Expeditions: Rome

Pretty good game, with an engaging story that progresses for quite some time. Combat is interesting and we jump from different perspectives and scales. Recommended!

I really slept on this game. Expeditions: Rome, what could it be? I'd imagined it as yet another low-budget 4X game. I saw the RPG tag, so I decided to pick it up during a sale. I'm so glad I did, what a game! First of all, it's not a 4X game. I wouldn't necessarily call it a CRPG either, but I wouldn't argue with anyone who does, as I find it slightly difficult to categorize. I'd put it down as a tactical RPG. Perhaps it shares the most DNA with a game like The Banner Saga (another great series) or Final Fantasy Tactics. The companions in this game are absolutely stellar. Perhaps the best cast I've ever seen in an RPG, and I don't say this lightly. Perhaps the only other game that could tie it for me is Baldur's Gate 3, but with that budget and effort, I find it somewhat of an unfair comparison. The combat starts out pretty bad, but it becomes quite enjoyable after 15–20 hours. I find this game to be the perfect length, not too long, not too short, clocking in at around 50 hours for a full playthrough. Enough introduction, let's get to the pros and cons! Pros: * As I mentioned, amazing companions! Syneros is my favorite of the crew. * Pretty big differences between playing as a man or a woman. * The game strikes the perfect balance between being funny, epic, and historically accurate. * Lots of choices, endings, romances - everything you'd expect from an RPG. * Great sound design, a good variety of music, and more than decent voice acting, not to mention that it is fully voiced, or like 99% voiced! * Although combat starts out rather weak, it really comes together at around 35–40% of the way through the game. * Great villain! A consistent character you grow to hate more and more as the game progresses. * Varied locations and combat situations. The sieges feel especially epic! Cons: * The game does a poor job of explaining the mechanics. I think I played until Act 2 before I realized how to learn schematics and got a strong understanding of the legion battles. Even things like the different icons for charges and action points felt rather visually unintuitive to me: a square and a diamond can look really similar. * It starts out with lots of mechanics, all of which are underexplained; perhaps intentionally, to simulate your character being rather inexperienced. * Some rather underbaked gameplay mechanics. The legion battles and camp upgrades are there, but they feel somewhat tacked on and underdeveloped. * The busywork of conquering regions is perhaps the worst part of the game: go there, garrison here, pacify there, get attacked somewhere else. * The character portraits have a somewhat strange artistic style, with almost an AI-generated feel to them. That's it! If you manage to get through the initial slog, this game rewards you with an amazing story, a great soundtrack, strong voice acting, and an all-around pleasant experience. I can only recommend it to anyone looking for a roughly 50-hour-long RPG!