Pioneers Of Pagonia Game Review (PC)

Contents

Ready to unite Pagonia?

Thanks to Imagine entertainment who provided us with a free copy of the game for media coverage and testing. The publisher/developer therefore authorizes us to distribute and/or use excerpts from the game for our production purposes and does not interfere in any way with the awarding of the final result. #Item13Free

Child of the settlers

At the end of the 2023 season, numerous management games will provide entertainment M2 Gaming. Since then it hasn't stopped completely vision offers us the arrival of Pioneers of Pagonia before the Christmas holidays. Since it was co-designed by one of the creators of the Settlers saga, we weren't really expecting anything other than a descendant of the famous management game known since the Age of Titans.

Without revealing our judgment in advance, this is in fact what emerges from this title very quickly, after a few minutes of play from the newbies that we were and still are. In addition, we would not complain, because even if this end of autumn is favorable for management games, we can say that the releases of this type of games have been few and far between in recent years.

Disappointment to fear?

Well, not quite, because 2023 was a milestone with the (very delayed) return of the last version of the series The settlers are new allies, 8th of the name. An overall disappointing game, a bit childish, suffering from well-known flaws that the developers failed to improve, especially in military gameplay highlighted by a disappearing community.

Unfortunately, the same recipe and therefore the same result is for this new title from Pagonie and a studio that definitely cannot bring itself to listen to the fans of the genre. In fact, in this track we can still hear the breathing of the last settlers, with their strengths and weaknesses, showing how obvious the ties of lineage are.

Pagonia is pretty…

So settlers land from a boat in the sweet land of Pagonia in the hope of founding a city in a better world. They have no idea that they will find formidable competitors and enemies there… very childish there too.

Pagonia appears to us like an oasis of peace from a children's book, with green meadows, lush forests and small dancing butterflies. In this peaceful picture that will disturb your city planning, the graphics seemed very simple to us, even simplistic, compared to its recently released big brother The Settlers 8.

…Well, I have to say it quickly

The numerous buildings at your disposal, although aesthetically designed, are difficult to distinguish from a utilitarian perspective. As the city expands and reaches its peak, it is very difficult indeed to discern the site of a mint or workshop of any kind in this tangle of buildings, each more similar to the next.

Disturbingly, this unpleasant effect is graphically reinforced by the laborious installation of roads and the most random placement of buildings. Erratic streets and ill-advised buildings make the city seem anarchic, to say the least. From a sound perspective, the feelings are the same. The music develops in a “bucolic-infantile” atmosphere, which of course will not please everyone and the sounds are certainly rich, but in no way stand out.

No surprises

In short, “infantile” and “perfectible” are the two qualifying adjectives that can best describe this often familiar environment, where nothing is likely to surprise you… Now let's get to the content. Since it is a strategy game, we expect that at the end we will discover a management aspect, of course, but also a much-anticipated military aspect.

Management of course

On the management side, the title of the German studio takes up the “Key Success Factors” recipes of its thinly veiled predecessors. Many buildings, many manufacturing processes and therefore numerous flows of goods, so far so good. First it's about collecting building materials (wood, stone), then food, which is necessary for the entire community life. As the city expands, the processes continue. The stones go through a stonemason, the wood through a carpenter, who then offers other, more sophisticated manufacturing processes.

It's time for your Pagonians to venture even further by conquering useful land with military buildings to gain access to the ores and metals essential to the production of higher value-added goods. In fact, coal and iron provide access to tools and weapons, as well as money to pay soldiers to protect you. What are you protecting yourself from? Simply native people who have lived in these countries for a long time. Bandits, thieves and other races will eventually impose limits on your growing city. The bandits won't pose much of a threat, but there are other civilizations to worry about.

And that's not wonderful

Diplomacy and combat are the two options you should consider to achieve your goals. And I might as well tell you that we have reached the crucial point that will destroy all your dreams of Pagonia. In fact, the military aspect is the second component of what we call a strategy game. And unfortunately, as always – it gets boring – the championship is missing. The problem is diverse. Few available military units (especially war machines), few structures (defensive tower, wall) and above all no army organization that would have made us think about a real expansion of gameplay in famous theaters of war. Battles like the Cossacks, not to mention .

But no. We will not give up the good and, above all, the bad habits of a kind of undemanding management game that is almost “hardened” by immobility. All we have to do is, most of the time, roughly, almost shamefully, attack small, shabby robber camps or patrol near your borders. Nothing impressive, nothing exciting, everything ultimately awakens nothing but boredom and idleness in us.

Copying repeats itself

That is the tragedy of this small title, which only had the ambition to copy and paste a saga in need, without innovative contributions that are absolutely necessary today in the extremely competitive world of video games. Obviously, disappointment and frustration set in quickly, we're a little angry at seeing the same evils in the same places… Even if the city building is initially quite pleasant, the satisfactory military equipment to follow the process is unfortunately missing. Not and we're still hoping for hours of gaming fun with a title that's on offer for €30/$40.

Don't count on a strangely forgettable single player campaign at the moment, even if it doesn't end up being really necessary because it's often forgotten :-). There are only several scripted maps available to you, but again, don't expect to find inspiring objectives.

We prefer Patagonia…

This is what the sweet land of Pagonia will offer you. Forgotten lands where you can't find anything other than something you've seen before. No graphical improvements, no gameplay innovations and ultimately not much to attract a continually disappointed audience. Ultimately, this game, not bad in itself, will still complete a long series of recurring and repetitive genetic frustrations. If you're still bitter after trying out the last settlers, you shouldn't head to Pagonia. To the wise…

Verdict

What we really like

Many buildings
Controlled management processes

What we like less

Failed military aspect
Difficult city building
Pretty boring game

To find out the criteria for our rating system, visit this page.

Please note that the tested version is the current version PC.

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