Age of Mythology: Retold

Age of Mythology: Retold
Developers	World's Edge Forgotten Empires
Publisher	Xbox Game Studios
Director	Adam Isgreen
Producer	Danielle Pino
Designer	Kristen Pirillo
Programmer	Mike Robbins
Artist	Melinda Rose
Writers	Cédric Van de Sande Ben Angell Megan Quinn
Series	Age of Empires
Platforms	Windows Xbox Series X/S PlayStation 5
Release	Windows, Series X/S September 4, 2024 PlayStation 5 March 4, 2025
Genre	Real-time strategy
Modes	Single-player, multiplayer

Age of Mythology: Retold is a real-time strategy video game developed by World's Edge, Tantalus Media, and Forgotten Empires and published by Xbox Game Studios. It serves as a remastered version of Age of Mythology, originally developed by Ensemble Studios and released in 2002. It was first revealed on October 25, 2022. The game was released on September 4, 2024, for Windows and Xbox Series X/S. The game received generally positive reviews from critics.

Gameplay

Top-down view of an Atlantean town in the game

Age of Mythology: Retold combines elements of the original game with modern real-time strategy design and visuals. Built using Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition's version of the Bang Engine, all units and animations were completely redone for the remake. The remake features a new fully symphonic version of the original soundtrack, featuring numerous tweaks and modernizations, and offering more options for players.

Players can choose mythological gods from the Greek, Norse, Egyptian, Atlantean, and with DLC, the Chinese, Japanese, and Aztec pantheons, using their powers to summon powerful creatures and cast spells against their enemies. The game features a 50-mission campaign that takes players across various mythical worlds, including locations such as Troy, Midgard, and Egypt. Notably, Retold's description only refers to the Greek, Egyptian, Norse, and Atlantean cultures, excluding content from the Tale of the Dragon expansion, unlike the Definitive Edition re-releases of Age of Empires I, II, and III, which included all previously released official content at launch. However, a reenvisioned Chinese pantheon along with a new Japanese pantheon were released as DLC expansions for the game, with Immortal Pillars including the former and being released on March 4th, 2025 and Heavenly Spear including the latter and being released on September 30th, 2025. Players can command units inspired by world mythologies, such as Centaurs, Trolls, Mummies, and Cyclops.

Myth unit abilities can be activated by players at will, rather than automatically cast by the unit. A unit's charged ability can also be set to trigger automatically, similar to the original game. The favor cap of 100 is changed or removed. God powers are now multi-use with cooldowns, and reusing god powers costs favor. A new Wonder Age introduces cheaper god power casting, though its relation to the current Titan Age is unclarified. An auto-economy feature is added through systems such as Villager Priority. Resource drop site foundations can be selected from a resource's command panel, and when placed, a nearby idle Villager will be automatically tasked to it. The population limit is increased, and the game now includes ray tracing. Hotkey buttons are displayed on icons in the command panel, while crush armor, reload time, and attack multipliers are shown next to other unit/building attributes in the information panel. The Scenario Editor has a text filter option to find objects faster, and all upgraded myth units have unique visuals. Additionally, the game notifies the player when approaching the population space capacity.

Campaign plot

Players enter a world where ancient mythological pantheons from various cultures coexist and vie for dominance. The Greeks, Norse, Egyptians, and Atlanteans are all embroiled in a struggle, wielding their divine powers in war. The narrative arc of the game is centered around this conflict, with each civilization bringing its myths and legendary creatures to the battlefield. Players choose a pantheon and lead their chosen gods and heroes to victory, shaping the fate of the world with each decision.

Fall of the Trident

See also: Age of Mythology § Campaign synopsis

The Golden Gift

See also: Age of Mythology § The Golden Gift

The New Atlantis

See also: Age of Mythology: The Titans § Plot

Pillars of the Gods

Set after the events of The New Atlantis, the story moves to China. Huang Zhaowu, a warlord and champion of the god Huangdi is made immortal due to his good deeds. But due to this, his love, Xiaoli, dies of old age without him. Huang Zhaowu tries to reason with the gods to bring her back, but is denied. This action makes him betray the gods and wage the war on them.

