How Noob Friendly is Expeditions: Rome?

Whenever I look at a game as big as Expeditions: Rome, I can't help but wonder how difficult it would be to pick up if you knew absolutely nothing about it. Well, I decided to put all two of my brain cells together to make sure that I can be as informative as I can be, and tell you whether you, a noob, can enjoy Expeditions: Rome without knowing much about the genre.

Expeditions: Rome staggered me with how many things there are to do in the game. After finally leaving the island of Lesbos, I was sure that I'd seen every tutorial there was to see, and there was no way there were more; however, as usual I was wrong. It wasn't until around the ten-hour mark that I finally learned one of the final things the game had to teach me, and at this point, I'm still not convinced that it isn't going to pop up a tutorial all of the sudden.

The game has a lot of content, and for a newcomer to strategy games such as myself, it might be a bit overwhelming and even scary. With four different classes, each with three different sub-classes, several weapons to choose from that have several abilities, along with wielding two sets, movement heavily depending on what kind of armour you're wearing, whilst also considering what their rarity is and their passive, all the while focusing on making sure that the right person is attacking at the right time… It can be scary, especially considering that the game doesn't offer the option to read any of the tutorials again. But, once you're out the other side and understand everything, it stops being so overwhelming and so difficult.

That is only the combat, however, and commanding the legion while focusing on the resources can be another behemoth to face as well. If there is one thing Expeditions: Rome did wrong, it’s teaching the player how to do stuff without overwhelming them and making them feel like it's too much to take in at a time. This, just like the combat, is surprisingly easy to manage and understand once you've got into the flow of the game.

In fact, all of these added items make Expeditions: Rome the well-rounded and fun game that it is, and it shouldn't be scary for players to jump into it and try it. Especially given that there are several difficulties alongside the ability to have multiple manual save files just in case you do anything wrong. I found that some of the dumbest mistakes I made didn't punish me all that much.

These things might sound intimidating, but they aren't so much so once you start handling them yourself, and you realise how intuitively they are built to feel and look as easy as they should be. There were systems I didn't completely understand whilst I was reading about them, but when I played and faced them head-on I found that they weren't so bad after all, and it was overcomplicated through its writing. The best way to learn anything in Expeditions: Rome is through trial and error, and that is one of my favourite aspects of the game.

The menus and the way the HUD is built is perfectly made in a way that it relays information in such a nice and clean way, with no clutter that makes the game feel complicated. Every bit of important information is displayed throughout several HUD elements that are easy to spot, and it's one of the things that makes the game so accessible. Simple things such as what is the minimum and maximum damage you will deal to the enemy's health bar without counting blows blocked by shields or armour, those you do have to keep track of by yourself. Even in legion battles, whenever selecting one of the stratagems offered, the game shows you what items will be affected, along with exact numbers to facilitate the war.

Take it from me, a pretty big newbie when it comes to RTS sorts of games, Expeditions: Rome may feel like a giant in terms of content, but it is easily conquered through slowly playing and learning all of the things. The game is intuitively built to facilitate understanding all of these complex systems, and the four different difficulties — along with endless manual save files — should make the game easy enough for anyone to pick up, even newcomers.

How difficult did you find Expeditions: Rome to pick up? Did you enjoy the game as much as I did? Let me know in the comments below! I'm dying to talk more about the game.