Overview
Eldritch Realms is the fourth expansion for Age of Wonders 4, and despite the fact that it doesn’t add a new culture, it’s still one of the biggest yet. It brings a new and unique ruler type in the form of an Eldritch Sovereign, a voidlike being with powerful spell casting via the use of thralls. A dangerous new risk versus reward map layer called the Umbral Abyss. It also adds a few new tomes, cosmic events, and more.
You can find a video version of this review on YouTube!
Like all other Age of Wonders DLCs, Eldritch Realms launched alongside a large free patch called the Mystic update. Just like my other Age of Wonders reviews, I’ll touch on a few key points of the update as well.
| Gideon’s Bias | Eldritch Realms Information |
|---|---|
| Review Copy Used: No | Publisher: Paradox Interactive |
| Hours Played: 20+ | Type: Expansion DLC |
| Reviewed On: Xbox Series X | Platforms: PC, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5 |
| Fan of Genre: Yes | Genre: 4X, Turn-Based Strategy |
| Mode Played: Variety | Price: $19.99 |
Eldritch Sovereign
The new Eldritch Sovereign ruler type opens up even more faction ideas that you can bring to life. So naturally the first thing I did was make the most unoriginal thing I could think of. I made Cthulhu and his army of deep ones. In my defense, the general concept of an Eldritch Sovereign is damn near perfect for Cthulhu.
Eldritch Sovereigns have a unique set of thrall spells and can gain more as they level. They cast these spells by spending thralls, something they gain by defeating units in battle. These spells can do all sorts of things, grant you knowledge, debuff enemies, or reveal nearby points of interest. The Sovereigns themselves function mostly as utility spell casters during battle. In Cthulhus’s case, he likes to mind-control things or make them go insane.
You can, however, make a variety of Sovereigns. Chaos magic-wielding tyrants or even Angelic Protectors. It’s up to you. Good or evil, they always bring a sense of creepy unease to the game.
It’s simply another option to consider when making your faction, a powerful one. In addition to spells, you can also invoke different rites during encounters by using thralls. Maybe instead of fighting a battle with a neutral unit, you just convert the leader instantly, or maybe instead of bowing to the needs of a free city, you force them to like you with a display of eldritch power.
Much like the Dragons introduced in Dragons Dawn. Eldritch Sovereigns have a few downsides. They are limited in what equipment they can use for example. But they bring a unique playstyle to the table. Where the Dragons felt like powerful brutes, the Eldritch Sovereigns feel like powerful manipulators, and that’s an enjoyable way to play!
The Umbral
While you might think that Eldritch Sovereigns are the star of the show, they largely share the spotlight with the Umbral Abyss. The Umbral Abyss is a new map layer that you can add to realms as a trait. The Umbral is full of riches and valuable resources to be claimed, but it’s highly dangerous.
Not only is the Umbral home to powerful Umbral demons, but it’s covered in Gloom which hurts and damages your units every turn they remain in it on the world map. To make matters worse, you can’t build cities or normal outposts in the Umbral. Instead, you can build sanctuaries by clearing Umbral nests. A sanctuary acts like an outpost with two annex slots, allowing you to claim some of the valuable resources inside the umbral.
In addition, the Umbral is also home to Umbral Dwellings. You can’t ally with an Umbral Dwelling using diplomacy, instead, you have to offer it power, food, and riches as tribute, always an act of evil. But allying with them provides you with a powerful and unique tome of spells you can’t get anywhere else.
The Umbral is an interesting addition to me because it shakes up the entire game, which is why it’s an optional trait. Exploiting the Umbral takes effort and planning, but pays off greatly as the resources contained within are powerful. Not only that, the Umbral Gates aren’t connected in the same way the underground is. Two Umbral gates may lead to completely opposite sides of the map, despite the gates only being a handful of hexes apart inside the Umbral
At the same time, even if you choose not to exploit the Umbral, you can never ignore it. Umbral Nests will send out attack parties to the surface, and wars with Umbral Dwellings can be dangerous. I for one, love the environmental danger, it’s another way to have a worldwide threat to everyone without using the regenerating infestations trait.
The Umbral itself is fun to play with, exploit, or fight and it’s another strategic factor to consider, which is great. That said, its balance somewhat conflicts with the game’s focus on roleplaying factions.