Some time later, a sage named Cangjie is walking through a destroyed town and comes across a group mourning a soldier. Suddenly, the soldier is revived by the god Shennong and chosen to be his champion. The soldier reveals his name to be Yan Feifeng, but before proper introductions can be made, the pair is attacked by Huang Zhaowu's forces. After going through the town and saving the inhabitants, the pairs comes across Houyi, one of China's heroes. Houyi, resentful that gods granted inmmortality to Huang Zhaowu and not him, decides to defeat him without any help. Meanwhile, the god of war Chiyou recruits Nüchou, the witch who shares history with Houyi.

Houyi comes across a village being attacked and after saving it, decides to use it as base to defeat the Huang Zhaowu's outpost nearby. However, he underestimates his forces and is almost defeated before being saved by Cangjie and Yan Feifeng. Meanwhile, Huang Zhaowu destroys the Western Pillar of Heaven and Chiyou and Nüchou join his forces. Houyi decides to join Cangjie and Yan Feifeng right as the pillar collapses. Nüchou then decides to attack the group and tries to persuade Houyi to join her. After defeating her outpost, the group learns that Huang Zhaowu seeks an ancient relic found in the valleys of Mount Buzhou and decide to travel there as well.

The group reaches the other pillars one by one. At the Northern Pillar, the group witnesses Chiyou near it and after learning that Chiyou already stolen the relic - the God Trap - the group destroys his outpost near the pillar. However, Chiyou and the God Trap are already gone by the time they reach the base of the pillar. The group then reaches the Southern Pillar, which is already under attack by Nüchou's forces. Nüchou tries again to persuade Houyi to join her, but the group defeats her and Houyi personally kills her. Finally, the group reaches the Eastern Pillar and find Huang Zhaowu already near it. Cangjie then feels that Shennong must be trapped, since he can't sense him anymore. After the group destroys the outpost near the pillar, Chiyou tries to betray Huang Zhaowu, but is God Trapped by him as a result. Huang Zhaowu then uses his power to destroy all remaining pillars. Cangjie tells the group that the pillars can be repaired, but only with Nüwa's five stones. However, those can only be found in the underworld. To reach them, Cangjie kills Yan Feifeng at his request.

Yan Feifeng reaches the underworld and learns that it has been merged with underworlds from other pantheons due to Huang Zhaowu's actions. He meets up with Ajax (Fall of the Trident/The New Atlantis) and Brokk and Eitri (Fall of the Trident/Golden Gift) and after explaining the situation to them, they decide to join him. However, right at that moment, Xiaoli, Huang Zhaowu's love, attacks them. The group then goes through each of the underworlds and pick the stones one by one, meeting up with other heroes, such as Setna, Folstag and Zeno. The group then defeats Xiaoli and takes the last stone. However, Huang Zhaowu uses his newfound powers to resurrect Xiaoli.

Meanwhile, Cangjie and Houyi decide to repair Nüwa's Wonder to get her attention. They are successful as Nüwa takes the stones from the underworld and uses them to repair the broken pillars. This action also resurrects Yan Feifeng, Ajax, Brokk and Eitri. Huang Zhaowu, after seeing the pillars restored, uses the God Trap to release Chiyou under his control. The group decides to summon the titan Xingtian to defeat him. Afterwards, the group reaches Huang Zhaowu and Xiaoli and trap them both in the God Trap. Afterwards, the God Trap is returned to its rightful place and Houyi and Yan Feifeng decide to work together to protect it and all of China.

Yasuko's Tale

Set after the events of Pillars of the Gods, the story moves to Japan. A farmer's daughter named Yasuko comes across a wounded warrior while collecting berries. This warrior gives her the spear before dying. When she returns with it to her village, she find it under attack and decides to find her father Tatsuro.

Yasuko reaches her home to find her father under attack and uses the spear to heal him. Afterwards, the village's daimyo named Harumoto asks her to come with him to heal his forces, while he repels the attack. The group learns that the Tengu named Sōjōbō is behind the attack and decide to give chase after he escapes.

The group reaches Mount Kurama and are attacked by Sōjōbō's forces. Yasuko then learns how to use the spear to cast shields upon her allies. The group defeats Sōjōbō and learns that he was put under the spell by someone and just in that moment, she attacks. This witch is revealed to be Lady Magumo, a queen of spider spirits, who is after Yasuko's spear. Sōjōbō joins the group and together with Yasuko and Harumoto, defend the stronghold, while Tatsuro scours the area for resources. After defeating one of Magumo's underlings named Yuki-Onna, the group learns that Tatsuro have been captured and decide to give chase. After reaching the swamp, the group decides to visit a wise man name Abe-no-Seimei to ask for help.

