| Endless Legend 2 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Release Date | Gameplay & Story | Pre-Order & DLC | Review |
ENDLESS Legend 2 is an early-access 4X strategy game set on an alien planet with fantasy races. Read our review of its early access build to see what it did well, what it didn't do well, and if it's worth buying when it fully releases!
← Return to Endless Legend 2 main article
Everything We Know About ENDLESS Legend 2
ENDLESS Legend 2 Story
ENDLESS Legend 2 tells the story of various factions across the alien ocean planet of Saiadha following a cataclysmic event called "The Starfall". Already a tumultuous planet even before the Starfall event, Saiadha is home to various alien races like the sentient coral Aspects, the Necrophage, and the intelligent Tahuk.
In ENDLESS Legend 2, new arrivals to the planet like the Kin of Sheredyn join the fray of an ever-evolving landscape ravaged by inescapable tides and fickle alliances.
ENDLESS Legend 2 Gameplay
ENDLESS Legend 2 is a turn-based 4X strategy game similar to Sid Meier’s Civilization series, featuring a hexagonal grid, several factions, and various yields and improvements players can build on each hex.
Each game is centered around competing with other factions for control over the vast lands of Saiadha and achieving one of the multiple available game-wide win conditions. This is achieved through careful planning, management, and expansion of territories, the exploitation of resources, careful diplomacy with other factions, and capitalizing on each faction’s unique strengths and bonuses.
ENDLESS Legend 2 Release Date and Time
Released to Steam Early Access on September 22, 2025
ENDLESS Legend 2 was released on Steam Early Access on September 22, 2025. The game’s 1.0 release window is yet to be fully revealed.
We’ll update this article with the game’s 1.0 release date as soon as that information is available.
| Digital Storefronts | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Steam |
|||||||
| $49.99 |
ENDLESS Legend 2 Review [Early Access]
Already Better Than Civ 7
Civ 7 was a travesty. Okay, maybe not a complete travesty, but it sure was treated like one. I personally loved it, but could not in good conscience look past its many failings on launch. Firaxis eventually fixed what mess they should’ve avoided on release, but by then, 4X fans had already decided that perhaps 2025 wasn’t going to be their year. For a while, I was content to acquiesce, joyful as I was with Civ 7.
Then came ENDLESS Legend 2, a sequel to an IP I’ve never really heard of apart from fringe whisperings at the edge of my 4X knowledge. Having played many forgettable, non-Civ 4Xs in the past couple of years, and riding the second-hand disappointment of Civ 7 earlier this year, I was ready to discard it as another disappointment to add to the pile. A drop in the proverbial bucket of let-downs.
How wrong I was, and majorly too. ENDLESS Legend 2 trumped the genuine glee I got from Civ 7 within half an hour of first booting it up. I’ve so much to say about this game, most of it good, so why don’t we cut the preamble and just get into the review?
Discord in the Churning Waters of Saiadha
So, what is ENDLESS Legend 2’s story and setting? That was my first question going into this game because I got nothing from the art and previews. I mean, yeah, you’ve got your standard medieval-looking humans with gold imagery and such, some unilaterally evil race of alien biomorphs that want to eat everything (very Games Workshop of them, but okay), and "The Aliens", but none of that painted a picture.
Eventually learning what the lore actually was, my initial confusion was suddenly justified. ENDLESS Legend 2 is basically set on an alien planet that’s chaos incarnate mixed with SeaWorld. The game takes place on an alien ocean planet called Saiadha. By itself, Saiadha was already a churning pot of nature and evolution, with tidal recessions measuring in miles, frightfully strong monsoon seasons, and hyper-adapted fauna to match.
To make matters worse, a recent cataclysmic event called the "Starfall" just occurred, bringing with it refugees from another planet, and a stone thrown into the pond for Saiadha’s ecosystems.
Now, depending on which faction you choose to play as, various stories await your playthrough. From the zealous survival of the Kin of Sheradyn to the quest for knowledge of the Tahuk, there’s basically a genre of sci-fi fantasy awaiting you in this game, and they’re all written exceptionally well.
