History VideoGame / ConquestOfElysium

* TakeThat: The descriptions for the AlwaysChaoticEvil Scourge Lord and their minions tend towards this, making them sound like internet trolls and similar AcceptableTargets; among other things, it says the steles they use to drain the life from the planet work because they are engraved with "destructive jokes, offensive rants, and counterfactual news", while their minions are described as largely having been basement-dwellers before the Scourge Lord recruited them.

* FantasyCounterpartCulture: The Senator is pretty much an Elysian {{Expy} of Rome.

* UnreliableNarrator: In ''Conquest of Elysium 4'' and beyond, units have descriptions written in the voice of in-universe scholars, which one of the developers describes as "clueless mage-scholar and frothing at the mouth El fanatic narrative voices"; frequently the descriptions are mocking or dismissive towards rival religions or civilizaitons, and at one point they flatly and confidently state, in the description for Priest King's DireBeast giant panther, that such creatures are primitive superstition and definitely do not exist.

** The Senator's late-game upgrades also count as this. They're incredibly powerful but very expensive, costing 600 gold just to coronate him, let alone allow him to reach his final upgrade (which takes a further 1000). Once he does, though, he becomes a GodEmperor, an incredibly powerful unit that can take on small armies on his own; Potentially, if he was coronated in a Fallen Capital, he can even become the Dark Emperor and cross into [[TheUnderworld Hades!]]

** Most of the Senator's late-game upgrades fall under this, since even the easiest ones require conquering the capital and then spending an absurd amount of resources; while the benefits for the final upgrade are huge, you'll usually have won already by the time you get them. But special note goes to the option of becoming the Dark Emperor via the capital of Inferno, which combines all the difficulty and cost of upgrading the Senator, with all the difficulty of ''conquering Hell'', when you have no native way of reaching it and no units remotely capable of fighting effectively there. If you can do all that, you don't need to be the Dark Emperor.

* ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve: The method through which an Emperor can [[DietyOfHumanOrigin ascend to Godhood]] is implied to be this: The building of enough statues in large settlements ensures the Emperor is everpresent in the minds of everyday citizens, giving him a 'divine aegis' that he can then manifest into himself.

* FantasyCounterpartCulture: TheEmpire, which is pretty much an Elysian {{Expy}} of Rome.

* VestigialEmpire: Playing as the Senator in the "Fallen Empire" and "Monarchy" Society. The Empire has fallen not too long ago, and any vestige of Imperial authority with it. Now, you are the only outpost of that former empire left, and you [[LandOfOneCity only start out with a military outpost, a quarter-strength Centuria, and a walled town.]]

* ZergRush: The Baron's conscription lends itself to this once he conquers enough settlements, especially in the early game. He has among the easiest times assembling armies.

* GodIsEvil: Played distressingly straight in '4'. There's the [[CrystalDragonJesus Voice Of El]], which despite preaching of El's forgiveness knows that he [[PathofInspiration isn't very forgiving of sinners]]; there's the [[ReligionOfEvil cult of Ba'al]] and [[{{Expy}} Priest-King]] which use ''human sacrifices'' to appease their respective gods, and then there are cults worshipping literal [[ApocalypseCult Deep Ones and Horrors]]. However, this can also be [[DefiedTrope defied]] by Senator players in a Society with a Capital, albeit priceily; It costs a full 1600 gold to both coronate and ascend (a major city, for reference, brings in *five* a turn), but once they do so, their leader will be a powerful GodEmperor capable of leading Elysium to greatness.

* MagikarpPower: The Senator class has perhaps the weakest leader unit at the outset. However, if in a Society that has a Capital of some kind, if you conquer it and bring him there (and have a massive stockpile of gold), you can declare him [[TheEmperor an Emperor,]] allowing him to build statues to himself in settlements that defend it and (depending on the type of Emperor he is) increase its tax revenue or summon undead spirits to patrol your lands. But it doesn't stop there. Bring him to a temple and amass a further 1000 gold, and you can make him an insanely powerful [[PhysicalGod God-Emperor]] capable of taking on entire armies alone and equipped with great divine power, in addition to (once again, depending on Emperor type) potentially allowing him to cross over into [[TheUnderworld Hades itself.]]

* ShoutOut: As an EasterEgg, a group of NPCs identical to the Fellowship from Literature/LordOfTheRings can sometimes be found wandering around (two hoburgers, a human hero, a marksman, a dwarf, and a white wizard.)

* CrystalDragonJesus: The [[TheChurch church of El]] is this.