The group reaches Abe-no-Seimei's village to find it under attack. Yasuko then learns to use sunbeams from the spear to aid in combat. After clearing the village from enemies, the group asks for help from Abe-no-Seimei. He decides to help but only after the surrounding shrines and temples have been cleansed of Kappa corruption. Afterwards, the group learns that Magumo is traveling to the west of Kumamoto, to the island of Kyüshü, the home base of her master, Lord Kagemasa. The group also learns that Kagemasa wants to make an alliance with Oni, so the group splits up, with Harumoto going after Kagemasa and the Oni, while Yasuko and Sōjōbō go after Magumo.

Yasuko and Sōjōbō reach a number of islands and learn that Magumo enslaved the guardian spirits of the land named Umibōzu. After freeing the spirits, Yasuko and Sōjōbō learn that Magumo have gone into the mainland. After reaching it, Yasuko notices a group of female warriors, wearing the same armor as the warrior with the spear, watching them. Meanwhile, Harumoto reaches Mount Fuji and is attacked by shinobi sent by Kamegasa. After they fail at this task, Kagemasa turns on them, so the shinobi join Harumoto instead. Afterwards, Kagemasa reaches the homeland of Oni and joins forces with their ruler, Shuten-Dōji. After Harumoto destroys the oni's stronghold, Kagemasa and Shuten-Dōji escape and he gives chase.

Yasuko and Sōjōbō reach Magumo's lair to discover she enslaved a number of Norse and Atlantean soldiers. Afterwards, they are reunited with Harumoto. After the group destroys the lair and kill Magumo, they are attacked by Kagemasa and Shuten-Dōji, but are saved by the arrival of Akari, the leader of the female warriors from earlier. After escaping, Akari explains that the spear belongs to the sun goddess Amaterasu, while Kagemasa is working under the storm god Susanoo. After escaping from Kagemasa's army, the Akari further explains that the spear is named Abe-no-Nuboko - The Spear of Creation, created by the god Izanagi and Izanami. After the explanation, Akari joins the group and then the group splits up again, with Harumoto and Sōjōbō going to attack Kagemasa head on, while Yasuko and Akari sneak up behind enemy lines.

While Harumoto and Sōjōbō are keeping Kagemasa busy, Yasuko and Akari reach the big cave and its underground tunnels. There they meet up with Ajax (Fall of the Trident/The New Atlantis/Pillar of the Gods) and Brokk and Eitri (Fall of the Trident/Golden Gift/Pillar of the Gods), who have been lost after trying to get back home from China. After helping them to reach the right tunnels, Yasuko and Akari reach the back of Kagemasa's base. However, Shuten-Dōji and his Oni arrive to help Kagemasa and the Abe-no-Nuboko is stolen. Kagamesa then uses it to trap Amaterasu inside the cave, causing an eternal night in the process. Completing all tasks given to him, Kagemasa demands a reward from Susanno. However, Susanno tricks him and transfroms him into the titan Yamata no Orochi. Shuten-Dōji then takes Abe-no-Nuboko for himself.

The group's allies - Umibōzu and the shinobi - arrive to help the group and together, they defeat and kill Shuten-Dōji and Yasuko retrieves Abe-no-Nuboko. With its help, Yasuko kills Kagemasa and unlocks the cave, freeing Amaterasu and bringing back the day. Yasuko is then reunited with Tatsuro. Afterwards, Yasuko returns Abe-no-Nuboko to Akari. Sōjōbō and Akari then return to their homelands. Harumoto then decides to unite Japan, so villains like Kagemasa won't rise again. Yasuko, Tatsuro and Harumoto then go back home.

Obsidian Mirror

Set either after The New Atlantis or Yasuko's Tale, the story moves to the America. Unlike the other campaigns, this one is split into three acts:

ACT 1 - Aztlan

In the Aztec capital of Aztlan, the god Tezcatlipoca tricks his brother, the god Quetzalcoatl, into drinking a strange elixir, which makes him turn into his serpent form and rampage throughout the city, all in order to take over the empire. Their brother, the god Hiutzilopochtli, decides to stop both his brothers to take the city back for himself and his followers, Itzcoatl and Tlacaelel. He is able to beat both his brothers, with Quetzalcoatl shrinking due to the effects of the elixir and Tezcatlipoca fleeing. Quetzalcoatl latches onto an arm of a warrior named Popocatepetl and promises to reunite him with his love, princess Iztaccihuatl, who has been sucked into the portal which Tezcatlipoca used to escape. Hiutzilopochtli then decides to abandon the ruins of Aztlan and to name Itzcoatl a new king for the Aztec people.

