Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition got its first major update today. The update came with a massive number of updates, fixes, and improvements that were lacking when the game came out, all of which are helping the game to improve. But not every update is about improving the way the game runs mechanically; some, like the 2019 Winter Celebration Event that just began, are purely for fun.
The event doesn’t add anything new mechanically to the game, serving purely as an update. Paired with the major update, which makes an incredible number of changes, this Winter Celebration Event only exists to make players cozy while they tear down the walls of their enemy’s empire.
The Winter Celebration Event has permanently added three new profile icons for multiplayer. These icons will remain in the game once the event ends to show that you were one of the emperors that played during the event. The following are the additional changes:
- All trees are white and snow-covered
- Non-water terrains now have patches of snow
- Foraging bushes have been replaced with piles of presents
- Town Centers now have presents near them
- Arrows have been replaced by icicles
- Spears have now been replaced with candy canes
- Trebuchets will now launch presents instead of their standard projectiles
- Bombard cannons, Cannon Gallenons, and Bombard Towers now launch snowballs
- The Mangonel, Onager, and Siege Onager now launch giant snowflakes
This won’t come with any difference in damage or effect, and serves only to be the cutest, most comfy way possible to raze a city.
https://twitter.com/AgeOfEmpires/status/1207022204531171333?s=20
If you’re against winter-time fun, the mod isn’t mandatory anyway. You’ll have to seek it out if you want to join in on the 2019 Winter Celebration. Use the in-game mod system to search for the mod and install it easily to alter your game’s look to a winter wonderland.
2019’s Winter Celebration Event obviously won’t be sticking around forever, though. The mod will end about two weeks into the New Year on January 14th, 2020. The rest of the update that came with the mod, however, will be staying indefinitely.
It’s great to see the Age of Empires team dedicated to providing a bit of seasonal fun instead of spending every resource they can on changing the gameplay. It’s only been a bit more than a month since the release, but the development team seems dedicated to improving as many facets of the game as they can, from the most important of gameplay mechanics to a snowy wintertime aesthetic.
