your playtime

2. Some factions clearly need balancing, AKA Valkia The Bloody at level 31 just does not die or break in combat.

3. Campaign AI is seriously too smart, oh my full 20 stack army just left my settlement in my turn? they raid that exact settlement without being near it.
My full 20 stack strong army moving towards the AI settlement? oh there is suddenly 6 full stack armies at that settlement

4. We encountered some bugs that caused us to restart our games a handful of times (Freezing skirmishes, Crashing, Sound breaking) this does need to be addressed as the sound breaking bug happens frequently on long runs.

Now the things I like

1. The Races, Factions & Lords are seriously different from each other and all play very different in both the Turn Based Campaign mode and the Skirmishes. I am impressed that every campaign i start with a new race it feels completely different here is something for every type of playstyle or person. Don't like micro management of settlements & love rushing your enemy in combat? Play Skarbrand and burn the world down.
Like Micro Management but hate worrying about your gold? Tomb Kings have no army upkeep costs.

This list goes on, there truly is something for everyone.

2. Size & Length matters. 1 Campaign from turn one to 140 took me and a mate 9 Hours and we were nowhere near reaching our set goals of total domination and we still have a blast even at turn 140

3. Nuking your opponents with magic is satisfying, The lizard faction is a very fun faction to skirmish with as the Auto-Resolve says i will be defeated but my magic toad boy says otherwise.

4. Updates & Quality DLC.
I purchased every game & all the DLC's for 3 and 2 I want to buy all the DLC's for game 1 still but my bank balance says no.

The DLC's seriously add to the game, the factions added are all fun and worth the price on sale. (Not that it is barebones without them as long as you own game 2 you will have more than enough in 3 to have fun for a long time)

The game is being constantly updated and worked on, this is unseen for any big titles recently and the updates do add and improve instead of just being a filler update to make the feed on the Steam Page seem busy


5. If i play a Rat, i will be a Rat! and break peace treaties after taking your money, I will live underneath your cities and eat your leftover garbage just to nuke you in the next turn.

6. It is FUN manually fighting is where i find my enjoyment watching my frontline spearmen with shields clash the enemy frontline and ordering my big monsters to break through and make a deeper hole than any of the two Piper Perri has is satisfying.

Thank you for reading this english isn't my first language so excuse my mistakes

TL:DR. Don't let the Drama review bombing make you think the game is bad. Game is Fun has some issues but is being worked on all factions are completely different and there is something for every taste here. Now the long part. I bought this game for myself and gifted it to my two mates during the Wintersale 2023 We have been playing this game non stop on a CO-OP Campaign on the Immortal Empires map and we are having a blast. I barely have the energy for gaming lately as most games feel meh but this game has me HOOKED Now the game isn't perfect so ill list my issues i have with the game first. 1. The loading times even on a SSD anywhere from 30-50 Seconds every time you load into your campaign or manual fights, this is a bit excessive when running a long campaign (If you like Fighting manually or use a faction that the Auto-Resolve function hates you will be spending more time in loading screens) this eats into your playtime 2. Some factions clearly need balancing, AKA Valkia The Bloody at level 31 just does not die or break in combat. 3. Campaign AI is seriously too smart, oh my full 20 stack army just left my settlement in my turn? they raid that exact settlement without being near it. My full 20 stack strong army moving towards the AI settlement? oh there is suddenly 6 full stack armies at that settlement 4. We encountered some bugs that caused us to restart our games a handful of times (Freezing skirmishes, Crashing, Sound breaking) this does need to be addressed as the sound breaking bug happens frequently on long runs. Now the things I like 1. The Races, Factions & Lords are seriously different from each other and all play very different in both the Turn Based Campaign mode and the Skirmishes. I am impressed that every campaign i start with a new race it feels completely different here is something for every type of playstyle or person. Don't like micro management of settlements & love rushing your enemy in combat? Play Skarbrand and burn the world down. Like Micro Management but hate worrying about your gold? Tomb Kings have no army upkeep costs. This list goes on, there truly is something for everyone. 2. Size & Length matters. 1 Campaign from turn one to 140 took me and a mate 9 Hours and we were nowhere near reaching our set goals of total domination and we still have a blast even at turn 140 3. Nuking your opponents with magic is satisfying, The lizard faction is a very fun faction to skirmish with as the Auto-Resolve says i will be defeated but my magic toad boy says otherwise. 4. Updates & Quality DLC. I purchased every game & all the DLC's for 3 and 2 I want to buy all the DLC's for game 1 still but my bank balance says no. The DLC's seriously add to the game, the factions added are all fun and worth the price on sale. (Not that it is barebones without them [b] as long as you own game 2 [/b] you will have more than enough in 3 to have fun for a long time) The game is being constantly updated and worked on, this is unseen for any big titles recently and the updates do add and improve instead of just being a filler update to make the feed on the Steam Page seem busy 5. If i play a Rat, i will be a Rat! and break peace treaties after taking your money, I will live underneath your cities and eat your leftover garbage just to nuke you in the next turn. 6. It is FUN manually fighting is where i find my enjoyment watching my frontline spearmen with shields clash the enemy frontline and ordering my big monsters to break through and make a deeper hole than any of the two Piper Perri has is satisfying. Thank you for reading this english isn't my first language so excuse my mistakes