Home Trending Latest threads New posts Developer diaries

What is your opinion on the AoW:Planetfall factions?

Jump to latest Follow Reply
  • We have updated our Community Code of Conduct. Please read through the new rules for the forum that are an integral part of Paradox Interactive’s User Agreement.
Age of Wonders: Planetfall 3776 Bug reports 1659 Suggestions 539 User Mods 95 AoW: Planetfall: News and Updates Archive 41 Multiplayer 55
Show only dev responses
Hello, new guy finally joining to weigh in on the new AoW game... really should reinstall my copy of AoW3 but that's neither here nor there.

As for the factions for Planetfall. Overall I'm digging the aesthetic of all of the ones we've seen so far. Very pulpy, not something you see a lot of these days.

Of the three we've seen, I'm digging the Vanguard and the Dvar the most. Not really a fan of the Kir'ko but that's just me. I ended up liking the Dvar a lot more then I thought I would (originally thought they would be generic vaguely Scottish space dwarves) and it sounds like they match my preferred play style (build tall, build fast, just build in general) the most so far.

Of the three we haven't seen, I'm most interested in the Assembly though the Syndicate runs a close second with me. As for the Amazons, the developer comment that they are more Monsanto then Greenpeace is interesting... and terrifyingly vague. Terrifying enough that I am interested in seeing their faction trailer and learning exactly what Paradox means by that even though I don't have any real interest in playing them. Regarding the "other" controversy that has been discussed on this thread... the impression I got once I started seeing concept art and gameplay demos was that this was going to be pulp sci-fi. And nations of alien warrior women are a very classic pulp sci-fi trope although admittedly yes, it has acquired different connotations in the current climate. That being said, if I am interpreting that Monsanto comment correctly, there will be PLENTY of reasons to hate the Amazons that will be fully justified and plenty of wonderfully nasty things the Developers can have the Amazons do. If that turns out to be the case, my leaders will have lots of fun making thrones and trendy drinking cups out of Amazon skulls. :p
 
I hope we get Arzacs, Frostlings Tigrans and even Syrons. I feel like all those races chould fit in a Si fi setting. As much as I like goblins I think the cyborgs are trying to fill in those boots.
 
BloodyBattleBrain said:
Syrons had a pretty sci-fi feel imho in Shadow magic, so I could see them working in Planetfall.

The others, not so sure.


Arguably Azracs =/= Syndicate.
Click to expand...
I think other then Syrons Frostlings chould translate into humans that mutated or evolved into becoming adept at liveing on ice planets. Tigrans chould be escaped lab experiments that have managed to reach space age technology on their own with the help of scavenging. Just throwing pasta on the wall here. Shadow demons might be too much like those npc portal monsters that we saw in a previous review diary. Archeons just whould not fit in the setting. The rest of the factions chould just be so fi versions of a fantasy race.
 
BloodyBattleBrain said:
frosltings yes. You make a good argument.

And there are space tigrans in another game I'm sure?
Click to expand...
Vex I think? Wing commander? I just like it when Triumph takes advantage of their more strange factions. How whould you put Syrons into the game without confusing too many new players? Prehaps people that tried to settle in another demension?
 
Personally I'm very happy that all the humanoid factions of the game are in fact descended from actual humans. It's not like we have any evidence to suggest that the humanoid shape and size is the most likely to become a dominant species and space-faring civilization. While possible, I think it's more interesting if actual aliens are substantially different from humans in shape and size. I really like the kir'ko for that, though their size and bipedal troops do bother me a little bit.

If they do introduce more aliens, I do hope they are very different from humans.
 
If they are playable race then at least their heroes must be more or less human shaped so it can use the same weapons and vehicles that other heroes use. NPC factions can look very different however.
 
Truewhit said:
I think other then Syrons Frostlings chould translate into humans that mutated or evolved into becoming adept at liveing on ice planets. Tigrans chould be escaped lab experiments that have managed to reach space age technology on their own with the help of scavenging. Just throwing pasta on the wall here. Shadow demons might be too much like those npc portal monsters that we saw in a previous review diary. Archeons just whould not fit in the setting. The rest of the factions chould just be so fi versions of a fantasy race.
Click to expand...
Tons of sci-fi settings have cat people - Star Trek has the Caitians, Star Wars those (never seen) Bothan spies, Wing Commander's main enemy race are cat people, and to bring up turn based games, the game AoW was based on, Master of Magic had a sci-fi spinoff called Master of Orion that had the Mrrrshan!
MasterOfOrion 2016-02-27 17-55-00-71.png
 
They could be tiny floating snakelike creature with telekinesis, or a race that uses remote-controlled vessels and can look like whatever. They don't need to be able to use everything either, but I agree it does impose limits on their design, hm. :(
 
Hi, I'm Necroman

Figured it was time for a midpoint final verdict, even though I haven't played every faction to the fullest yet.
I should mention that, even though I have a definite preference for some and less love for others, I do enjoy playing all factions.
I separated the list because my number 1 is very clear, number 2 and 3 are very close to eachother and 4, 5 and 6 are very close to eachother as well.

