Does anybody still play EU2?

[Harv]

Hi everybody! It has been a very long time! The last time I was here was a bit over a year ago, where I started an Immortal level Kublai Khan game that got stalled early, then I moved on to other things. Then WoW Classic happened. Then I burned out hard on that, so I started dusting off old games I used to play.

Then I dusted of EU2. It has always fascinated me, since I first picked it up. It was there around the same time as Civ3 - and I never got into Civ3 because of EU2.

My biases favor playing with the English in 1419. England starts in a war against France and Vassals and Scotland. They have great leaders to wipe the map with them and be in a position to "win" the 100 Years War, but they only have Henry V (Aggressive..... and Imperialistic?) for a few years before he dies in a manner worthy of the Oregon Trail.

Then France shows up with some terrifying generals. Then I realized - What is it like to play France? They start in a war against two or three terrifying leaders, but the AI is very stupid and the AI vassals can wear down these leaders while we wear down our opponents. I played a bunch of starts, trying to figure out how to exploit this.

Does anybody still play this or have they moved on to 3 or 4?

 

[sherbz]

Ive left earth and play Stellaris instead

This genre is quite busy now IMO. With lots to choose from. Crusader Kings is the newest title people are playing.

 

[Quintillus]

I only played the demo and one game of EU2 back in 2011. The demo convinced me to buy the whole game, and a game as the Ottomans convinced me to buy EU3. For the next three years, EU3 was at or nearly at my list of most-played games.

Well, I guess there was also the 20-30 year game where I played as Bourbonnais, maxed out on loans, and managed to take over a majority of France. IIRC, in EU2 any country can take out up to 5 loans of 200 ducats apiece, whereas in EU4 the max loan size is tied to the size of your economy (I think that is the case in EU3 as well, but in EU3 you can also mint coins to inflate your economy in the short term). So it was kind of an exploit, but it was fun to turn Bourbonnais into the regional power, if a rather indebted one.

In the end though, even back in 2011 EU2 felt dated compared to EU3. And while I'd intended to at least finish my Golden Horde conquest of pretty much everything that was in progress when EU4 came out, in practice I never went back to an EU3 game once I started EU4. The game world is just so rich and developed in EU4 now, that earlier iterations would seem to be bare in comparison.

I think I have read that EU2 had more of a focus on historical events than newer versions, although I wonder if that really applies relative to EU4, which has built out historical events and flavor for more and more nations over the years. But for me, I can't see that outweighing all the gameplay options the latest iteration provides, not to mention the map modes in the newest version, which really do provide great visual feedback on the world situation.

Although a part of me does still want to do a campaign of Europa Universalis: Crown of the North some time, for old times' sake and for the Swedish flavor of that game. So I can't say I don't see some of the appeal in the older titles.

 

[TheMeInTeam]

EU 4 still has a problem with railroading, but from what I hear it's much less than earlier iterations. As I'm not a fan of events happening without causes, I won't try the older versions or mods like MEIOU which like to force events/limitations without coherent causes.

 

[Angst]

EU2 is extremely railroaded. Try playing as Mutapa or something. It's literally unplayable.

It's also very limited as to management.

But on the other hand, the game is actually very charming. I fire it up sometimes and play a quick game. Been years at this point, though.

 

[agent_stealth]

I'm a bit late, but my internet queries don't say that many people are talking about EU2 nowadays… I started to play the game this year, so I'm not in the position to say that I still play.