Age of Mythology Retold's new Chinese pantheon expansion takes a bold stance on updating an old game: Just make good new stuff

Age of Mythology has had a long, strong history as the weirdest and most cult-like of the Age RTS series. Last year we got the release of Age of Mythology: Retold, which updated and revamped it for modern audiences. The community who still love and support the game have received it pretty well, with thousands online every day to play the enriched version of their favorite RTS. It recently got a big expansion, Immortal Pillars, adding a pantheon of Chinese gods and a Chinese faction alongside the Greeks, Norse, Egyptians, and Atlanteans of the base game.

In making a fresh expansion, senior director of production Earnest Yuen and the team at World's Edge realized that they'd have to abandon some elements of the Chinese faction in Age of Mythology's first remaster, the 2014 Extended Edition.

"To be open, we deliberately chose not to closely adhere to the original. We have all played the original expansion of course, so we understand what was good about it and what can be improved," Yuen said. "Even folks who did work on the original felt that we should rework the expansion with the experiences the team have gained now."

It's a little surprising for an expansion on a decades-old game, but not too much so. When I spoke with Yuen and the World's Edge developers at the start of 2024 as Age of Mythology Retold was revealed, they showed themselves to be huge fans of the game. They told me at the time they wanted to go "way beyond what we normally do for definitive editions" in order to build an epic as older players remembered it, rather than as it was in 2002. "We want to build the game in your head," he said.

The same held true for Immortal Pillars: they wanted to make the expansion you imagined for Age of Mythology, not the expansion that actually existed a decade ago. They didn't explicitly say it, but to me it was clear that Immortal Pillars either had to be up to 2025 standards or it shouldn't exist at all.

Good gods

"One of our key goals early on was to unleash our creative team to be free to 100% completely reimagine and rebuild the pantheon from the ground up, showcasing what a modern take of a Chinese pantheon would look like in 2025," said Yuen. "We wanted to reimagine the Chinese pantheon based on authentic Chinese mythology, which includes collaborating with experts and partners in China to create this expansion. Chinese mythology stories run incredibly deep, and we had a hard time picking which gods would make the final cut."

Some of those choices were informed by how players engage with Age of Mythology Retold. The team at World's Edge does their best to monitor social metrics—how people are talking about the game—and the hard data they get from people playing matches. That's part of what told them that a lot of AoM players really enjoyed skirmish and singleplayer game types against the AI, which lead to the development of the PvE Arena of the Gods mode released last year. That meant that a priority of design for the Chinese pantheon had to fit with the flashy "look at these cool battles" draw of that mode.

"It has so many incredible-looking Myth units which really makes any big battles look epic. I mean, we now have even more flying dragons and new flying tigers," said Yuen, adding that Immortal Pillars also includes a singleplayer campaign.

Not all design was informed by the need to look good, though. I asked Yuen how the team approached adding new gameplay types—there are a lot of cool ideas from the last two decades of strategy games that just aren't present in the core of AoM.

"Of course you have the completely new and awesome ideas like Taotie that eats other units to grow larger and increase attack stats. I especially like that unit design because not only does it introduce a new way to play, but the idea also aligns perfectly with the original Chinese mythology of Taotie representing 'gluttony,'" said Yuen. "I also love the hero Nezha, who leaves behind a trail of fire everywhere he goes.

"The way the Chinese gain favor is entirely different from any other pantheons, as they have to constantly expand their empire to cover more 'favored land,' and the barracks allow you to add defensive tower expansions on the buildings. These and other new features offer us new strategic options to think about building placements in the battlefield."

Yuen and the team clearly just really love this game. They're thrilled watching players come up with new and innovative ways to use the factions and powers they've implemented.

"The players have often created new ways to play the game or use various units and god powers in ways we don’t initially expect. Yes, sometimes it does keep our game balance team busy, but most often it just makes the game fun to watch and play. When the game first came out, I learned a lot from the best players out there and used those tools against other people in our team, especially with the new Norse god Freyr. I’m looking forward to doing the same with the Chinese Patheon!"

So do keep the reviews, comments, and discourse going, Age fans. It's clear they're important to the World's Edge team. "Players may not know this but on top of looking for complaints, the positive comments have routinely been a huge source of encouragement for our team to keep making the game as good as we can," Yuen said.

"Thank you, Myth fans. We love you."