Is the game winding down?

[Epperaliant]

I have still many dlc to play and right now I am on a break from this game, currently I am going full medieval with Age of Empires 2 : Definitive Edition.

But I look forward to finish the game and to try the amazing custom content you guys are making.

I just recently tried to get (back) into AoE Definitive Editions, and failed.

Two-fold problem for me: In those types of civilization-building games, I tend to be too peaceful, concentrating on building instead of warring. Also, I don't like the "beat the clock" feel of real-time; that is, you know darned well that the AI is doing exactly what it should (given the difficulty level) and as quickly as possible to beat the daylights out of you. So here you are, erecting a temple and an enemy army shows up, "ready or not, here we come!"

OOB appeals to me for the opposite reasons. It's war and only war, so there's no distracting road building and farm tending. And it's turn-based so that a man may think and plan. Maybe even heat up some popcorn in the microwave and find out how the Yankees are doing before hitting the beaches of Normandy.

I understand your feeling, but know that AoE 2 is a very turtle-friendly game.

I play on the hardest difficulty (masochist as usual just like in OoB) and in most campaign scenarios once you put a castle down in the hottest spot of your town, garrison it with archers and surround the rest of your town with walls or palisades and some turrets, the enemy attack waves just get melted, provided you have some meatshields to keep 'em busy.
The only real threats are siege weapons, but you just need a small cavalry group to hit and run on them.
After that, you can just relax and play sim-city between the attack waves, while upgrading and building a big army.

I find it very relaxing...OoB is so much more punishing for me, especially since once you make mistakes you also need to watch very long enemy turns.

[GabeKnight]

I just would have liked more novelties for DLCs as is often the case for other games and not just new units and new battles: new specializations, new terrains, new triggers...

Yeah, for me it's the same.

Not that the game is "winding down", but rather it stays the same and doesn't rise to the possibilities...

[StuccoFresco]

I "retired" from RTS games a long time ago: I'm way too slow to play at the highest levels/multiplayer and the lower ones are usually way too easy. Also, the AI is usually kinda bad and is bloated on free resources trying to drown you in numbers instead of actually using tactics to beat you.

Supreme Commander / Forged Alliance were the best RTS ever.

[Epperaliant]

I "retired" from RTS games a long time ago: I'm way too slow to play at the highest levels/multiplayer and the lower ones are usually way too easy. Also, the AI is usually kinda bad and is bloated on free resources trying to drown you in numbers instead of actually using tactics to beat you.

Supreme Commander / Forged Alliance were the best RTS ever.

AoE 2 Definitive has multiple sets of AI to choose by default in skirmish mode and the AI never cheats (unless it's some specific scripted campaign mission).

It can get really threatening at max difficulty, to the point of being better than lots of ordinary players.
But you will always have a huge edge on it by simply "loading/saving games".