Game seems so barebones and utterly unfinished in certain aspects, especially the war system is horrendously bad. Come back in a few years maybe during a sale when the game has been patched 20 times with mostly costly dlc to bring features that should be in the base game.

Edit: Gave it another try, still bad. AI so focused on the player, joining wars they have nothing to gain just to f*ck with you. War score also not updating correctly, fronts broken still even after patches.

Edit 2: After Patch 1.5 that reworked War system I played a whole lot more and the game was somewhat enjoyable even though it still lacks a lot of basic features. Overall I would not discourage people from trying it anymore. However get it on steam sale and get the dlcs only for discounts as well.

Edit 3: Sphere of Influence DLC. The first big and costly DLC for Vic hit about a week before this re-edit. There are a lot more features but they honestly don't do that much. The price is too high imo and the content provided still needs a lot of tuning. Playing as a subject you have little to no ways of becoming independent, power blocs are too static. There is no option to trade states with overlords and they can annex your colonies for free with nothing you can do about it. Spheres of Influence cost 30€ Standalone. Shadow of the Erdtree is 40€. In terms of content I would expect SoI to be around 10-15€ if the Elden Ring DLC is considered the standard for what to expect and what you get from a DLC.

Game seems so barebones and utterly unfinished in certain aspects, especially the war system is horrendously bad. Come back in a few years maybe during a sale when the game has been patched 20 times with mostly costly dlc to bring features that should be in the base game. Edit: Gave it another try, still bad. AI so focused on the player, joining wars they have nothing to gain just to f*ck with you. War score also not updating correctly, fronts broken still even after patches. Edit 2: After Patch 1.5 that reworked War system I played a whole lot more and the game was somewhat enjoyable even though it still lacks a lot of basic features. Overall I would not discourage people from trying it anymore. However get it on steam sale and get the dlcs only for discounts as well. Edit 3: Sphere of Influence DLC. The first big and costly DLC for Vic hit about a week before this re-edit. There are a lot more features but they honestly don't do that much. The price is too high imo and the content provided still needs a lot of tuning. Playing as a subject you have little to no ways of becoming independent, power blocs are too static. There is no option to trade states with overlords and they can annex your colonies for free with nothing you can do about it. Spheres of Influence cost 30€ Standalone. Shadow of the Erdtree is 40€. In terms of content I would expect SoI to be around 10-15€ if the Elden Ring DLC is considered the standard for what to expect and what you get from a DLC.