The fun part is that there are branching paths within each faction’s story. With more factions to come, including a custom one in the works, that’s a heck of a lot of replayability, which 4Xs already have, but usually not in tandem with a rich narrative.
But the story is only half the picture for ENDLESS Legend 2. How does it play, and how did it eclipse Civ 7 in that regard?
4X Like We’ve Seen Before, Made Better in Every Way
Strap in, there’s much to compare and much to describe. Let’s start with the basics of 4X, because understanding the baseline lets us appreciate what the game did well all the better. 4X is a genre defined by its strategy across all levels and turn-based gameplay. Its scope lies somewhere between city-builders and macro-scale strategy games like Stellaris, where you could manage entire civilizations and empires without being limited to one city.
Great, now, the genre’s most basic concept lies in its turns, which act as non-specific periods of time for resources to accumulate, productions to be finished, and units to move around. It’s a basic measurement of all things in most 4Xs, such as production. Take, for example, the construction of a granary, which may take 4 turns, or something.
Then there’s the grid, which serves as the spatial measurement across the map, dividing it into equal hexes that could be treated as individual units. Lastly, there are the units themselves, which are movable pieces on the grid and could be used for combat or other things. Now, let’s settle how ENDLESS Legend handles these basics.
First off, the turns. They’re about as basic as can be, with not much innovation there. The rate of production and gain for most resources is pretty much standard, but that’s adjustable, so we can’t really compare those. Where the innovations begin is the hexagonal world grid, because while it’s pretty much the same as Civ’s structure-wise, this one has much more nuance applied to it.
The grid itself and the yield it provides can vary from the standard 4X resource gamut: food, production, science, and money (called Dust in this case). Each hex can have features that determine its effects, like additional defense from forests and high ground advantage for mountains and ridges. It could also have something else called an Anomaly, which is basically a unique feature that grants a hex crazy high resource counts depending on which anomaly it is.
You can’t settle on anomalies, at least not at first, nor could you build on them, but they boost your city, and are basically Wonders from Civ, except a lot less thematic. To go with these hex bonuses is the unique city and settlement system, and the district system that follows.
In Civ, you settle cities using settlers, then build improvements on them. Civ 7 in particular lets you stack improvements to create unique districts, while Civ 6 had you build districts as a separate production venture. To throw in another comparison in the mix, Age of Wonders 4 lets you settle with heroes, turning territories into upgradeable camps that later turn into unique cities with governors. ENDLESS Legend 2 does both.
Any combat unit can settle a camp anywhere that’s not already owned by another faction. They do this by spending Influence, a resource in the game, and can eventually spend more Influence to connect a new territory to the main city as if it were an extension, though it’d have its own production queue. This is honestly very ingenious and much more approachable for newbies because settling isn’t done by dedicated units anymore. It’s also a treat for aggro-style players because all settling is basically forward settling in this system.
Speaking of assimilation, this game also has a better way of dealing with lesser independent powers, similar to Civ 6’s city-states. Basically, you COULD just take them over, or you can walk up to them, ask for a quest, finish the quest, and peacefully assimilate their people and territory into yours. Simple, quick, but not necessarily easy. This is more elegant and consistent than what Civ 6 was doing, and I don’t even want to talk about Civ 7’s approach to their Independent Powers.
As for combat, ENDLESS Legend 2 takes a page from HUMANKIND by letting you deploy your units before every fight instead of having them fight as they are. This is already leagues better than the gridlock combat Civ 6 had, and while Civ 7 fixed it using the new Great Generals, I think this is just a more elegant way to go about it.
Lastly, let’s talk research, because this also plays into the game’s age system, or rather, its lack thereof. The new Ages of Civ 7 drew most of the controversy because it made the game feel limited. Here, neither tech nor progression is barred by Ages or some other deliberate attempt at simulating history. It’s mostly cosmetic, meant to group research projects by their tech levels, but you can progress into one once you finish another as much as you want, and it’s all dependent on your Science output over your era progress.
