Incredibly, each faction was given detailed backgrounds, which play an important part in the grand drama playing out across the universe.

Now marooned on separate planets, the remnants of the Star Union have splintered into their own distinct factions: the Dvar, the Amazons, the Vanguard, the Assembly, the Kir’Ko and the Syndicate. Planetfall is set in a time period after the fall of the Star Union, a coalition of varied factions of allied humans that had enslaved the bug-like Kir’Ko. Planetfall features a game universe both beautiful and dangerous. All of those elements combine to create one of the most engaging and entertaining 4X experiences I’ve ever had. The developers have done an exceptional job of giving the player more agency by incorporating deeper city management, an interesting sector expansion mechanic, and more detailed diplomacy. Marrying AoW3’s combat system with fantastic world-building, on par with Amplitude Studios’ Endless series or even the beloved Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri, Planetfall feels like the 4X game that I’ve always wanted. Well, I’ll just cut to the chase: Planetfall is a damn-fine game that easily surpasses every previous Age of Wonders game from my perspective. The developers had asked a number of questions on our forums about what we meant by “4X-lite,” so I was hopeful that these concerns were being examined. When Triumph Studios announced Age of Wonders: Planetfall, I was curious to know whether or not the aspects of the game that I felt were “lite” would be revisited. Unfortunately, those are also the gameplay aspects that I personally consider important to my enjoyment of games like this. Even though the admittedly fantastic expansions, Age of Wonders 3 felt too combat-centric and a bit light on lore, world-building, and empire management.

I liked aspects of the game, but something about it never clicked with me. Confession time: I played but never loved Age of Wonders 3 ( AoW3).

Age of wonder planetfall, ps4 review