Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition
analyzed 2026-08-19 · sample of 431 English reviews across the whole review history
Gameplay is the most frequently discussed aspect, with 26% of sampled reviews mentioning it, and the tone there is largely positive. Players describe the skirmish mode as "really fun" and note the game "feels alot like Age of Mythology". The single-player campaign draws strong praise, called "way better than expected" and featuring "documentary quality narrative campaigns", with the historical background described as an "incredible history lesson". The learning curve is generally received well, with "Great in game guides to get you started quickly", though some note it "does add to the learning curve". The clearest recurring criticisms center on interface, controls, and stability. The UI is called out for its "awful state of UI and hot-keys" and missing options like the ability to "choose team colour" or "view map post game". Controls are described as "clumsy" for targeting and micro, and there is "no option to pause the game and issue commands". Stability issues appear frequently, with players reporting that "Due to a recent update this save is no longer available" and that "you can't open it to play". AI behavior is another sore point, with complaints that the "AI also feels way too easy and not all too smart" and that there is "no predictability in opposing teams actions and reactions". Opinion splits appear on content amount and value. While some praise the unique civilizations, others say there are "not that many playable civilizations" and that the game is "missing a lot of the stuff that even AOE2 had 20 years ago". Price is a recurring concern, with players saying they "can't recommend it for $60" and that it "needs some work to be worth 60$". The campaign and its missions are a consistent bright spot, as are the pre-mission historical videos, which players find "Very historically accurate".
numbers checked against this report's stored data · quotes copied verbatim from reviews · plain text is the language model's own wording
Aspects
share of sample, axis to 30% · ± is the sampling uncertainty around each share
- positive
- mixed / neutral
- negative
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gameplay
86 positive · 17 negative · 8 mixed · 1 neutral
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Skirmish is also really fun, as it feels pleasantly familiar, with enough newness to it that I'll certainly be spending hundreds of hours playing it, like the previous games.
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This game feels alot like Age of Mythology, I like that.
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The new wall features are fun, the way you age up by building a structure is cool, and allows you to commit more villagers to the project to age up faster.
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graphics
20 positive · 5 negative · 1 mixed · 1 neutral
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If you loved Age of Empires 2 back in the day this is that game with a few new additions and modern graphics.
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It is beautiful for sure, but I can't recommend it for $60.
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and now version great graphic.
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content amount
6 positive · 15 negative · 0 mixed · 1 neutral
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It feels like its lacking so much content.
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definitely love it but need to add Japan please.
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Although there are not that many playable civilizations, the core gameplay feels good and familiar (AoE2) in a good way.
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multiplayer
13 positive · 6 negative · 0 mixed · 1 neutral
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This one is quite good and i enjoy the campaign as well as the good ol multiplayer.
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If you play it with friends, you have a lot of fun.
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fun game, especially with friends
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story
14 positive · 4 negative · 0 mixed · 0 neutral
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Single player campaign is way better than expected with real documentary style footage.
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From documentary quality narrative campaigns to the historic battles we know and love, reenacted in classic age turmoil.
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Feels like AOE2 with improved graphics, a nice story and some minor changes.
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learning curve
12 positive · 2 negative · 0 mixed · 2 neutral
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It can get incredibly hectic where you have to keep track of and multitask quite a few different areas pretty much at the same time, but this does add to the learning curve.
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Great in game guides to get you started quickly.
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The singleplayer is very well made, 4k learning videos are absolutely cool.
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ui
2 positive · 12 negative · 1 mixed · 1 neutral
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Like further zoom out and population increase.
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Some basic options missing though; can't choose team colour, can't randomise teams, can't view map post game, A.
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I will corroborate the awful state of UI and hot-keys, but the rest is beyond my knowledge.
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ai behavior
2 positive · 13 negative · 0 mixed · 0 neutral
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The AI also feels way too easy and not all too smart.
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Some basic options missing though; can't choose team colour, can't randomise teams, can't view map post game, A.I is a little patchy.
