Fantasy General II has a distinct lack of dull moments. Whether you’re playing as the Norse-inspired barbarians or the necromancy-fueled Empire, the sheer amount of content leaves you unable to disengage. Though I was initially unsure of how interested I was, thanks in part to its uninspired title, I was quickly converted into a fan once I held my breath and dove in.
What is Fantasy General II?
To fully grasp what the Evolution DLC brings to the table, you have to understand what Fantasy General II itself is. If you’ve already dabbled yourself, you’re forgiven for skipping ahead to the next section.
Fantasy General II is a turn-based tactical game that is built upon a foundation of persistent units that are carried over from on scenario to the next. Think Panzer Corps but with dragons, wizards, and walking corpses instead of tanks and bombers.
Prior to the arrival of Evolution, two factions had campaigns; the Norse-inspired barbarians and the undead-loving Empire. Though they both covered a variety of roles with some overlap, each was composed of entirely different units that were further removed than simply being a model swap.
Both factions had their unique trees funded by several resources that could be spent to upgrade to increasingly powerful units. These resources came from many sources, such as burning down settlements to gather armor or exploring a mysterious cavern to gain weapons, but they weren’t the only way to upgrade troops either. In addition to the more obvious class upgrades, experience-based leveling and equipment provide a means to boost base stats and gain new abilities without fundamentally changing the unit’s type.
Enter the Lizard
Evolution introduces us to a fully-fledged faction of lizardfolk and a new campaign designed to play to their strengths. Specializing in amphibious warfare, the campaign is heavily water-based with chains of islands throwing in some spice on vast stretches of ocean. Many of this faction’s units are able to ambush enemies from hiding places in deep water which serves to make them that much more dangerous as they already ignore all of the penalties from fighting in it.
The campaign itself is fairly open-ended, allowing you to decide between several different scenarios that you’d like to get into. Different paths come with different challenges and defeating the boss of any arc throws an extra powerful reward on top. For example, after chasing down the foe that had a knack for training giant crabs, you can eat him and gain that power for yourself. This unlocks the crab unit tree letting you recruit and upgrade these units as you see fit and drastically changing the composition and capabilities of your forces.
Devour the Weak
As stated earlier, the lizardfolk unit tree is full of units that excel in an aquatic environment. Their first tier is made up of expendable newts that are far from exceptional, though their deaths serve a greater purpose. Whereas you may seek to preserve your units at all costs with other factions, each lizard unit that is slain provides liquid mana, a resource required for boosting your units to higher tiers. You’ll still be required to obtain weapons, armor, and so forth for these upgrades, but the narrative “eating” of your fallen units provides a convenient, replenishable resource once you can get past the initial reservations on sending your lambs to the slaughter.
Meanwhile, evolution points are another unique resource for the lizards, and are far more challenging to acquire. These tend to be gained by eliminated powerful bosses, names heroes, or achieving victory in specific scenarios. These points can be spent to upgrade your main hero to higher tiers in his unique tree, all the way from being a new to being an epic dinosaur-like powerhouse.
The Bottom Line
Evolution is yet another story DLC that’s been released for the already exceptional Fantasy General II. New factions and campaigns are always welcome in the genre and both of these are of a solid quality that’s unlikely to disappoint those returning for another go with the title. I highly recommend the expansion to the converted, but I’d also warn that it doesn’t reinvent the game, and if you found yourself uninterested in it prior to the DLC, this release is unlikely to drastically change your opinion.
Aurumlamina (Steve Keator) is always looking for new games to try out and will dive into just about any genre though he has a special place in his heart for strategy titles. Outside of PC gaming, he’s a writer, world-builder, and tabletop game designer.