While searching for the new homeland, Itzcoatl and Tlacaelel come across an oasis in a desert and are greeted by the goddess Malinalxochitl, who offers them the oasis in exchange for their worship. The duo agrees. However, not long after, they spot danger in the distance. Upon further investigation, they learn that Copil, the son of Malinalxochitl has been capturing and killing people in surrounding villages in the name of his mother, with his next target being Hiutzilopochtli's people. After Hiutzilopochtli remprimands Itzcoatl and Tlacaelel for falling for Malinalxochitl's schemes, the duo destroys Copil's outpost and gives chase after he escapes. Meanwhile, Popocatepetl decides to follow the duo to join them. After he reaches the duo, they command him to prove himself, which he does by smoking out Copil's patrols out of his cave lair. The trio is joined by Hiutzilopochtli, who takes over Tlacaelel's body to personally lead the attack on Copil's lair. After Copil's death, Hiutzilopochtli declares that Copil's land will serve as a new home for his people.

ACT 2 - Meanwhile...

Iztaccihuatl is revealed to be washed up at the shores of The New Atlantis. After waking up, she confronts Tezcatlipoca, who convinces her not to fight due to their current predicament. They meet up with Kastor (Fall of the Trident/The New Atlantis), who immediately decides to help them due to Iztaccihuatl's beauty. However, he is preoccupied with dealing with remnants of Kronos' worshippers, cultists and other matters. The duo decides to help out Kastor to earn his trust. After destroying the cultist's base, Tezcatlipoca reveals his status as a god and spins the story of Aztlan to convince Kastor to join him. Kastor accepts and informs Tezcatlipoca that he could gain more allies after helping him in another matter.

The group reaches the outpost in Greece and are met with Ajax and Amanra (Fall of the Trident/The New Atlantis). Kastor informs them of his new quest and Tezcatlipoca asks what is the problem in Greece. Amanra explains that Kamina, daughter of Kamos (Fall of the Trident), taken over her father's pirate fleet to continue his "work". Tezcatlipoca suggests that he and Iztaccihuatl attack her base due to their unexpected presence. Kastor joins them and together they break into her base. To make sure she doesn't escape, Tezcatlipoca splits up from the other two. However, after reaching her, Tezcatlipoca tricks her into helping him by "completing" the curse she plans to use on Kastor. He helps her capture Ajax and Amanra, then feigns ignorance during their rescue. After reaching her again, she challenges Kastor to the duel and uses her curse during it. However, due to Tezcatlipoca's "assistance", the curse backfires and she dissapears. The rescue fully convinces Ajax, but Amanra still has some reservations. Nevertheless, both agree to lend their forces. Tezcatlipoca says that they still need more allies, so the group suggests travelling to Midgard to find Brokk and Eitri.

The group reaches Midgard and are immediately attacked by giants. After surviving the attack, Eitri infroms them how the giants have been empowered by the presence of the Thor's hammer Mjolnir, then shrinks it to wield it himself. The group then goes through the wilderness and war-torn village to reach Brokk's base to deliver it back to Thor. Here, Tezcatlipoca convinces the brothers to join them. The full group then decides to travel back to The America through Niflheim, the Norse underworld, as it is faster then a month-long journey by boat.

The group reaches Erebus through Niflheim and get attacked by Hades' forces. Fortunately for them, they are saved by Chiron (Fall of the Trident), who was thought to be gone after sacrificing himself. After explaining the situation to him, he decides to accompany his old allies to the border between Erebus and Mictlan, the Aztec underworld. Here they meet Mictlantecuhtli, god of the Aztec underworld. Tezcatlipoca barters with him - group's assistance in his war with Hades for the safe passage to Mictlan. After completing task given, the group reaches their destination and Tezcatlipoca splits up to do something. While waiting for him, others discuss some contingency plans in case Tezcatlipoca turns out to be a foe to them.

