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Age of Empires: Ups and Downs

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I jumped around between games a fair bit this month, but a particular focus has been the Age of Empires franchise, with new DLCs for Age of Mythology and Age of Empires II. Those were starkly different experiences.

The Silent Sanctuary mythological battle in Age of Mythology: Retold.First, we had the new Demeter god pack for Age of Mythology: Retold. I was very excited for this, as I’m a big fan of nature-focused fertility gods from both a mythological and gameplay perspective.

Unfortunately, Demeter is just… terrible. I don’t know how else to put it. I really try not to be the hyperbolic “this is the WORST THING EVER” kind of gamer, but there’s just no silver lining here. Every single one of Demeter’s new units and powers is some variety of clunky, hard to use, underpowered, or all of the above. None of it is fun.

A lot of kit has anti-synergy with itself, too. The hamadryad and Pan’s buffed walls are focused on keeping enemies out of your base, but lykaons and the communal hearth only get value if you let enemies into your base. It’s like they didn’t think this through at all.

Hamadryads are probably my biggest disappointment. Their model is absolutely awesome, but my gods they feel terrible to actually use. Yes, I know, they can be very powerful under the right circumstances, but those circumstances are so awkward to set up I’d rather have pretty much any other myth unit instead. Also, I can’t get over the fact they have these huge arms but only a whimpy ranged attack. Every part of their visual design screams “tanky melee powerhouse,” but their actual stats are the opposite of that.

An enemy cyclops turned to gold by King Midas in Age of Mythology: Retold.There are some gods in Age of Mythology that I rarely if ever play because I prefer other options within their pantheon, but until now there were none that I would have said were actually badly designed, or unpleasant to play. Demeter is the first. Unless she is massively overhauled, I cannot see myself ever wanting to play her again. Just finishing her (very mediocre) mythological battle felt like a chore.

The only thing I enjoy about Demeter is Midas’ (small) chance to turn enemy units into gold deposits you can actually mine from. It’s far too unreliable to ever actually be useful, but it is very funny.

I feel like someone at Microsoft is consistently pushing the Retold team to launch stuff before it’s ready. Every release from Retold has been disappointing on some level except for Heavenly Spear, which got delayed from its original launch window. Now they’re jumping into the 2026 content much faster than anticipated, but if Demeter is any sign, that haste is anything but a blessing. I can only hope the Aztecs turn out better when they arrive.

Meanwhile, I also had very high hopes for AoE2’s latest DLC, The Last Chieftains, but in that case those hopes were almost entirely met.Holding Iraca in the Muisca campaign from Age of Empires II: The Last Chieftains.

A few months back I was saying I wanted a happy medium between the soaring ambition of Chronicles and the more vanilla design of traditional campaigns, and I think the Last Chieftains campaign hit that mark exactly. They’re clearly drawing some inspiration from Chronicles with improved voice acting, better stories, decisions with consequences, and more intricate level design, but it still feels like the classic Age of Empires II experience. It’s never as overwhelming or strange as Chronicles can sometimes be.

I also mostly enjoyed the new civilizations, though not quite as much as I expected to. The Mapuche cavalry felt a bit too squishy/situational to get much use out of, and the Muisca and the Tupi felt a bit too similar (both featuring fast foot archers and heavy infantry as a second unique unit), but I did really like the settlement mechanic. It’s a great example of what AoE2 does well: It’s a very simple mechanic (a universal resource drop site that also provides population), but it has a surprisingly large impact, smoothing out your economic build up considerably.

I also went back and replayed the Inca campaign to see how the new mechanics impact them. Despite their campaign now feeling pretty dated, I had a great time. Settlements further improve the already strong economic foundation the Inca had, and I think they’ve cemented their place as one of my absolute favourite civilizations (not easy in a game with fifty to choose from). Kamayuks are just so good.

Overall, I found the Tupi the most fun new civilization, but I think the Mapuche had the most compelling new campaign. Hard to believe Galvarino is a person who actually lived. What a legend.

Badassery, thy name is Galvarino.It was also so refreshing to see a spotlight put on a part of the world that we rarely pay any attention to in Western pop culture. All of this history was entirely new to me.

