Ascendant Realms

Pretty fun for an hour

It is a promising concept, somewhat of a bridge between older Civilization games and something like HOMM series with its resource system. I feel like it should probably aim for something more than that though if it wants to truly stand out in the crowd of other 4X games. Either in terms of mechanics (extensive diplomacy or political system for example) or setting (maybe fantasy, sci-fi, generally something which hasn't been explored much in the genre). It does suffer a lot from typical early access issues. Not that much content, some small, fortunately mostly non-game-breaking bugs and issues with map generation as well as various problems with the overall balance. Moreover, AI of bots is not the smartest kind, so it doesn't take long to master beating them consistently with ease, and since there are no built-in scenarios available (although there is a built-in map editor), I recommend playing multiplayer with friends instead, which is a lot more competetive and satisfying experience. That said, there is no integration with Steamworks, thus no Steam workshop (so by extension no easy way of sharing user-made scenarios online), nor integration with Steam servers, hence multiplayer …

As a kind of a turn-based games enjoyer I find the game pretty entertaining game even when playing on your own, but it's way better with people since bots so far aren't the greatest but I'm sure it'll change with time. City building aspect of it I find quite satisfying and fighting is simple in theory similarly to AoE where you don't have as many unit types and it works in a rock-paper-scissors format but it still allows for some flexibility and outplays which is neat plus random maps always ensure that your build order and strategy has to be adjusted accordingly instead of blindly building the same thing everytime. Now obviously since it's an early access it doesn't have as much content and it's not yet a game where you could spend hundred hours and still discover new things or strategies, but clearly it's being worked on and receives frequent bigger or smaller updates with new things being added and old ones being fixed if needed and I'm looking forward to seeing this game grow.

The game still seems to have quite a lot to be upgraded and developed, yet the core mechanics are really fun to play around with as for me. I'd recommend playing multiplayer though (if you have someone to play with) because beating the bot does not seem to be of any challenge.

Interesting take on the 4x genre. Currently in early access so doesn't have a save function (as of yet) but I imagine this would be implemented with time. Probably recommend smaller map games for early game shenanigans and shorter play sessions until it's implemented. You use builders to construct improvements to harvest resources, research technologies (to medieval age) to unlock more content and like with any 4x games you explore, expand, exploit and exterminate with units. It has alot of potential and the random map generation is nice. For the price its a bargain

I only played one match so far but I thought the game was very fun, I didn't think there would be a lot to do but there's a lot to play around with. I cant wait to make a big kingdom, its definitely worth it.