All of these come together to create a more streamlined 4X experience, even if there are technically as many cogs turning. But all of that pales in comparison to the game’s visuals, because I’m still picking my jaw up from the floor with how great it looks.
Distinct Visual Style and the Most Elegant UI I’ve Ever Seen
Ask anyone, even the loyal Civ fanboys (present company included), what the biggest downfall of Civ 7 was, and they’d tell you it was either the weird UI or its missing features. Things just looked tacky as heck compared to the rest of the game, and missing half of what you needed to run your civilization properly, but ENDLESS Legend 2’s UI is just simply exceptional.
Sleek, fanciful, and pulling as many fantasy threads as it is sci-fi, this game makes UI design look like an art form, because clearly it can be. Every menu, every button, every description, and tooltip pops with the elegance of an artisanal craft that, together, make up a feast for the eyes.
This UI works in great tandem with an astounding visual design reminiscent of Arcane’s and Stellaris’, pulling elements of classic oil paintings and grandiose alien landscapes. All of that is animated in a 2.5D style that simply evokes awe in its composition. This even extends to the assets used in the 4X game itself, not just the cinematics. I cannot think of a time when I was this satiated visually, such that I can’t even hunger for more of this game. I’m simply satisfied.
Masterful Voice Acting with Exemplary Environmental Soundscaping
And the accolades just pile on with my critique of this game’s audio, because I cannot appreciate just how varied and emotional the voice acting in this game is. The game features a unique cutscene for each faction at the start, as well as an intro for the game overall, and I can’t properly describe just how much I want more of it.
Even if it ate into the game’s runtime, I don’t care; I could listen to this game as much as I can appreciate its visual craftsmanship. That sentiment isn’t limited to just voice acting, by the way; the game has plenty of environmental soundscaping and background music to impress just as much. If you’re an audiophile, this game has something for you to love at every level.
Maybe Some Optimization Issues
Sadly, all can’t be good, even if I’ve glazed this game so much already. Too much of a good thing isn’t bad in this case, at least not for my tastes, but clearly my system has limits. The game crashes pretty often. Not enough to be problematic, but enough to be noticeable.
I’ll attribute it to optimization issues, which can be overcome with continued game development, which this game will most definitely have more of. So, while it remains notable that this game can’t handle its own gravitas sometimes, there’s no reason to think that’ll be the case forever.
Pretty Darn Impressive for an Early Access Title
Overall, this is THE 4X game of the year. Sorry, Civ 7. I love you to bits, despite what everyone said, but that only saves you from my disappointment. It doesn’t stop something better from showing you up, and ENDLESS Legend 2 did so without so much as breaking a sweat.
This game has it all: better visuals, better audio, better UI, and everything Civ 7 tried to achieve, only better. It’s not even full out yet, so it can only get better from here, not that it needs to. All in all, it achieved what greatness Civ 7 couldn’t, and only matched it in one aspect: poor optimization.
I can wait for the game’s full release, honestly. It’s amazing as it is now. It’ll get better, but it doesn’t have to for me to appreciate it.
Game8 Reviews
You may also like...
 |
Civilization 7 Review | Too Big to Be Perfect 4X, Strategy, Simulation |
 |
Ara: History Untold Review | More Than Just A Civ Clone 4X, Strategy, Simulation |
 |
Millennia Review | Stuck in The Dark Ages 4X, Strategy, Simulation |
 |
ZEPHON Review | Solid Post-Apocalypse, But Not the End of "Civilization" 4X, Strategy, Simulation |
 |
Revival: Recolonization Review | Couldn’t Survive Judgement Day 4X, Strategy, Simulation |
ENDLESS Legend 2 Product Information
 |
|
| Title | ENDLESS LEGEND 2 |
|---|---|
| Release Date | September 22, 2025 ( PC Early Access) |
| Developer | AMPLITUDE Studios |
| Publisher | Hooded Horse |
| Supported Platforms | PC (Steam) |
| Genre | Strategy, Simulation, 4X |
| Number of Players | 1 |
| ESRB Rating | RP |
| Official Website | ENDLESS Legend 2 Website |
