This is my first Victoria game so I am going into this without the knowledge of previous games. Here is my basic opinion.

The visuals: Great, I think paradox has reached a new high with the visuals of this game as development of the land leads to updated visuals (eg. developing city leads to it growing in size visually) and even the wild terrain is pretty to look at.

The Economy system: arguably the most in depth system of this game, it has a very steep learning curve and I am still trying to get the hang of it. However, once you start understanding the intricacies, mastering this system becomes very satisfying. 9/10.

The politics: Now this is where stuff starts to go south a bit. While the balancing of factions and leaders can be difficult, the radicals system is too. damn. annoying. and usually by 1880 every AI country is ravaged by radicals. The voting system is a neat way to prevent "Metas" and "predictable playstyles" from popping up but it still feels a bit basic.

The AI: With the AI, I would say they are semi-competent. This is because while for the most part they can run their own country and respond to your actions decently, there is no historical accuracy whatsoever with any of the AI decisions, to this day I have not yet had a game where Italy and Prussia have fully formed and iconic wars such as WW1 never really seem to happen. I hope a more historically accurate script for the game will be added some time in the future.

The Wars: Arguably the most controversial part of this game. I personally dont mind the AI controlled fronts as much as most others do because I see myself as funding the war rather than fighting it but I understand that it may lack the depth many expect, especially HOI4 players. Again, for me, it works relatively well and can simulate some of the more attrition-style wars you'd see during this time period but I understand that it may be lacking for some.

The research: The research is fun and it does feel impactfull when you finally get that special component or piece of tech as it will have major implications for your nation. I do however, feel like research could be organised into more specialised branches and that some larger techs could be broken up into smaller ones that would be faster to research allowing for more specialisation of economy.

Overall, I think its a pretty game with a lot of cool features and a lot of diversity with what is possible but, if you plan on picking this up, do know that the wars are not a key aspect of this game and there is a very big learning curve (takes a couple hours of watching youtubes to even begin playing a country properly).

This is my first Victoria game so I am going into this without the knowledge of previous games. Here is my basic opinion. The visuals: Great, I think paradox has reached a new high with the visuals of this game as development of the land leads to updated visuals (eg. developing city leads to it growing in size visually) and even the wild terrain is pretty to look at. The Economy system: arguably the most in depth system of this game, it has a very steep learning curve and I am still trying to get the hang of it. However, once you start understanding the intricacies, mastering this system becomes very satisfying. 9/10. The politics: Now this is where stuff starts to go south a bit. While the balancing of factions and leaders can be difficult, the radicals system is too. damn. annoying. and usually by 1880 every AI country is ravaged by radicals. The voting system is a neat way to prevent "Metas" and "predictable playstyles" from popping up but it still feels a bit basic. The AI: With the AI, I would say they are semi-competent. This is because while for the most part they can run their own country and respond to your actions decently, there is no historical accuracy whatsoever with any of the AI decisions, to this day I have not yet had a game where Italy and Prussia have fully formed and iconic wars such as WW1 never really seem to happen. I hope a more historically accurate script for the game will be added some time in the future. The Wars: Arguably the most controversial part of this game. I personally dont mind the AI controlled fronts as much as most others do because I see myself as funding the war rather than fighting it but I understand that it may lack the depth many expect, especially HOI4 players. Again, for me, it works relatively well and can simulate some of the more attrition-style wars you'd see during this time period but I understand that it may be lacking for some. The research: The research is fun and it does feel impactfull when you finally get that special component or piece of tech as it will have major implications for your nation. I do however, feel like research could be organised into more specialised branches and that some larger techs could be broken up into smaller ones that would be faster to research allowing for more specialisation of economy. Overall, I think its a pretty game with a lot of cool features and a lot of diversity with what is possible but, if you plan on picking this up, do know that the wars are not a key aspect of this game and there is a very big learning curve (takes a couple hours of watching youtubes to even begin playing a country properly).