All that combines to make Last Chieftains a great example of what Age of Empires can be at its very best: Illustrating underrepresented parts of world history and culture with tight gameplay that’s easy to understand but with enough nuances to add real depth. This is probably my favourite DLC for AoE2 DE to date.

Warrior Nun Deserves Another Season

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Thanks to the long gap between seasons and a total lack of promotion from Netflix, there’s been a bit of a pall hanging over the second season of Warrior Nun. There’s this perception that it’s a dead show walking, not helped by Netflix’s long history of cutting down its own shows in their prime.

The logo for Warrior Nun season two.Fans — and even some members of the cast — have been running a guerilla campaign to try and keep the show alive by spreading the word and streaming it as much as possible.

It’s a shame there’s this feeling of needing to fight for the show, because it puts a bit of a damper on a truly excellent season of television.

I’ve said in the past that I think the mark of true greatness is not a lack of any flaws, but when the strengths shine so bright as to drown out the flaws. Season two of Warrior Nun fits that description to a T.

Objectively, I can find many faults with this season. Most notably, it often feels rushed. I get the impression the writers wanted more than eight episodes, but this was all Netflix was willing to give them. Or perhaps it’s an over-correction to the criticism of season one’s slow-burn (a criticism I disagree with). Either way, a lot of things move too quickly. Most notably one character changes loyalties so often and so quickly that their arc ceased to make any sense at all.

There’s one side-plot that has the opposite problem — it feels too drawn out, especially given the outcome has pretty much been a foregone conclusion since last season. The resolution is very satisfying when it comes, though.

No one does slow motion walking toward the camera like this show.You also need to suspend your disbelief extra hard for a lot of things this season. The sci-fi elements are extremely implausible this time around, even by the standards of a show about “undercover tactical nuns.”

But you know what? I don’t really care about any of that. This season was just too damn enjoyable for any of that to get me down.

When I watched the original season the first time, I came away feeling that Ava and Beatrice were carrying the show. Not that I disliked the other characters, but they didn’t feel that memorable compared to Ava and Bea. When I rewatched season one, I found the supporting cast members a lot more compelling than I remembered, and in season two, Warrior Nun has established itself as a show where the entire ensemble is more than carrying their weight.

Sister Camilla is at least as lovable as before, if not more so. Jillian also puts on a strong performance, and there’s some new faces that hold their own admirably.

But the real breakout star this season is Mother Superion. She is a character I very much did not want to like because of how abusive she was to Ava when first introduced, but despite my best efforts, she won me over. She has a lot more screentime this time around, and across her various scenes, she gets to show pretty much the full range of human emotion, from righteous anger to sorrow and even some humorous scenes. And she kills it every time. Major respect to Sylvia De Fanti for an incredible performance.

Kristina Tonteri-Young as Sister Beatrice in Warrior Nun season two.All that’s not to say that Ava and Beatrice aren’t still great, because they absolutely are, both individually and in terms of their dynamic together. Their friendship gets a bit turbulent this season, and they often find themselves in conflict, but there’s always the sense that they maintain respect and affection for one another throughout. Characters who can handle conflict in a healthy way are depressingly rare in popular fiction, and it’s so refreshing to see it here.

While there are parts that feel rushed, as I’ve already noted, the fast pace of the season can also be quite exhilarating.

I initially gave Warrior Nun a try purely because I found out it was the work of Simon Barry, the mind behind Continuum, a strong contender for my favourite TV series of all time. I’m not sure I’m quite ready to say that Warrior Nun has yet reached Continuum’s quality level, but this season did give me the same brain-blasted, pleasantly overwhelmed feeling that Continuum’s later seasons did. So much happens so fast it feels almost supernatural that they’re able to fit so story in a relatively short run-time. It displays an incredible economy of story-telling that most writers can only aspire to.

Oh, yes, and this season also happens to feature some of the most inventive and beautifully shot action scenes I’ve had the pleasure to witness.

The second season ends on a pretty satisfying note, so if the series is to end here, it won’t be so jarring or heart-breaking as some shows that are left unfinished. But I still hope it does continue. There’s plenty of potential for more story in this universe, and it just plain deserves it. It’s fun, it’s exciting, it’s moving, and while it’s subtle, there’s a maturity to the characters and their relationships that most popular media lacks.