** An unusual version in ''4'' with the Dwarf Queen, who is essentially an insect queen constantly giving birth. Dwarves are superior miners but terrible at collecting income from towns.
* OurElvesAreDifferent: Two different Elf leaders, an Elf King and an Elf Queen. Both are able to control forests as well as towns, and friendly units will periodically spawn on their own.

* AwesomeButImpractical: Siege weapons can be this for field battles, as they take a long time to reload, can be pretty inaccurate and usually move pretty slowly. The best use for them is, unsurprisingly, sieges, where they get a full pre-battle phase to fire at the enemy.
** The Senator's late-game upgrades also count as this. They're incredibly powerful but very expensive, costing 600 gold just to coronate him, let alone allow him to reach his final upgrade (which takes a further 1000). Once he does, though, he becomes a GodEmperor, an incredibly powerful unit that can take on small armies on his own; Potentially, if he was coronated in a Fallen Capital, he can even cross into [[TheUnderworld Hades!]]

** Most of the Senator's late-game upgrades fall under this, since even the easiest ones require conquering the capital and then spending an absurd amount of resources; while the benefits for the final upgrade are huge, you'll usually have won already by the time you get them. But special note goes to the option of becoming the God Emperor of the Underworld via the capital of Inferno, which combines all the difficulty and cost of upgrading the Senator, with all the difficulty of ''conquering Hell'', when you have no native way of reaching it and no units remotely capable of fighting effectively there. If you can do all that, you don't need to be the God Emperor of the Underworld.

''Conquest of Elysium'' is a fantasy TurnBasedStrategy game developed by Illwinter Game Design in 1997 and released as freeware 10 years later. It's a [[SpiritualSuccessor prequel of sorts to the]] ''VideoGame/{{Dominions}}'' series of games also developed by Illwinter. It allows anywhere from 2-8 players at the same time, any or all of which may be human; however, multiplayer is hotseat only.

Each player takes on the role of any of 20 different classes of faction leader which can be broadly organized into four different categories (Warlord, Mage, Priest, Nonhuman). Each player starts with two or three leaders, a modest army, a Citadel, and a few small villages that provide income. Unlike many similar games, economic management is practically nonexistent; taxes are collected from each settlement or mine that the player controls, and the money can be used to buy more units. For the most part, the only influence the player has over the economy is setting the tax rate, although one class of Priest can build Temples to further augment his income. There's no diplomacy, either; the game is essentially a straight-up free-for-all among all the players. The ultimate goal is the [[TitleDrop conquest of Elysium]], which is accomplished by vanquishing all enemy leaders and capturing their Citadels.

Like ''VideoGame/{{Civilization}}'' and other games of its ilk, the game has a great deal of replayability; the diversity of units, magic items, and enemies means that no two games are ever the same. Unfortunately, it suffers from a number of large flaws; aside from a [[AllThereInTheManual rather modest manual]], documentation for the game is almost nonexistent. Furthermore, the interface is clunky, esoteric, and at times confusing. However, if you can see past these setbacks, it's a charming game overall.

''Conquest of Elysium 2'' is available for free download at [[http://www.shrapnelgames.com/Our_Games/Free_Games.html Shrapnel Games]]. ''Conquest of Elysium 4'', meanwhile, is available on [[http://store.steampowered.com/app/403950/Conquest_of_Elysium_4/ Steam]].

* OurElvesAreBetter: Two different Elf leaders, an Elf King and an Elf Queen. Both are able to control forests as well as towns, and friendly units will periodically spawn on their own.

''Conquest of Elysium'' is a freeware fantasy TurnBasedStrategy game developed by Illwinter Game Design in 1997 and released as freeware 10 years later. It's a [[SpiritualSuccessor prequel of sorts to the]] ''VideoGame/{{Dominions}}'' series of games also developed by Illwinter. It allows anywhere from 2-8 players at the same time, any or all of which may be human; however, multiplayer is hotseat only.

* MineralMacguffin: Warlocks collect gems which can be used to give them different powers.

* OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame: The Dwarf King. His faction collects more money from mines.

''Conquest of Elysium 2'' is available for download at [[http://www.shrapnelgames.com/Our_Games/Free_Games.html Shrapnel Games]]. ''Conquest of Elysium 4'', meanwhile, is available on [[http://store.steampowered.com/app/403950/Conquest_of_Elysium_4/ Steam]].

* GoddamnedBats: Roving bandits. They like to wander around the map, stealing your settlements out from under your nose.