Recent reviews by Muzzy102

Coming from the perspective of someone who hasn't played EU4 or CK2, it's good.

This is by far the easiest paradox game I've played. I learned it in less than a week. HoI4 took me like 2 months to know wtf was going on. It's because it's low depth. Unlike Victoria 3 this doesn't mean it is bad though. The game looks very pretty, the events (if few) are done well, the culture and religion systems aren't terrible, technology system is good, larping is generally fun. If you are bad at strategy games, this is a decent introduction to the paradox world.

The law system needs work. Historical thousand year kingdoms/empires like England, France, HRE, Arab caliphate fall to pieces after the first ruler dies until lategame when everyone has primogeniture unlocked. You should be able to write wills and complex succession laws. The economy is REALLY bare bones, but it isn't the main focus so it doesn't hurt the game. Click "build farms and fields" on all your tiles and you are making bank. No silk road, slave or spice trade, managing famine and building grain stockpiles, complex and wealthy church owned organizations, etc. Also, the government of Iceland is identical to the government of Burma at the start of the game, so government systems could use work.

The DLC is garbage nothing more to say about it.

7/10

From the perspective of someone who has not played Europa Universalis 4, or Victoria 2: This game is just boring

I last opened this game about a week ago at the time of writing. I did 3 "test" playthroughs, learning the ropes, bankrupting myself, and trying again. I then played South Africa and played till 1904. Now I feel like I've experienced all there is to do in Victoria 3. There's no variation in any nations really, playing South Africa is the exact same game as playing Japan or Russia, just on a larger scale. I have no interest in another playthrough, I'd rather just play another, better paradox game. I mean... Bum♥♥♥♥ African nations like Rwanda are starting with ♥♥♥♥ like "manufacturies" and "rationalism". No westernization process, no reforms needed. As Japan you can just play empire mode immediately with 0 need to oust the Shogun.

I don't need to say anything much about warfare, that horse has been beaten to death. It's boring.

As for the economy, it's also boring as ♥♥♥♥. You just spend 90% of your time in the buildings menu, and if the little income icon is green then you build. You are just playing command economy mode whether you are the USA or the Soviet Union.

The diplomatic play system is garbage. Every war becomes an international crisis that needs UN resolution. You could be annexing Texas as America and the Russian Empire might want to get involved on the Texan side, for 0 ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ reason.

It's a pretty looking game though, I guess?

1/10 come back when it's out of pre-alpha.

If you can get past the walking simulator bits and difficulty in finding matches, it's a fun game. It's definitely not what it used to be 4 years ago, and I would even go so far as to argue that the old HLL with the old developer team was better. But the core of what makes this game good, running around the map doing batsh*t crazy flanking maneuvers with your friends, is still there and still makes this game a wonderful experience.

I usually don't like strategy but this is the first strategy game I've really enjoyed. It will take you months of play to understand the basics, and beyond that it's a seemly infinite skill ceiling. You will probably become addicted to this, and if you do try it out I seriously recommend using youtube tutorials because the in game one just is not going to cut it. I should also mention you need to have all the expansion DLC to get the real experience, and I highly recommend getting them all.
Play as Nazi Germany, oppose Hitler and revive the original German empire with Wilhelm III as your emperor!
Play as Facist Italy and revive the glorious Roman empire with Mussolini as the new caesar!
Play as a neutral Poland and conquer the Germans and the Russians despite all odds!
The alternate history potential in this game is crazy so play this if you are into that.
Did I mention the amazing modding community? Once you have a basic understanding of the game try out Kaiserreich, a mod based off Germany winning world war 1. It's arguably superior to the base game itself to give you an idea of how good the mods are. 9/10 in my opinion, my only gripe is that the axis is unhistorically strong but that gives them a good fighting chance.