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But the crunch comes with game play,OMG it's difficult in any grade,there is no predictability in opposing teams actions and reactions,as with other AOE's,the scenarios are much more challenging,and you really have to earn your way round the map with tactics and skill.
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updates
11 positive · 4 negative · 0 mixed · 0 neutral
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Looking forward to future updates and additional content.
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New update should make things a bit more even and challenging.
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Update: lots of stuff still missing from the game, many of the game breaking glitches appear to have been fixed thought.
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balance
6 positive · 8 negative · 0 mixed · 0 neutral
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And the balance isn't quite there yet, especially when it comes to how many resources you have.
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Really fun, going back to its roots, altho there are still some bugs and balance issues, but it has its potential to be a really good game in the series.
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Gunpowder units could use some balance changes
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see more
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controls
2 positive · 12 negative · 0 mixed · 0 neutral
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A lot of the targeting/micro feels clumsy.
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But since there is no option to pause the game and issue commands, the UK campaign is unplayable on that level.
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The control scheme is terrible, you can remap but it doesn't remember it.
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stability
1 positive · 12 negative · 0 mixed · 0 neutral
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Game still in beta, tons of bugs exploited.
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"Due to a recent update this save is no longer available".
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For many the game crashes a lot while actually playing.
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combat
6 positive · 6 negative · 0 mixed · 0 neutral
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Takes me back to AoE 2, but better, especially sieges and stuff.
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I liked the maps very maps the ui was different from the aoe 2 but better for me, i liked the graphics alot the voice acting and the sounds on siege units is amazing and the tactics are pretty cool.
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Battlefield counterplay has been drastically improved, visuals are top notch, and the overall RTS feel is amazing.
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price value
3 positive · 7 negative · 1 mixed · 1 neutral
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It is beautiful for sure, but I can't recommend it for $60.
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For an RTS, the game is fun just like AOE2, but it needs some work to be worth 60$.
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Remaster of AOE2 and 3 is great but this is just a rip off for such price.
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difficulty
4 positive · 4 negative · 2 mixed · 0 neutral
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But since there is no option to pause the game and issue commands, the UK campaign is unplayable on that level.
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The difficulty settings were done incorrectly and each level harder is about 4 times the prior difficulty.
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Certain campaign missions are quite hard even in Story mode, and I like to tune the difficulty the way I want it to actually enjoy the gameplay the way I want to, even if I have to resort to trainers for it.
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lore
10 positive · 0 negative · 0 mixed · 0 neutral
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The campaigns are really well done, both in terms of how each mission is setup for you to navigate through, and especially in terms of the historical background that is given.
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On top of the game you get a incredible history lesson, full of videos, facts and historical background about buildings, weapons, army tactics etc.
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Awesome history lessons.
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developer conduct
3 positive · 5 negative · 1 mixed · 0 neutral
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Unfinished game that got released too early and a company behind it that does not seem to have any intention to put any effort into fixing it.
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I was looking forward to play it but its a shame there aren't any help from devs.
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The dev team here knows how bad the game is currently and their response has been to just abandon it, saying no more dlc and such.
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performance
3 positive · 6 negative · 0 mixed · 0 neutral
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Graphics aren't the best and there are frame pacing issues which hopefully will be sorted out in a future patch.
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I can not get the video to work!
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Additionally, I'm no expert in performance but it feels the game requires so much performance yet the visuals are lacking.
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quest design
5 positive · 3 negative · 0 mixed · 0 neutral
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Campaigns were fun, but please leave Joan alone now, we've done that story to death.
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Missions are entertaining and the walkthrough is absolutely genius!
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campaighns are great
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build variety
6 positive · 1 negative · 0 mixed · 0 neutral
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The fact that the Civs are a little less copy paste is nice, ads some flavor to the game, especially when so many games featuring more than just two or three factions have the problem of all the factions feeling the same.
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This game is easy to play, hard to master where every civilization feels unique and have their own strengths and weaknesses.
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If you lose interest you can simply choose a different empire and have different abilities.
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dlc
2 positive · 3 negative · 2 mixed · 0 neutral
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Its AOE2 with better graphics and half of the game is behind a $20 DLC.
