Recent reviews by clips

went from a fun halo+portal mix that you could either play matchmaking, or couch-like with friends in custom games,

to

an abomination of half of splitgate 1+overwatch+battlefield. the map designs don't seem to want you to take advantage of portals the same way splitgate 1 did. the way character selection + weapon unlocks work makes trying custom games with friends or other new players an awful prospect

basically, the dev said the state of multiplayer fps games is stale, and put all the reasons they're stale in their own game

The relationship of Pop -> Profession -> Building -> Production -> Goods -> Market feels clearer to understand compared to Vic 2 thanks to the new UI and all the tooltips and guides. The tooltips are huge to helping understanding of this game out of the box.

It also feels like there's more substance playing a smaller nation (starting less than Rank 16). You can start as puppets and subject nations now; 'Release Nations' is available as it was in Vic 2 but it can be done in such a way that you can still play with Achievements/Ironman.

The politics system is more customizable now, a big change. Previously, the only two major options were choosing a Government Type (long-term) and Political Party, which had a list of preset policies. The new system now allows you to break down how those old Political Parties worked. This & being able to start a law reform process makes the Politics tab more engaging.

The new warfare system is interesting and refreshing compared to the genre traditional clicking and moving pieces around. It feels like it flows with the rest of the game's systems -- less tactical, more strategic. I mean, if shuffling a little deathstack over to a little county space in Vic 2 ever really counted as 'tactical.'

I can see where this game has to grow -- it'd be nice to have more views of Goods, like on the map, or another menu where they're all together. Other launch reviews talk about the warfare system in various ways; I'm just eager to see how it develops. I think it's a good foundation of a sequel to Victoria 2, similar to CK3 at launch.

favorite action rpg of the late '10s

the drama and politics of feudal monarchies are actually really fun when you don't have to live out their long, tortured, drawn-out histories and just simulate and speed through them instead

This is a video game that you play to completion (through ending E!), then look back at your experience fondly and simply say, "That sure as heck was a -video game-."