The Umbral gives a distinct advantage to evil players. Good-aligned factions can use the Umbral and claim some of its riches, but they have to fight a lot harder for it. Especially in the case of Umbral Dwellings.
That, however, is largely from a min-maxed standpoint, and that’s something I don’t think works really well with Age of Wonders 4 in the first place. For me, it’s always been more fun to roleplay my decisions as the factions I’ve made, rather than do what’s optimal.
Eldritch Tomes
Eldritch Realms adds three new dual-aspect tomes. Tome of the Tentacle is all about using, well, tentacles and constricting your enemies. It’s what you would expect from an expansion with Eldritch in the name.
Going deeper, however, we have the Tome of Corruption, which allows you to turn your faction into tentacled Umbral beings, able to traverse the Gloom of the Umbral without penalty.
To burn away all the Gloom and Umbral demons that call it home is the Tome of Cleansing Fire. With it, you can imbue your faction with a righteous flame to target the weaknesses of the Umbral Demons.
All of the tomes add something new to the game and I really appreciate having some new Shadow Tomes that aren’t focused on Necromancy. I think there are still a few gaps in the tome catalog that could use filling. But Eldritch Realms, alongside the other expansions does help round things out nicely.
Forms, Happenings & Other Additions
You can now make factions with the Syron and Insectoid forms as well as ride special Death Beetle Mounts. Eldritch Realms comes with two new excellent story realms to play, that also help introduce you to the Umbral Abyss, which is nice.
There is also the new Happening system, which is more or less random world events. Maybe Deserts and Blinding Sands begin appearing, Volcanos start to erupt, or the Fey begins invading the world. It’s a nice addition that helps keep the game from becoming too static.
Crafty players can also capitalize on these moments, and it overall just adds additional variety to the game. That’s great because variety is the very blood that pumps through the metaphorical veins of Age of Wonders 4.
Additionally, if you really want to be at home in the Umbral. There’s a new evil shadow trait called Umbral Disciples to jumpstart your Eldritch machinations.
Eldritch Realms is a pretty meaty expansion with plenty of meaningful additions. You definitely feel the absence of a new culture, but the Eldritch Sovereigns, Umbral Abyss, and Happening system make up for it.
Mystic Update
The free Mystic Update dropped alongside Eldritch Realms, and it’s a doozy. First of all, it overhauls the Mystic Faction, giving you three variant versions of them to play with. The Mystic Faction was in dire need of an overhaul so that’s fantastic.
However, one of the most important changes was how lower-tier units are handled. Since Age of Wonders 4 was released, its own gameplay systems have been at odds with each other. You see, units largely fall into a much more complex version of Roshambo. Spears Counter Calvary, Shields protect other units, etc.
However, it also has a tier system where a higher-tier unit is always stronger than a lower-tier unit. This means certain factions end up without core unit types in the late game, as entire unit types, such as spear units would go obsolete.
Now, lower-tier units can match higher-tier units if you invest in leveling them up and it drastically improves the feel of the entire game. More units have relevancy beyond turn 30 and that’s fantastic. Doom stacks of the highest-tier unit available was a terribly boring way to play, and I’m glad to see it has been addressed.
Finally, they implemented the ability for another player to play as the AI during battles in multiplayer. This salvages multiplayer entirely for me. I love playing with my partner, but we simply can’t stand waiting 10 to 20 minutes each time one of us has to fight something. We could have used auto-battle, but that feels like you’re only playing half the game. Allowing another player to play as the AI in fights they aren’t involved in is a feature I’ve wanted since Planetfall, and I’m ecstatic to see it.
My only issue is, that it seems a bit buggy in hot seat play and doesn’t always trigger. Hopefully, that gets fixed soon.
Verdict
Eldritch Realms is a fantastic expansion that further evolves the game with great new tomes and a fun new ruler type. Beyond that, however, the Umbral Abyss adds a whole new layer to the game, both figuratively and literally. It further amplifies the strategy and interaction in ways that I really enjoy.
Eldritch Realms helps round out the game’s unit roster, tome selection, and gameplay systems in a way that feels great and continues to strengthen the core values of Age of Wonders 4. While I certainly hope that Eldritch Realms isn’t the last expansion. It, alongside the mystic update, leaves Age of Wonders 4 in a very good place if that does end up being the case.
