Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition

I've been playing this game with a group of friends for years now. The dev team does an amazing job of keeping it fresh. Most of the new civs they add are well thought out, pretty balanced, and unique. This is classic RTS fun at its best. They just don't make games like this anymore - I'm so thankful that AOE2 is still alive and well, going stronger than ever.

Came back to it in full force, after about 20 years; happy to see it alive and well supported. decided to learn and integrate a few hotkeys in my gameplay, and now i am rediscovering the game for a second time (~1000 online matches in) . For other older players thinking to come back too, especially for the online experience, some new DLC civs might seem controversial, but there are plenty of options, both new and OG, the classics are still there, and decently balanced. The game (DE released in 2019) has a lot of polished corners since the revisited version of 2013 (HQ) and several new gameplay features, and periodically receives updates. On the online ranked ladder (which you can absolutely avoid, but i hope you don't), players are generally not toxic, playful trash talking at most, and even that is rare. You might encounter some smurfs in the lower Elo ranks (they like ~200 Elo), but you will certainly get less of them once you rise above 300 Elo. (and probably be less bothered by it when it still happens) and/or you can try scheduling your playing hours on weekends or week day evenings when people get to their PC to end the work/school day with a couple of matches.. the richer the online player base , the better chance for fair matchmaking., there are websides that show leaderboards, you personal stats and also player-base stats if you want to figure out the best time for online play.

The best strategic gameplay i have ever come across.

I suck at RTS games but this game is a treat. Works great, native mod support, perfect balance of complexity but not overdoing it like the sequels. Gold standard for RTS games imo. Also game just kinda works flawlessly.