What video games have you been playing? ΚΔ (24)? More like ΚΔ,Ζ,ΤΞΕ!

Status
Not open for further replies.
Will definitely put my life on hold when GTA6 is here.

Haven't gotten around to Civ7 yet, but I think I'll try it out this summer.

I hear the reception is a bit mixed. But so was the last couple on release, and I ended up liking them.
 
I reached level 100 in Settlers today. My first level 100. I'm not sure I ever need to do it again.
 

We've never seen anything like the just-announced Europa Universalis 5 from renowned strategy developer Paradox – or anyone – before. If the previous games in the franchise were your undergrad, this is a PhD game.

Europa Universalis 5 Is a Ludicrously Large, Dense Strategy Sequel​

Pushing the horizons of strategy in a mind-boggling recreation of five centuries that created our modern world.​

Paradox has an established tradition of putting out very complex, richly detailed historical strategy games. But I've never seen anything like the just-announced Europa Universalis 5 from them – or anyone – before. If the previous games in the franchise were your undergrad, this is a PhD game. The preview build I played could be almost obnoxiously unintuitive at times, and the first 30 hours or so felt like learning to swim in the middle of a storm with all the new features and systems – even as someone who has more than 2500 hours in Europa Universalis 4. But there's something to be said for a game that makes you work for it a little. And under those choppy waves, I found quite a lot to be excited about.



I can think of no better place to start than having a little bit of a gush about the map, which puts almost all previous renderings of the globe in a strategy game to shame. It features around seven times as many individual locations as EU4 had, and unlike in 2022's Victoria 3, they all have their own individual populations, buildings, topography, climate, and vegetation. Similar to Victoria, every person on Earth is represented individually. This is the exact number of people living in this specific bit of countryside in Portugal. And that population can grow, shrink, change in cultural composition, and convert to a different religion.

The level of detail almost seems like it shouldn't really be possible. And from what I've played, and you can probably see in the video at the top of this page, it sometimes isn't. This game is a CPU hog, and my Ryzen 7 3700X was not able to keep up with it on the fastest speed, so you'll have to excuse the choppiness. But I was assured by Paradox that the recommended specs for this demo were not what they intend to ship with, and optimization is an ongoing process. The graphics, as well, are not by any means final, though they're already looking pretty sweet.

Europa Universalis 5 excels most as a wargame.


One big visual improvement is in how armies are represented. Rather than one giant soldier like in EU4, you can have formations that may get as large as 30 models in the late game, with culturally-specific uniforms and period-accurate weapons that change with your level of technology. There's even a system that causes them to appear more ragtag or uniform based on the discipline stat of the army, which is especially cool.

March to the Sound of Guns​

And I spent a lot of time looking at these little guys, because Europa Universalis 5 excels most as a wargame. It wasn't until I got into a big clash with several regional players that I really felt like I understood what it was going for. Food and logistics systems, which are a refinement of the ones from 2018's Imperator: Rome, make secure supply lines just as important to fighting an effective war as having good generals and troops. And the fact that mountains and hills now block vision even from adjacent locations creates opportunities for clever ambushes. This might be the best warfare system Paradox has ever designed.

Population, in general, adds so much to the Europa Universalis formula that I can hardly cover it all here. While previous games used ambiguous government points that the community came to refer to as "mana," the brakes on your imperial ambitions here simply come from having not enough people. Or in some cases, not enough educated people, since certain buildings require higher social classes to work in them. If you want to colonize, those settlers have to come from somewhere. Soldiers who die in your wars don't return to the fields.

On top of this, a new system of control makes it more difficult and expensive to administrate places further from your capital, creating new reasons to use vassals or marches, and keeping even larger countries from feeling too powerful at the start.

The new start date of 1337 appeals to me as a fan of the Middle Ages and a weirdo who would not have cared if you made EU4 a hundred years longer. It doesn't appeal to the people of Eurasia, though, who get hit by the Black Death a few decades after the start of the campaign. It's properly brutal, too, killing around half of the population in places like Europe, which sort of forces a hard reset on your long-term plans. And I wouldn't want it any other way. If this was a challenge real historical leaders had to face, I'd prefer they don't nerf it.

Graduation Day​

Getting my head around all of this was an even more epic endeavor than surviving the plague, though. The tutorials and new player experience are still being worked on, so I was somewhat thrown into the deep end. I don't know that I've ever played a strategy game with so many mechanics to worry about on day one, from a royal cabinet to social values to a fully dynamic, multi-directional trade system that replaces the frankly unsatisfying and goofy one from EU4.

It took me almost four hours of set-up on my first campaign to finally hit unpause. And I had logged about 30 hours, according to Steam, before I actually felt like I knew what I was doing. That's not necessarily a bad thing from my perspective, though. I can just see it being a daunting cliff to climb – especially for anyone new to the series. To EU5's credit, you can automate almost any aspect of your country if, for instance, you only want to deal with the military or trade until you understand everything better.

I had logged about 30 hours, according to Steam, before I actually felt like I knew what I was doing. That's not necessarily a bad thing from my perspective, though.