ACT 3 - Tenochtitlán

In the new Aztec capital, Tenochtitlán, Hiutzilopochtli is displeased with its meeger state and tells Itzcoatl and Tlacaelel to conquer the surrounding city states. Popocatepetl wants to try the peaceful approach first due to his knowledge of the area. He is however denied and decides to leave the group. After his depature, Itzcoatl and Tlacaelel conquer two of the city states. On his way to his home village, Popocatepetl is attacked by Tezcatlipoca's demons. After reaching the village, he defends it from further onslaught, the destroys Tezcatlipoca's obelisks. Meanwhile, Tezcatlipoca summons Kamina to him, who has been revealed to be bound to him by the earlier curse. He uses her as a sacrifice to summon the titan Cipactli. Back in Tenochtitlán, Hiutzilopochtli is pleased with Itzcoatl's and Tlacaelel's progress and tells them to build a Wonder in his name. However, the previous attack on the city states caused them to join forces against Tenochtitlán. They are unsuccessful in their rebellion as Itzcoatl and Tlacaelel complete the Wonder. Afterwards, Popocatepetl returns to inform the duo of Tezcatlipoca's return and the summoning of Cipactli. The duo agrees to the temporary truce. The trio travels back to Popocatepetl's village to defend it and are successful in driving the titan back. Popocatepetl agrees to fully join back with Itzcoatl and Tlacaelel, only with one condition - Iztaccihuatl must not be harmed. The trio returns back to Tenochtitlán to see it surrounded by Tezcatlipoca's obelisks and realize that the titan's attack was just a distraction.

Tezcatlipoca returns with his allies and Iztaccihuatl realizes his deception. She uses her jaguar to steal his Obsidian Mirror and teleports to Amanra. Tenochtitlán defends itself from the onslaught of Greece, Norse and Atlantean forces. After a while, Amanra arrives with her Egyptian forces and joins Tenochtitlán against Tezcatlipoca. Tezcatlipoca wakes up from the earlier attacks and lies to Kastor that Popocatepetl is dead, so he would deliver the message to Iztaccihuatl. She is enraged by this news and attacks Cipactli directly, resulting in her death. Kastor takes the Obsidian Mirror and teleports to Ajax. Iztaccihuatl's spirit and her jaguar reach Popocatepetl, who together with Quetzalcoatl kill Cipactli for good. Afterwards, Tezcatlipoca's allies + Kamina turn on him and join Tenochtitlán against him.

After he's beaten, Quetzalcoatl and Hiutzilopochtli banish him. Popocatepetl takes Iztaccihuatl's body into the mountains, where Quetzalcoatl takes their souls for further protection from Tezcatlipoca. Afterwards, everyone else returns to their homelands. Later, Quetzalcoatl tells Hiutzilopochtli he has no desire to rule Tenochtitlán due to it being founded through war and sacrifice. However, he has one condition for his inaction - the peace with the city states must be maintained. Quetzalcoatl then leaves Tenochtitlán behind.

Development

Age of Mythology: Retold was co-developed by World's Edge, Forgotten Empires, Tantalus Media, CaptureAge, and Virtuos Games.

The game was first announced on October 25, 2022. World's Edge announced the game's release date on June 9, 2024, at the Xbox Summer Showcase. It was released for Windows and Xbox Series X/S on September 4, 2024. A PlayStation 5 version was released on March 4, 2025, alongside the release of the Immortal Pillars expansion. This also marks this game as the second game in the Age of Empires series to be released on Sony platforms since Age of Empires II was released by Konami in 2001.

The beta version of the game was made available to play to those who had pre-bought the premium edition from July 12–14, 2024.

Reception

Reception

Aggregate scores

Aggregator	Score
Metacritic	(PC) 83/100 (XSXS) 79/100
OpenCritic	86% recommend

Review scores

Publication	Score
Hardcore Gamer	3.5/5
PC Gamer (US)	75/100
PCGamesN	8/10
Shacknews	7/10

According to review aggregator Metacritic, Age of Mythology: Retold was received "generally favourable" based on 28 critic reviews for PC and 7 critic reviews for Xbox Series X. As per OpenCritic, 86% of the 34 critic reviews recommend the game.

PCGamesN complimented the enhanced UI, describing it as clearer and more vibrant while offering a more user-friendly experience. Criticism was aimed at the upgraded visuals; some players may find the new detailed art lacks the original's charm and feels too generic. Windows Central commented positively on the enhanced visuals and the faithful recreation of the audio and soundtrack. They also noted the improvements in gameplay and the range of accessibility options. Some criticism was directed at pathfinding issues and a few bugs and glitches.

Awards

The game received a nomination as "Best Microsoft Xbox Game" at the Gamescom Awards 2024. It was nominated for "Best Sim/Strategy Game" at The Game Awards 2024.

External links

• Official website