As expected, my number 1 is Amazon, both thematically and mechanically it does everything for me.

My number 2 is Syndicate. Although I do not condone slavery, their theme is strong and their unit line-up feels naturally eloquent.
Third are the Vanguard. Not boring at all for the 'baseline' faction. very close to being my number 2 but a bit too many mechanical units for my taste.

Fourth place is taken by the Kir'ko. Don't like bugs in general, do like the former-slaves revolutionary theme. Love some units, dislike others.
DVAR are my number 5. While thematically appropriate I don't really like the focus on machines. Bulwark is awesome though.
Assembly come in last place. I enjoy playing them a bit less because they are so creepy. Too many units are simply 'robot with human head' style.

Earlier in this thread I made this list of expectations and it turned out the same with the exception that Syndicate and Assembly totally switched places.
So what are your verdicts?
And where do you think the Shakarn will fit?
 
My list after spending a lot of quality time with the game:
Tier I - Shakarn obviously :D I know they are not even out yet, but it doesn't matter how will they play. Aesthetically they are simply a win for me all the way.
Tier II - Kir'ko and Amazon. Kir'ko becasue I like "zerg-like" swarm xeno races (Tyranids, Zerg, Necrophages you name them) and they have cool unit designs. Amazon because they have this rad tame/summon animals theme and generally have nice unit designs.
Tier III - Vanguard. Although they are "classic sci-fi humans" I very like their "drone" heavy theme. I think Drone Carrier is my fav Tier IV unit.
Tier IV - Syndicate/Assembly/Dvar. Syndicate has some nice units but I traditionally dislike "espionage/sneaky/exploit others" factions in games. I like the idea behind Assembly but they just simply have too many creepy/ugly humanoid unit designs. They remind me of Synthets from Etherlords. If they had more units like Reaver they would probably be tier II. Finally I was thinking of placing Dvar in Tier III, becasue I do like their playstyle, but again, aesthetically this factions has too many similar unit/meh designs.

Ofc I enjoy playing each and every race, each one has units that I like. I simply prefer some over the others and if thread is about ranking your favs then I've done so :)

Btw I think we could do the same rankings with NPC factions :)
 
In terms of how much I like each race so far, I think it would be:
1) Amazon - Because dinosaurs with laser beams, that is all.
2) Syndicate - I love their announcer's voice, and I love me some fancy psychic/magi-tech. Also Psynumbra Syndicate is a fun combo. Before release I thought they would be the race that interested me the least, even compared to Vanguard, I was wrong. Also they remind me of the novel/film version of House Harkonnen from Dune.
3) Dvar - I like their emphasis on good ol' firepower and heavy machinery. I also dig their industrial aesthetic. They remind me of the Soviets from Red Alert (they are both Russian-esque, after all) and the video game version of House Harkonnen.
4) Assembly - Mostly the same reasons as Dvar, plus the fact that they're gritty murder-cyborgs like the Strogg from Quake. I find it more difficult to enjoy their gameplay and units though, aside from Celestian Assembly.
5) Kir'ko - I don't have much to say, though I quite like their twist on the "bug war" trope.
6) Vanguard - The whole drone specialty and use of lasers is neat, but I think they were the faction that actually excited me the least. I sometimes try them out if I want to roleplay as Halo or Doom Marines, but I'm usually more interested in the other factions.

I'm leaving Shakarn out for now because I wanna' try them out in gameplay first, but I expect them to be pretty high on my list, maybe even above Syndicate and Amazons. Especially since they're lizard people.

Note that I don't dislike any of the races, I actually like all of them, I just like the theme and gameplay of some factions more.
 
Last edited:
my personal opinion after hundreds of hours with the game:

1) Amazons, Syndicate (and probably Shakarn): perfect in terms of concept, look and feel
2) Dvar, Vanguard: equally well done except one or two units which don't look that good (engineer and baron)
3) Kirko: it works well and fills a conceptual niche but i don't love it

8) Assembly: barefoot trash zombies and machines with a human head on top are just the sad kind of bizarre. The reason why i think it's sad is because in my mind this could be the coolest of the factions. I very much love the inspector, reverse engineer and the disassembler. But the infantry looks like crap and the heavies should lose the comical head shtick.

in summary: i love every minute with all factions but when playing assembly i take the scholar perk and try to focus on secret tech units
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom
Back