In terms of historical flavor, there are a lot of little events with one or two choices that simply offer a small mechanical bonus or penalty that I wasn't too impressed by. But there are also larger historical situations, like the Protestant Reformation or the Hundred Years War, that involve multiple phases and have the potential to create much more interesting and dynamic historical stories.

It might not surprise you to hear that I feel I've barely scratched the surface of Europa Universalis 5 here. Even if I were to regale you with all of my experiences for the next several hours, I've only played through 200 years of its 500-year expanse. It's such a vast, uncompromising, sometimes terrifying thing that trying to suss out the shape of it feels like trying to trace the shadow of a whale beneath my tiny rowboat. And the performance issues I encountered were keeping that boat from sitting steady in the water.

But at the end of the day? I'm impressed and excited that they went this big with this long-awaited sequel. Nobody pushes the boundaries of the genre like Paradox, and with Europa Universalis 5, they're pushing them further in one game than they ever have. I'm looking forward to enjoying the rest of the ride, even if it sometimes feels like I'm hanging on for dear life.
 
Finished pulling my teeth with TR2 remaster (basically a coat of paint, a well looking paint though!).
Went on to pull some with Trakis Strikes Again.
After frustratingly trying TSA dlc level on nasty difficulty, decided to go back to something cozy.
So now I am playing Diablo 2 Resurrected, started an Amazon, decided not to look anything online, spent way to many hours doing that, checking builds behind my teenage young adult desktop screens.
Still reserving my first playthrough of Xenoblade Chronicles X definitive edition for a rainy day!
My mind as been reawakened for another Skyrim playthrough that I won't finish (killing Alduin) because of the new Oblivion remaster. (though Skyrim is always at the back of y mind).
Maybe do some more CIV VI in-between! Last month didn't went so bad, went blindly into a random map, random civs (mine included) deity game I lost, but not for being erased from a crappy locked Pangaea location, so that wasn't unfun!
 

Governor, your destiny awaits in Anno 117: Pax Romana! 🏛️Step into the heart of the Roman Empire as we explore the breathtaking province of Latium in this in-depth walkthrough of Anno 117: Pax Romana. From laying the foundations of your first settlement to mastering the complexities of Roman governance, this journey introduces you to many key aspects of the game. Forge your legacy and become the governor you were meant to be!


Welcome to the world of Anno 117: Pax Romana! This gameplay trailer takes you deep into the building opportunities that empower you to shape your legacy as a Roman Governor. From majestic cities to bustling marketplaces, discover how you can shape your empire and bring prosperity to your people. 🏛️🍀Begin your journey by wishlisting now on 👉 https://anno117paxromana.comhttps://store.steampowered.com/app/32...

announcing-anno-117-pax-romana-v0-FojMXpW1Sc-s7HbUyJjj5pKj2fonNP123ibNFcMjQNM.jpg
 
POE 3.26 launches June 13th: Secrets of the Atlas.

League reveal June 5th.
 
Path of Exile's Secrets of the Atlas reveal will be on June 5th.
 
CK3 Viking power start, no house rules, full attack

Start: Count of Hjaltiland, male, 18, intelligent, shy, sadistic, paranoid, reaver/blademaster, skilled tactician

Opening move: offer a courtier as a concubine to Halfdan Hvitserk. This will boost relations sufficiently to marry his daughter Saga via a grand wedding.

Raid Cordoba to pay for it. Strike without delay. The Andalusians are wealthy, the Sultan has multiple wives, and family members, and the odds of lucrative ransoms are good. He also begins at war with Asturias, meaning, no real shot at defending against your raid.

If additional raids are necessary, raid the O Neills in Ulster, and hit Ivar the Boneless.

Parlay the prestige into a high-class retinue. 500 Varangians and some support is sufficient to defeat Charles the Bald in a raid for additional prestige. Feast and hunt.

Subjugate Scotland with Hvitserk(only for faster sieging)

Invade Ireland, then Wales. Should be at Exalted. Alfred should fall quickly with an invasion.

This method usually gets me the Empire tier Britannia by character age 30. Switch to learning for Whole of Body; character should live to be 80, well capable of raiding for claimants to various kingdoms; one Karling is typically sufficient to get claims to uh, all West Europe.

Continent spanning Napoleonic character is doable in one lifetime.
 
Europe trembles in the first decade-plus of the 1800s; a conqueror of unequaled ambition threatens to overrun the continent. No, that conqueror is not Napoleon, but the Golden Horde.

20250601144312_1.jpg

Khagan Mamai I Temur-Chi, descendant of Genghis, soon-to-be-founder of the Second Mongol Empire, looked across the Hungarian plain, planning his next and crowning ambition. China had been, for all purposes, tamed. Korea's navy was respected, but their army bested. Aq Qoyunlu had been humbled, and the last parts of Persia incorporated into the lands of the Horde and its vassals in Biapas. Scandinavia had been made entirely Swedish, and Sweden was nothing if not loyal to the Horde that had rescued it from oblivion and Muscovite ambitions. Now, the only goal left to prove he could eclipse the Great Khan himself was to humble central and western Europe.

