Expeditions: Rome Review

ign.com:

An RPG that has you leading armies against King Mithridates one moment and trading legal arguments with Cicero on the floor of the Roman senate the next is like catnip for a history fan like myself. I don't tend to root for the Romans, but the appropriately challenging Expeditions: Rome doesn't necessarily either. It's a well-written, nuanced depiction of a tumultuous era populated by many complex figures and very few real "good guys." It manages to capture so much of the spirit that has made the Late Republic fascinating to us for thousands of years, even if it does play fast and loose with some historical details.

With three acts that can each break 20 hours depending on how meticulous you want to be, Expeditions: Rome has a lot to sink your gladius into. Sometimes too much. It layers on so many ways to customize your Praetorian Guard, used in turn-based tactical battles, and legions, used in a semi-random mass combat system where you choose commanders and tactics to influence the outcome. You can craft single-use battle consumables and tactics cards, but there's also traditional RPG loot, gear customization, and tactical skills to level up. Many of the army stats aren't ever actually explained either – for example, Legion Experience says it makes you fight better, but doesn't go into more detail than that, and I would often lose a bunch for no discernible reason even in a battle where I didn't take many casualties. The tooltips aren't very helpful and none of the in-game tutorials do much better.

When I wasn't sorting through piles of mostly identical armor or trying to puzzle out how mass combat even works, though, I was generally having a great time. The tactical battles are a real highlight, presenting a significant