Age of Empires II is still the better competitive game and has by far the larger player base. Age of Empires IV is more accessible, has excellent documentary-style campaigns, and its civilisations are more mechanically distinct. For multiplayer, II. For single-player, IV.
Same series, same villager-and-age-up structure, and both are actively supported with regular updates.
The tutorials are genuinely good, the historical documentary segments between missions are a real highlight, and civilisations play very differently from each other.
Twenty-five years of balance, an enormous ranked ladder, and more civilisations than anything else in the genre. The Definitive Edition modernised it properly.
More like this: games like Age of Empires II Definitive Edition.
Age of Empires II is still the better competitive game and has by far the larger player base. Age of Empires IV is more accessible, has excellent documentary-style campaigns, and its civilisations are more mechanically distinct. For multiplayer, II. For single-player, IV.
Better is the wrong question for these two — they are close enough that the answer depends on what you want from the next twenty hours. Pick Age of Empires IV if you are new or here for campaigns. Pick Age of Empires II if you want the multiplayer.
No. There are no scores anywhere on this page. This is a written opinion about what each game is for, so you can judge whether it matches what you are after.