Thus, on June 24, 1812, he launched his last and greatest campaign. The Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny; the Great Horde, its Loyal Vassals of Jianzhou, Biapas, Eretna, Greece, Greek Egypt, Bulgaria, and Sweden, along with their Prussian Allies, would take on Revolutionary Europe, the Holy Roman Empire, the Empire of China, Most of West Africa, the Non-British Parts of the New World, and the Land of Kangaroos. Although the latter was not expected to play a decisive role, and the Khagan, despite his establishment of a Malayan colony named Singapura, had drafted no plans for invading that territory.

Europe, for its part, was not unprepared. Well, aside from France. France had suffered a counter-revolution mere months before, their revolution inexplicably imploding into chaos, from which the monarchists emerged victorious. But even King Georges I of France agreed that the Horde was the greater threat than the Revolutionaries, and that was saying something, considering what had happened to most of his extended family.

Europe had long had tensions with the Horde, and half a century earlier, had formed a coalition that successfully persuaded Mamai's grandfather than the pastures of China were greener and richer. At least that was what they thought; the reality was that he'd already been coming to the conclusion that there were more riches to be had in China anyway. But when the Horde first took Aragonese Africa, then all of Scandinavia, and was then building the largest army ever seen, suddenly even Portugal was interested in mutual defensive plans. Among continental Europe, only Brittany remained uninterested in fighting the Horde, correctly reasoning that the odds of the Horde conquering them during Mamai's lifetime were low, and even if they did, they'd likely have bigger fish to fry with the rest of Europe at war with them, and prefer trade than conflict with them.

Spoiler The Horde's Invasion of Europe :
So it was that the war broke out, with Mamai stating his goal was to destroy the Revolutions in Aragon, as well as Castile, Venice, Regensburg, Portugal, Switzerland, and almost everywhere else other than Pomerania, which was simply in the way and making a questionable diplomatic decision. In addition, should it not admit the Horde's hegemony, the Holy Roman Empire was to be dismantled. He was mildly annoyed that the actual Emperor of China had renounced his treaty obligations with the Coalition, as well as to the remaining Coalition members in China, and that he would thus not be able to abolish the Revolution, the Holy Roman Empire, and the Empire of China all in one war, at least formally, but the Horde already controlled most of the wealth of China, so that was a formality.

The war would focus on Austria and poor Pomerania, with the Austrians finding themselves unfortunately on the same side as their hated Venetian rivals. At first, the Europeans valiantly advanced, but of course, that was the Horde's plan all along. This lead to a counter-attack, which went mostly according to the Horde's plans, but they would bog down in the deep, dark forests of Germania, not their preferred open plains. Many pitched battles would be fought, forests flattened. The Europeans struggled to provision their armies in such large numbers as were necessary to counter the Horde, but succeeding at slowing the Horde down, even winning occasionally.

Mamai I counted on his much more vast reserves of land and men to, sooner or later, whittle down the European resistance to nothing, while the Consuls of Aragon were convinced that somewhere in the great German forests or the Alps, the Horde's momentum would be stopped, the Horde would be forced to admit that they could not touch Aragon's lands, and Europe would, effectively, have won their freedom. At that point, the Revolution could be restored in France.

Two and a quarter years in, both sides were wholly convinced that they would win, aside from the Poles and Lithuanians, who had the misfortune of being behind Prussian and Horde territory from the start. North Africa had been conquered by Europe, but the Horde didn't particularly care, and a few central European strongholds had fallen to the Horde, but that was a sustainable rate for Revolutionary Europe.

Mamai marked his 25th year on the throne in 1814, his dreams of conquering Europe still possible, but not yet realized. Tactical victories had been made, but had anything strategic been accomplished? He yearned to revisit the plains of the Po, looted by the Horde when he was still a young Khagan. To taste those fine Italian cheeses, to see the Alps looming large above. He wished to see France, a land that supposedly contained countless fields for horses. Most of all, he wished to cement his legacy.

He knew he was standing on the shoulders of giants, the Khagans before him who had first broken Venice, who had established dominance in China, who had bested the Ottoman Empire. He had defeated Venice, yes, and bankrupted it, completed the conquest of Scandinavia more quickly than expected, resumed expansion against Lithuania, and expanded his realm into southern China. But he wanted to be known as a great expansionist, not an incrementalist who simply inherited a well-prepared horde, and his fate would hinge on the outcome of this war. Victory, even if it took time, would cement the Horde as masters of two continents, and himself as the one who established that. Defeat... no, there could not be defeat. He knew that a defeated Khagan was a disgraced Khagan, and there was no place in the Horde for that, and hardly anywhere to flee to even if he wanted to. Victory, he knew, as the Consuls of Aragon knew as well, was the only way.
 
Tomorrow 1:00 PDT. 4:00 EDT Later in the evening if you live in Europe.

Secrets of the Atlas reveal.


 
A new POE1 teaser (likely the last) before tomorrow's reveal!
 
3 hours until the Path of Exile 3.26 league reveal. :thumbsup:
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top Bottom