ENDLESS Legend is a turn-based strategy game that is similar to Civilisation. You use settlers to build cities, research new technologies, advance to new ages, and conquer other nations through diplomacy and war. However, ENDLESS Legend sets itself apart with a fantasy world filled with rich lore, quests, and factions that each offer a unique storyline and strategy.

The first thing you should do when you start playing ENDLESS Legend is obviously to start the tutorial. Playing through it will teach you the basics of the game: how to manage your resources, how to research new technology, construction of buildings and units, basic combat, and so on. While helpful, the tutorial doesn’t cover everything, so be prepared to learn through experimentation.

There is a lot of detailed information presented to you when you start a new game. Initially it can be daunting, but selecting the default options is usually a good bet. The only real option you need to worry about at this stage is which Faction to play. Each faction has its own unique abilities and units which can vastly change how you play the game.

The Broken Lords, for example, are souls trapped in armour, so have no need of food to survive. This means you don’t need to worry about gathering food, but will become more dependent on Dust (the game’s main currency) in order to build and maintain your troops. The Wild Walkers, however, have an affinity with the forest, and can use it to construct buildings and units faster.

You can also customize the world generation options before you start the game. Each time you start a new world it is randomly generated, helping to create a unique experience each time you play. There are various options for you to define the size of the world, the number of major factions, the shape of the world and so on. For the games I’ve played so far I’ve stuck with the default settings.

When you finally start playing a real game, you’ll slowly discover that you weren’t taught about all the mechanics of the game. A couple of features I noticed missing from the tutorial were the Diplomacy and Trade Routes features. Diplomacy isn’t too hard to figure out, especially if you’ve played similar games in the past. You can only close borders and declare war initially, but the research tree shows that more options become available later in the game. Trade Routes look like they’re automatically created once you research and build roads, but I haven’t advanced far enough into the game to use these yet.

The tutorial did go over quests, however, and this is the most important thing to learn. Quests are how ENDLESS Legend stands out from other games in the genre. Quests can involve many things, from researching new technologies, defeating a specific enemy, or gathering specific resources. Completing quests will give you great rewards, including rare resources, Dust, weapons and building upgrades, or even more quests.

During the game you will be automatically given quests based on your chosen faction. As you complete each of these “Story Quests”, you will unlock the next quest in the chain. These quests give you narrative-driven objectives that guide you in progressing your civilisation. They help make the game feel like a well developed single player campaign, even when playing online.

Another way to get quests, known as “Side Quests”, is to search the various ruins around the world, or to parlay with minor civilisations. Completing quests found in ruins usually give you even better rewards than other quests, whereas quests given to you by minor civilisations allow you to pacify them. Pacified civilisations can be assimilated by you, giving you a way to “conquer” them without using violence.

I kept playing new games over and over. I’m infected with restart-itis. Something goes wrong and I lose an entire army, prompting me to restart and try a new strategy. Still, this is a good way to start learning all the factions and which one will eventually suit my play style.

ENDLESS Legend masterfully blends traditional 4X strategy mechanics with a rich fantasy setting, creating a unique and rewarding experience. Despite its steep learning curve, the game’s detailed lore, varied factions, and innovative quest system keep me coming back for more. Every session feels like a new story waiting to unfold, and I can’t wait to see what secrets this world still holds.