It’s been less than a week since Endless Legend 2 dropped a playable Demo on Steam. Although the early access release is approximately five weeks away, it’s good to discuss some initial impressions about what we have experienced so far playing the game
ENDLESS™ Legend 2 is a fantasy strategy game where you lead wildly varied factions as they build grand empires and wage planet-spanning wars on an ever-evolving ocean world at the brink of extinction. Cataclysmic events have wrought havoc on the natural order, and the very world will change as time goes on revealing new opportunities for exploration and conquest to the bold and daring. Establish expansive cities to spread your influence and strengthen your economy, raise armies and command troops in turn-based tactical battles to overcome your enemies by force, and push forth into the unknown to uncover the dark secrets that lie at the planet’s core.
If you haven’t already, I recommend going to the official Steam page and giving the demo a try yourself. Now I haven’t played the original Endless Legend, so my thoughts are largely going to be based on other 4X strategy games I have played over the years.
Endless Legend 2 Has Lot of Potential
Amplitude Studios has not released a full experience version of the game; if it wasn’t clear, it’s a DEMO, and certain boundaries have been set. One of those boundaries is that every new game that you start, regardless of the victory conditions you set, there will always be a score-based win, which will take place around ~80 turns or something, so you won’t experience much of the late-game science technologies, full hero roster, or all the moonsoon phases. Of course, once the game launches in September, this restriction is removed
Currently, there are three factions in the game, of which two are playable in the Demo – I believe that through regular updates and DLC, there will be a lot more of these. Also, a fourth one has been confirmed, but is currently not in the game, known as the Last Lords.
- ASPECTS – The Aspects are a deeply intriguing and sophisticated faction built around themes of harmony, decay, and renewal—an organic-robotic collective tied together by coral and driven by a psychic Chorus. Their world is shaped not by domination, but by careful manipulation and selective development of a shared natural resource: coral. Intentionally designed not as pacifists but as cunning manipulators, they navigate the world through strategic diplomacy and resource-sharing, encouraging allies to adopt coral growth while maintaining leverage via treaties. Their gameplay blends exploration, economy, and diplomacy with support-based military tactics, making them ideal for players who enjoy influence and coordination over outright conquest.
- NECROPHAGE – The Necrophage is a brutal hive-mind of insectoid creatures driven by an endless hunger. They build only one massive city, centered around their Queen, and spread through vast underground tunnels, letting them siphon resources from afar. Instead of diplomacy, they survive through devastation — burning villages and cities to collect Corpses, which fuel their economy and evolve their units. Their armies rely on aggressive swarming tactics, overwhelming enemies with relentless attacks that weaken targets and spawn larvae, which can instantly evolve into stronger forms. Expansion comes not through peace or trade, but through consumption, conquest, and destruction — for the Necrophage, all life is simply food for the hive.
- Kin of Sheredyn – The Kin are outsiders on Saiadha, descendants of an interstellar expedition stranded on an island. Their original leader, Commander Garin, disappeared while exploring ancient ruins, becoming a near-mythical figure among the Kin. Surviving in a harsh environment with storms and Necrophage threats, the Kin focus on fortifying and defending their lands rather than seeking contact with other factions. They excel at engineering and military construction, using advanced technology and strategic abilities to strengthen their position. Their armies are balanced and disciplined, with Legionaries forming a solid frontline, supported by archers and cavalry for ranged attacks and devastating charges. Elite Chosen soldiers in power armor can decisively shift battles. The Kin of Sheredyn combine defensive strategy, tactical formations, and technological advantage to survive and dominate on Saiadha.
As of right now, we don’t exactly have an idea how frequently new factions are going to be added, and whether they will always going to be behind a DLC paywall or not.
The Moonsoon Mechanic is Cool
In Endless Legend 2, the world is constantly reshaped by monsoons and tidefalls, forcing empires to adapt or fall. Cataclysmic tidefalls periodically recede the oceans, revealing new land rich with resources, anomalies, and strategic opportunities. While your existing territory remains safe, these newly exposed lands can drastically alter the strategic value of regions, creating fresh avenues for expansion or new threats from rival empires.
Wise leaders must plan for these changes: will you rush to claim new lands as soon as a tidefall occurs, or fortify key regions where emerging landbridges may appear? The shifting map encourages careful city planning, balancing population growth, industrial power, commerce, science, influence, and military strength according to your empire’s priorities.
This dynamic world ensures that no two campaigns are alike. Minor factions (fuck these guys btw), ancient ruins, and strange anomalies gain new relevance as the terrain changes, offering both danger and opportunity. Leaders must stay vigilant and flexible, harnessing every shift in the map to expand their empire, exploit resources, and pursue victory by conquest, diplomacy, or technological dominance.
In a world defined by change and unpredictability, your ability to adapt to the monsoon-driven transformation of the land will determine whether your empire thrives—or sinks beneath the tides.
More Content & Features are Needed
Overall the demo feels quite finished product already, there are fair amount of units, heroes, quests and endless amount of maps to generate – however some things are missing like factions of course and something that i touched on the video, there aren’t new AI names for each faction in the game and they need to add more portraits that could spice the look of AI factions on your seed map.
We, of course, want to see eventual mod support and further customization on the maps. There is an actual feedback tool inside the demo version, so players can chime in and tell what exactly they want to see in future versions, which is pretty neat. I will write a full review once the game is out, since right now we are limited from fully completing a game to its end, and of course, so many factions are not playable yet, which limits what I can say about the game at this stage.
PROS (+) |
CONS (-) |
| The game seems to run well, and I witnessed no crashes, glitches, or significant FPS drops | Games are restricted heavily by the Score mechanic that’s built in, which prevents testing a lot of the late-game mechanics |
| The World looks beautiful, and there is thought put into the races to make them look distinguished from each other and the rest of any other Fantasy IPs out there | Factions could have more unique mechanics that make them different from each other |
| Combat is very fun and isn’t overtly long, and doesn’t have that high skill ceiling, + there is an auto-battle option | Some OST tracks don’t fit with each single Faction |
| Quests seem to have some variety in them, and I generally like that there is some lore behind them | Unit & Building production in the early game is perhaps too slow |
| Plenty of settings available for multiple different victory conditions, among other things, like Difficulty and other types of world adjustments | Some parts of the UI are too big and take up a lot of space on your screen; there are some small tweaks I would make to the city management |
| Moonsoon/Tidefall mechanic is great, it increases exploration for the map, and overall is fun |
Stay tuned for a full review later on the end of September or perhaps in October, as games like these tend to have long playthroughs.