I backed this on the strength of loving the original Kemet and being curious what a full remaster would actually fix, and it fixed the right things. The power tile market is still the beating heart of the game, buying tech that pushes your faction asymmetric fast, one game you’re a flying harassment build and the next you’re a slow grinding wall, and that variety is why it stays in rotation for me more than a year later. Setup got noticeably faster too, the tile trays keep everything sorted so you’re not hunting through baggies before a session, which matters when you’re trying to squeeze a game in after dinner and before anyone gets tired.

One real mechanical change from the original base game that I appreciate: the win condition isn’t a hard point threshold anymore, you have to start your turn in the lead, which means the endgame becomes this genuine game of chicken where the leader has to actually hold position instead of just hitting a number and being done. It drags the last stretch out a little but I like the tension it adds. Combat itself is quick and mean, and the asymmetric tech makes fights actually interesting to plan around instead of just dice math.

Where I’ll be honest about the weak spot, the board itself is kind of ugly next to everything else in the box, the minis and tiles are gorgeous and then you set them down on a map that just doesn’t match. And I’ve heard mixed things on player count, one friend swears it’s fine at two, another found it a slog at two and only clicked once we got to four, which matches our table’s experience too, this wants more bodies fighting over the same real estate to really sing. Four stars, buy the tile trays even if you don’t buy anything else.