This retrospective review draws on Neowin reviewer Pulasthi Ariyasinghe’s 25-plus hours with a pre-release Early Access build, published September 18, 2025. Endless Legend 2 left Early Access with its full release on September 17, 2026, so the hands-on impressions below describe that earlier build—not a verdict on the current release.
In that build, the game’s defining idea was Tidefall: monsoons receded the ocean and permanently exposed new land, turning a familiar strategy map into a changing set of routes, frontiers, and opportunities. The reviewer found that system, the distinct faction identities, and tactical battles compelling, while calling out weak city-management information, uneven enemy decisions, and bugs in the version they played.
What is Tidefall in Endless Legend 2?
Tidefall is the game’s cycle of monsoons and retreating seas. When the water pulls back, it reveals permanent land that connects regions and opens new areas to explore. This is not simply a temporary event to wait out: in the build Ariyasinghe reviewed, each retreat changed the geography available for the rest of the game.
The reviewer saw three Tidefalls over the course of a game. Deeper exposed regions brought tougher AI patrols and dungeons, but also richer terrain and rarer resources. The strategic choice was therefore not just whether to explore, but when to risk an expedition and how to use the routes the newly exposed ground created. Tidefall could affect where to place cities, how to move armies, and which chokepoints mattered.
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For Ariyasinghe, its greatest strength was that it made exploration feel relevant beyond the opening turns. As they put it in the September 18, 2025 review, “The Tidefall mechanic was my favorite new addition to the 4X genre, offering the same exploration and adventuring feeling of the early game in mid-and late-game scenarios by slowly receding the oceans and expanding the land.” That is the reviewer’s assessment of the pre-release build, not a claim that no other strategy game changes its map over time.
How did the five Early Access factions differ?
The review covers five factions available in its Early Access build. Rather than giving every civilization the same economic and military toolkit, Endless Legend 2 tied each faction to a distinct identity and set of systems.
| Faction | Identity described in the review |
|---|---|
| Kin of Sheredyn | Defense-oriented. |
| Last Lords | Used currency and living beings, rather than food, for growth. |
| Necrophage | Operated as a hive-mind. |
| Aspects | Emphasized cooperation and spreading influence. |
| Tahuks | Focused on science and faith. |
These are the five factions discussed as the Early Access launch roster in the 2025 review. It anticipated a sixth faction during Early Access, but that forecast should not be treated as a description of the roster in the full release. The reviewed build’s faction variety mattered because it changed more than the look of a campaign: each faction’s economy and combat identity offered a different way to approach expansion and conflict.
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What were battles like?
Combat moved from the empire map to tactical battle maps shaped by nearby terrain. The reviewer highlights cover, formations, charges, unit abilities, hero skill trees, and equipment as tools that could change the outcome. Players could also use auto-resolve or automate battles they chose to fight manually.
The enemy AI was less dependable. In Ariyasinghe’s experience, it sometimes used chokepoints and applied pressure effectively, but at other times made poor terrain decisions. That inconsistency made tactical control appealing, while also limiting confidence that every encounter would offer a thoughtful opponent.
How usable was the interface and city management?
Ariyasinghe praised the interface’s configurable information, useful notifications, and familiar mouse interactions. Nested tooltips were a particular strength: players could lock one open and follow details through successive layers instead of losing their place while trying to understand a term or system.
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- Richly detailed battles that feature thousands of 3D units and intense combat.
- Manage the economic, civil, religious and military arms of your empire.
- Over 100 different units, including knights, men-at-arms, English longbowmen, and more.
- Spectacular sieges, as you pound castles into dust with cannons, catapults, and ballistae.
- Multiplayer battles with up to seven other players over the Internet.
The weaker point was clarity around city planning. The reviewer wanted better information about where districts could be placed and how many the city could support. The build also contained placeholder text and icons, which made some parts feel unfinished. Those observations apply to the pre-release version reviewed in 2025; they do not establish how the full release handles the same issues.
What problems did the 2025 review find?
The reviewer encountered intermittent bugs involving quests, battles, units, and turn progression. They reported that reloading autosaves resolved the issues they personally encountered. That is one reviewer’s experience with one pre-release build, not a guaranteed fix for other players or a statement about the current release.
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More broadly, the two caveats that most affected the review were inconsistent AI decisions in combat and insufficiently clear city-district information. The bugs added instability to an otherwise ambitious strategy game. Because the available review covers a 2025 build, it cannot tell readers which of those problems persisted, changed, or were fixed by the September 2026 full release.
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Is Endless Legend 2 worth playing?
If the systems described in the review appeal to you, the strongest reason to try Endless Legend 2 is the way its changing map can keep exploration and geography consequential into the middle and late game. The five reviewed factions also offered notably different economic and combat approaches, while tactical battles gave terrain and unit abilities a role beyond simply comparing army strength.
The reservation is version-specific: Ariyasinghe’s positive assessment came with clear criticisms of city-planning information, uneven AI, and bugs in the pre-release build. The official Steam listing now gives the full-release date as September 17, 2026, but the evidence here does not establish how the released game compares on those points. The review is best read as a strong account of the game’s design ambitions and of the particular Early Access version the reviewer played—not as confirmation of current balance, stability, or faction content.
Release and edition context
Steam lists AMPLITUDE Studios as developer, Hooded Horse as publisher, Early Access beginning September 22, 2025, and full release on September 17, 2026. Its current store description presents a fantasy strategy game built around asymmetric factions, heroes, empire building, political influence, and an evolving ocean world. Steam also lists the game as Steam Deck Verified. Store details can change; see the official Steam page for current availability and listing information.
The optional Supporter Pack is digital content, not physical media. Steam describes it as a 21-track soundtrack composed by Arnaud Roy, a 23-page digital artbook about the five Early Access factions, a map of Saiadha, and platform avatars and badges. It requires the base game; see the Supporter Pack listing for its contents.
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