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In order to play with other nations and skip the monotony, you have to buy the expensive DLC bundle.
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I was hoping the Deluxe edition would include some playable DLC but it's basically worthless.
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level design
4 positive · 3 negative · 0 mixed · 0 neutral
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The campaigns are really well done, both in terms of how each mission is setup for you to navigate through, and especially in terms of the historical background that is given.
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I liked the maps very maps the ui was different from the aoe 2 but better for me, i liked the graphics alot the voice acting and the sounds on siege units is amazing and the tactics are pretty cool.
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Missions are entertaining and the walkthrough is absolutely genius!
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addictiveness
6 positive · 0 negative · 0 mixed · 0 neutral
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I'm pretty much addicted to upping my game.
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I am totally addicted!
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Addicting game
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bugs
1 positive · 5 negative · 0 mixed · 0 neutral
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Really fun, going back to its roots, altho there are still some bugs and balance issues, but it has its potential to be a really good game in the series.
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After a patch just have more and more serious bugs, and old serious bugs didn't fix at all.
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Mega glitches like the infinite relic glitch is great example of how little thought was put into the launch of this game and thus MANY mechanics need fixing.
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matchmaking
1 positive · 5 negative · 0 mixed · 0 neutral
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♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ worst matchup.
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Always afks , no fair matchmaking.
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Bad algorithm for ranked matches
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realism
5 positive · 1 negative · 0 mixed · 0 neutral
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The campaign is just great, including strong narration and pre-mission real life video of the locations and castles your about to siege.
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Very historically accurate
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The historical Accuracy.
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relaxation
5 positive · 1 negative · 0 mixed · 0 neutral
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If you want to chill, buy this game!
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relaxing but engaging game
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ive played aoe for years forgot i purchased this a year or so ago been playing it its fun and a good game to just chill to
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Emergent themes unvalidated
topics reviewers bring up that are not on the validated list; raw counts only, no error bars
- campaign 9
- camera 6
Review timeline
monthly peak 12,142 reviews · all languages
monthly share rated positive · 50% reference · months with <5 reviews faded
the timeline as a table
| month | reviews | up | down | positive | note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 2021 | 5,263 | 4,378 | 885 | 83% | |
| Nov 2021 | 12,142 | 10,885 | 1,257 | 90% | |
| Dec 2021 | 3,258 | 2,854 | 404 | 88% | |
| Jan 2022 | 1,941 | 1,619 | 322 | 83% | |
| Feb 2022 | 1,179 | 854 | 325 | 72% | |
