The year is 1444, your great nation has been born with immediate turmoil with the neighboring nations. The prestigious of the prestige will win the battle. With the limited resources at your disposal you'll soon prove to other nations that you're the Supreme nation and should be feared for centuries to come. This....is Europa Universalis IV.
As I began my first game ever in the Europa series not knowing a single thing about this form of Grand Strategy games or any knowledge of what the heck I'm suppose to do except from what I've watched on YouTube. I look at the GUI and my love for this game began with the simple fact that this game is so complex I'm considering it as the Dark Souls of strategy games.
For newcomers of the Europa series or even strategy games such as myself, this game would normally be something people like me who usually play shooters would stay away from. But the same gaming appeal that got me into the Arma series is what brought me to Europa. The complexity is mind boggling.
With only 10hrs worth of game play and about 20hrs of watching game play videos, I feel comfortable in being able to give a solid review.
Graphics
This game is most definitely not about graphics while the design and attention to detail in the miniatures is phenomenal (better than Civilization V) the terrain graphics are not as equally detailed. In the sense that it looks great but when you actually look in comparison to Civilization 5 I think the terrain detail is just a slightly less worked on.
Sound
Flawless Victory. Tt's that simple. The music is by far the best music I've heard in the 3 strategy games I've played. Also, the only game of any type that I actually keep the music settings on so I can hear it. Long play sessions with this music will make you a bit tired, but if you are one of those players who go to battle every couple of hours or couple of years (in game) then the music will become more intense as does any music in video games.
Core Game Mechanics
As I said before they are extremely complex. The easiest way to graphically demonstrate the complexity of this game is by showing you the schematics of an i7 processor. To the untrained eye this is just a mess with a bunch of lines. However with the right knowledge it will make sense, however it's so complex this is going to cause your brain to explode.
Now don't allow this to deter you from a great game. When you finally become the top nation or even survive for over 400 years in this game, it will be the most rewarding ever. I have yet to make it that far. heck I'm only 11 years into the game. However, for anyone who's ever played Dark Souls, the extreme difficulty of the game is one that makes you want to keep on trying until you conquer this beast. if you're one of those gamers who don't love a good challenge or are afraid of trying an entirely new style of gaming. Then this might not before be for you. If you're like me who has played shooters for so long that you play it without needing to think or just stare off into space while playing and want to something that's mind boggling, rage educing, so challenging you want to just drink energy drink after energy drink so you can progress in a game by .1%. Then this is the game for you.
Replayability
Absolutely, again this game is a challenge and not for the casual gamer. But for those who love something different then shooting guns and want something that requires some true strategy. Then this game will have you not only playing for a few hours at a time. But have you dreaming about long term strategy, craving to increase your prestige while you're away from your computer, rushing to get home after work to see what nation you can become allies with or betray a nation that you pledged to protect.
Pros & Cons
Pros-
1. There's not really an actually thing you must do to win this game. While there is a score that ranks your nation, it has not deterring factor in the outcome of your game.
2. The game is played how you want to play it. If you want to be a solo nation with no enemies, no increase in provinces, never going to battle, and just be friends with everyone. Then do it. if you want become the ultimate ruler of the world and dominate every nation the enjoy the wars and become supreme. There's absolutely nothing the makes you do something in this game that will make your experience anywhere close to being the same as the next person.
3. The game unfolds by the choices you make. Once you decide to declare war on someone, you have to live with it until you can either make peace or take over that nation/province. Every action you make will not be forgotten nor will it cause you to go down a certain path.
4. Endless outcomes.
5. Great community, even with noobs. I've had to ask several question on the Steam Discussions for this specific game and have had nothing but positive feedback. Out of the 30+ responses from over 25 different people, not a single one insulted me. All of them were welcoming and willing to lend some advice.
Cons -
1. Unforgiving to new comers. If you've never play Crusaders Kings or any of the Europa's before. Then this game will have a steep learning curve. I'm not saying I know everything about the game. But I do know a faction of it and enough to have some fun and make tons of mistakes.
That's it. There's no more cons to this game. it's that good.
Final Verdict
The greatest strategy game I've ever played and 100% recommend it to anyone who wants a challenge, loves strategy games and or to any games wanting to try something new and enjoy true complexity in games.