Recent reviews by oddthought

Not only is this a great game, it is also an important game that positions the player in a pivotal time in human history. If you want to play in a sandbox that allows you to navigate the era that saw the transformation of the agrarian world into the industrial, this is it. If you play it with the right mindset, you will learn a lot not only about the 19th century, but our own — because the questions of that era surrounding prosperity and the struggle between rich and poor have still not been answered adequately today.

I highly recommend that the devs and players read the 2023 book “Revolutionary Season” by Cambridge history professor Christopher Clark, which details the pivotal years of 1848-1849 and the decades surrounding. As you read, you’ll find that while this game is supposedly about economics, really it is about human populations and how the shifting economic factors and social strata of the time affected human lives. As this beautiful game evolves, I hope the devs continue to bend their already worthy and still-promising simulation toward that basic truth. At its best, this game is about people, and everything else is complication that the player must try to manage and survive, just as our predecessors tried to do.

I love that this era is being explored by Paradox again, and I am thankful that this game exists. I’m eager to see it continue to evolve and increase its historical feel.

Neither Civilization nor Crusader Kings, Old World occupies its own special place in the 4X / grand strategy genre. I really enjoy what it is doing with its beautifully interwoven systems; its approach to victory conditions; and its focus on a particular historical era.

Jump in. Give Old World a few hours of your time. Let it surprise you with all of its subtle differences from its peers. You will be rewarded.

A masterpiece.

You'll enjoy this way more than you think you will. Dive in to this outstanding piece of work.

Edit: Thumbs up after I used internet advice related to the Friends List issues. Changed my Steam display name. Then friend requests worked. 2024, y'all.

Fun game with friends. Will recommend once I am able to actually add my Steam friends to my in-game friend list. It's 2024 and basic friend-connecting tech should work. Until that happens, thumbs down from me.

The best Tekken I have ever played, going all the way back to Tekken 1 on the original PSX.

A masterpiece.

A couple of first impressions:

I like the customization not only of your civ's appearance but playstyle -- customization that continues throughout a session according to ongoing choices offered by the game, especially in the magic tome system. I can see how each game might seem like the telling of a story of the evolution of a civ.

There are a few things that strike me as a little less than great. The game has an Early Access feel to it; a whiff of the undercooked. Play in general is a little on the bland side. I think a part of this is in the game's graphics, which strike me as being rather last-gen. The available camera angles are also somehow always slightly displeasing, making it awkward to select, say, one of your armies. Those two elements add up to a presentation, and a world map in particular, that feels cluttered, and somewhat less than elegant and clean.

Am I enjoying it so far? I'm enjoying exploring the options available. I'm not particularly enjoying the graphics. Neither am I enjoying the overall impression that the game is still in some sort of early development state. I can't quite put my finger on any precise reason why it feels like that. It's an overall feeling I get as I play. I feel like it could use another wave or three of refinement and polish.

We'll see what the future holds.

As a holder of an MFA, I think this is my new favorite game of all time. Devs, you have created something very special here.

A classic. Not to be missed.