| Mar 2022 | 793 | 662 | 131 | 83% | |
| Apr 2022 | 910 | 742 | 168 | 82% | |
| May 2022 | 758 | 620 | 138 | 82% | |
| Jun 2022 | 522 | 419 | 103 | 80% | |
| Jul 2022 | 775 | 670 | 105 | 86% | |
| Aug 2022 | 1,700 | 1,454 | 246 | 86% | |
| Sep 2022 | 1,258 | 1,099 | 159 | 87% | |
| Oct 2022 | 837 | 733 | 104 | 88% | |
| Nov 2022 | 1,142 | 1,029 | 113 | 90% | |
| Dec 2022 | 1,183 | 1,004 | 179 | 85% | |
| Jan 2023 | 1,354 | 1,160 | 194 | 86% | |
| Feb 2023 | 1,160 | 1,016 | 144 | 88% | |
| Mar 2023 | 841 | 738 | 103 | 88% | |
| Apr 2023 | 882 | 753 | 129 | 85% | |
| May 2023 | 835 | 726 | 109 | 87% | |
| Jun 2023 | 902 | 747 | 155 | 83% | |
| Jul 2023 | 1,339 | 1,117 | 222 | 83% | |
| Aug 2023 | 887 | 751 | 136 | 85% | |
| Sep 2023 | 1,129 | 972 | 157 | 86% | |
| Oct 2023 | 785 | 666 | 119 | 85% | |
| Nov 2023 | 2,312 | 2,025 | 287 | 88% | |
| Dec 2023 | 1,431 | 1,226 | 205 | 86% | |
| Jan 2024 | 1,200 | 1,047 | 153 | 87% | |
| Feb 2024 | 841 | 708 | 133 | 84% | |
| Mar 2024 | 1,096 | 945 | 151 | 86% | |
| Apr 2024 | 811 | 711 | 100 | 88% | |
| May 2024 | 772 | 694 | 78 | 90% | |
| Jun 2024 | 635 | 561 | 74 | 88% | |
| Jul 2024 | 781 | 676 | 105 | 87% | |
| Aug 2024 | 680 | 596 | 84 | 88% | |
| Sep 2024 | 557 | 485 | 72 | 87% | |
| Oct 2024 | 958 | 495 | 463 | 52% | |
| Nov 2024 | 1,123 | 793 | 330 | 71% | |
| Dec 2024 | 933 | 795 | 138 | 85% | |
| Jan 2025 | 863 | 735 | 128 | 85% | |
| Feb 2025 | 678 | 569 | 109 | 84% | |
| Mar 2025 | 944 | 816 | 128 | 86% | |
| Apr 2025 | 1,179 | 955 | 224 | 81% | |
| May 2025 | 947 | 782 | 165 | 83% | |
| Jun 2025 | 578 | 481 | 97 | 83% | |
| Jul 2025 | 786 | 674 | 112 | 86% | |
| Aug 2025 | 829 | 697 | 132 | 84% | |
| Sep 2025 | 662 | 572 | 90 | 86% | |
| Oct 2025 | 958 | 830 | 128 | 87% | |
| Nov 2025 | 1,417 | 1,082 | 335 | 76% | |
| Dec 2025 | 1,091 | 913 | 178 | 84% | |
| Jan 2026 | 880 | 755 | 125 | 86% | |
| Feb 2026 | 573 | 479 | 94 | 84% | |
| Mar 2026 | 615 | 517 | 98 | 84% | |
| Apr 2026 | 621 | 492 | 129 | 79% | |
| May 2026 | 709 | 532 | 177 | 75% | |
| Jun 2026 | 823 | 665 | 158 | 81% | |
| Jul 2026 | 805 | 683 | 122 | 85% | |
| Aug 2026 | 316 | 262 | 54 | 83% |
How this report was made
- Population
- all Steam reviews of the game (every language, purchase type, and verdict), walked newest-first per window; only English-language reviews are analyzed
- Sample
- 431 English reviews, time-proportional draw over 59 windows (newest-first within each), taken from an all-language walk and kept English-only — where English is a minority the sample runs smaller than the draw, and every margin of error is computed at 431
- Aspect yield
- 223 of 431 analyzed reviews carry at least one aspect (51.7%); every share on this page divides by all 431
- Interval regime
- calm: standard margins of error for a share of a sample (Wilson interval), no widening needed
- Fetch paths
- 59 time windows fetched directly (windowed)
- Language mix
- 1,000 fetched: english 433 · schinese 112 · german 103 · 23 more
- Steam-marked windows
- none flagged by Steam (Valve's off-topic flagging began March 2019)
- Marked share
- 0.0% of sample inside marked windows, under the 2% floor
- Narrative
- passed the grounding gate first try
- Evidence floor
- aspects and emergent themes appear only with 5+ supporting reviews; smaller counts sit at the classifier's false-positive floor
- Instrument readings
- measured once on the study corpus for this model and prompt: frozen calibration, not properties of this run
- · aspect tagging vs. human labels
- 0.766 [0.713–0.811] (F1 against a human-labeled test set; 1.0 is best)
- · quotes filed under the wrong aspect
- 11.6% [6.6–19.6] of quotes, measured by hand on a sample; lower is better
- · independent model vs. production labels
- 0.791 [0.772–0.810] (F1 of the production labeler against an independent judge model)
- Versions
- deepseek-v4-flash · prompt classify-v1 · ontology v2
- Run
- serve-20260819T230344Z-166a51c4 · code ccaa6a4
full methodology in the milestone write-ups