Oriental Empires

When this game first came out, I was one of the first whom jumped at the opportunity and purchased it. I've played about forty hours since, but recently I have gotten back into it; I do not usually leave reviews. But this game has become the exception! It deserves far more praise and popularity than it enjoys currently, the setting, the mechanics, the art style, and way it combines the RTS and Grand Strategy is simply remarkable.
Moreso as I am a man of Anglo-Celtic descent, only accustomed to games with a Eurocentric approach, theme and story this has given me overwhelming exposure to a new area, new beliefs, a new people, and I easily immersed myself in the tidal wave that is Chinese history. The DLCs expand upon the already impressive base game, and take you further west, Oriental Empires to me as a result stands out amongst all the Grand and Real-Time Strategy games I have in my library; when I scroll through my library, unsure which I want to play, Oriental Empires has become my go-to choice for all the reasons above it stands out the most. The replayability is seemingly infinite, no two campaigns are too similar, but nor are they too different that breaks the feeling of familiarity which gives a sense of comfort and immersion.
This is all without explicitly mentioning the games soundtrack, which only adds to the feeling of immersion! I would find myself having a hard time ending a turn, simply to enjoy the music as I mindlessly look around the map at my small Chinese kingdom thinking out thoroughly my next move; the technology is segregated into four categories, which I feel only makes the game that much more unique. Trade and economics are important for growth and sustaining your realm, but economics are so not so heavy as to make the game an economics simulator; the combat is truly immersive with wars truly testing your strategic and tactical thinking. For instance, it took me over 100-turns to take down the Shu as the Zhou, for the distance from my homeland to theirs was considerable, with me having to build frontier settlements and construct road networks through the mountains of Southwestern China to simply accelerate the process of getting new troops to the front. Multiplayer I want to give special praise to, for having up to 15-players makes for a campaign that can last months, making each and every turn intense, action-packed and give you a feeling that each move you make carries heavy weight--as if you're playing a game of Chess or Go!
Overall, to spare anyone reading this an even more verbose and in-depth dialogue, this game offers to people a truly remarkable experience, one you'll not easily forget. It is well worth picking up at it's present base price of $30, but if you can hold out for a sale even better.

Definitely recommend this game to all 4X players and Chinese history enjoyers. It has a very large amount of historically based (somewhat accurate, I may add) content with very well executed gameplay loop that doesn't get boring. Empire management is done great, with a lot of city planning involved. The maps provide you with tons of different economic and strategic opportunities - placement of your armies and cities matter a lot here. The combat itself is weirdly (and absolutely unexpectedly) satisfying, both visually and gameplay-wise. There are also court game mechanics, something akin to Crusader Kings 3's council, albeit very simplified and with it's own unique features.
The progression feels great and the game does change drastically closer to late game - you will start a match with a couple of small villages and a couple hundred poorly organized soldiers, and by the end of it your cities will count in tens and soldiers in thousands (if not tens of thousands).
The art design in this game is maybe it's strongest part - everything looks beautiful (even in spite of mediocre graphics), gentle and somewhat realistic, without any of the traditional Asian pop culture extravagance. The UI is simple yet stylish, the music is tranquil but still provides nice eastern touch to gameplay. Oriental Empires just feels calm and relaxing, more than enough to keep you playing for more than you should.
The only issues here I can think of are mediocre graphics (which are, in my opinion, compensated in full by the wonderful visual design). Shallowness of the OST doesn't help the game as well - there aren't that much ambient tracks in the game, so they may start to pall you rather quickly. And for the final note - even though the game is not worked on anymore, there are still a few bugs and quality of life issues here and there.
Overall, this game is highly recommended. A weird indie mix between Total War and Civilization set in the north-eastern Asia, with a lot of unique ideas and mechanics, executed well enough to keep you in for hundreds of hours.

TO DEVELOPERS:
MAKE THIS GAME FREE TO PLAY FOR A PERIOD TO REVIVE IT!

Rly great game, sad that there's not many mods for it.

Top tier 4x game. It has it all, imagine Civ 5 but better. If you play long enough the battles become a lot like HoI series and you're dealing with a constant battle line needing reinforcements until the 30 tile armies on each side finally gets a break. The combat is interesting depending on how you face your troops, move them, what stance and positions they take in battles and makes a big difference. The terrain becomes extremely important also, typically for the moving of troops which can make or break an offensive. This also adds to the importance of where to place settlements and properly exploring ASAP in this game, assume you should be rushing, as always - especially if you want to win one of the purer victory types.
The UI design is actually incredibly good when you figure it all out, at first I was annoyed but it's all there and done well, just note than any colour change or icon means... something :p The research trees are nice giving options for advancements and blockers from other trees, but always allowing the 4 trees to be be doing something. The diplomacy is quite basic but I'd say sufficient, although the max gold you can send is 99999, probably deliberately or you'd be buying everyone off! The graphics are great, especially if you like zooming in and are in theme for the world location, which has also be done justice. I'll note here that the different start locations/civilisations absolutely massively affect the game and give a different survival experience.
The only real issue I faced is the framerate at late-late game, I suspect this is why in theory it should end at turn 300. By turn 500 it's quite laggy on a decent machine.
10/10 would recommend.

I like it when I send the army to attack and they do their own thing. No need to micromanage war. Just set all your armies for the next turn, click play and enjoy the massacres.

A very good strategy game even better than Koei 3 kingdoms series.
This game is lack of tutorial and don't know what to do at the beginning. After watching youtube and reading some article to get the concept, you will know it is not that complicated. Remember don't battle with your neighbour until you have enough building and money. Expand your city and army then fight. It's funny!