Age of Mythology: Retold Devs Wanted to Fix the Original’s Limitations Without Losing Its “Essence”
The power of the gods.
Remaking any video game is no small feat, but it becomes even more daunting when it’s a beloved classic that quite literally influenced an entire generation of games. Age of Mythology is one such game, a beloved strategy gem that, alongside StarCraft and Warcraft, helped lay the foundations for asymmetrical real-time strategy games.
While Age of Mythology might have been known for its epic dozen-hour campaign, it was equally regarded for its multiplayer mayhem. And when it comes to remaking a strategy game, you also have to consider things like balance, exploits, and flaws present in the original — something most other remakes don’t have to think about.
“Strategy fans are deeply invested in mechanics and balance, so every change had to feel authentic, make sense, and fit well with the rest of the complex web of gameplay systems,” Earnest Yuen, director of production at World’s Edge, tells Inverse, “Every time you add a new unit or feature, there is a chance that it could completely unbalance the game.”
That created an immense responsibility for the team at World’s Edge with Age of Mythology: Retold, but also an equally immense opportunity. Retold could deliver on the original Age of Mythology’s vision in a way that simply wasn’t possible two decades ago — enhancing it with extra mythologies from around the world.
As part of the Remade series, Inverse spoke to Yuen about the responsibility of remaking a “classic,” and the unique challenge of crafting strategy remakes.
This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.
One of the biggest challenges of Retold was increasing the unit cap and scale, but making sure the feel of the game was the same.
What do you think the purpose of a video game remake should be? Is it to bring the game to a new generation, or preserve its place in history? Essentially, what makes a video game remake successful?
Yuen: For Age of Mythology: Retold, our goal was to do both. We wanted to preserve the spirit of the awesome original (including the storytelling, the fantastical settings, and the amazing gameplay), while modernizing the experience for today’s players.
We have an internal goal of “building the game you fondly remember in your head,” rather than just put a new coat of paint on the old game exactly as-is. That meant not only leveraging today’s technology to deliver richer visuals, but also smoother game flow, and adding quality-of-life improvements like higher population caps and rechargeable god powers. Success for us is when long-time fans feel the nostalgia they love, and new players discover why this game became a classic in the first place.
Do you have any worries that too many remakes could lead to a lack of innovation in video games at large? Can you still experiment and try new ideas by returning to older titles?
Yuen: Not at all. Retold is a great example of how revisiting a beloved title can spark innovation. The original launched over two decades ago, and we’ve added entirely new mechanics and features that weren’t possible then.
Rechargeable god powers, bigger armies, much better multiplayer match systems, Wonder Age, controller support, and villagers-priority systems are just a few examples. We also introduced post-launch expansions like Immortal Pillars and Heavenly Spear, which brought brand new campaigns and gameplay twists. These updates prove that honoring history doesn’t mean standing still. It is about evolving the experience while respecting its roots.
Retold presented the perfect opportunity to expand the scope of Age of Mythology, with the same time and care put into the original by Ensemble Studios.
Is there anything uniquely challenging about remaking a strategy game? Strategy games often have uniquely passionate fan bases. Was that something you had to keep in mind?
Yuen: Absolutely. Strategy fans are deeply invested in mechanics and balance, so every change had to feel authentic, make sense, and fit well with the rest of the complex web of gameplay systems. Every time you add a new unit or feature, there is a chance that it could completely unbalance the game.
We approached this by asking: 'What were the original limitations, and how can we improve without losing the essence?' For example, we kept the core gameplay feel and structure intact but then enhanced on top of these with usability and pacing for modern audiences. In addition, I also must thank the Age of Mythology fans in their contributions and passions. Community feedback was critical in helping us land this. We listened closely to ensure our improvements respected competitive play while making the game more accessible for newcomers.
While Age of Mythology has lengthy campaigns, there’s a whole sub-section of fans that love it for competitive multiplayer — an extra aspect needed to be kept in mind.
You’ve done quite a lot to update AoM Retold post-launch, including two massive expansions. How did you make sure these updates felt in line with the vision of the original game, both totally and mechanically?
Yuen: Our approach was to treat expansions as natural chapters in the Age of Mythology story while carrying forward the DNA of the original game. Every new god, level, and mechanic was designed to feel authentic to the universe we all love, rooted in mythologies and epic in scale.
Tonally, we stayed true to the fantastical and emotional beats that define AoM. And mechanically, we introduced fresh features, such as pantheons with distinct favor systems and new god powers that integrate seamlessly with existing systems. The goal was to evolve the experience without losing the soul that made AoM iconic.
