Yes and no, it's about extraction and colonization in so far as those were dominant themes of the Victorian period; it also is about many other things like revolutions (broadly, both bourgeois and proletarian), industrialization and international markets, emerging nationalism, and with the most recent DLC anti-colonial struggle.
Qing runs reinforced in my mind that non-European powers had a nearly impossible position in the world (and most performed impressively given that), and that more strategy games need to focus on material goods. Trying to catch up with the massive goods deficit while also worrying about the Euros fucking you/India/Oceania/etc too much for you to have any shot at them was some of the most fun I've had in a strategy game in a long time.
Definitely don't like some of the mechanics both in the economy (goods having a max/min price and being buyable/sellable even when "all" of them are accounted for just doesn't feel right) and the military (not just everything anyone else has said, but armies randomly teleporting back to Beijing despite being previously stationed in Singapore/India/Africa). But worth grabbing on sale and pirating the DLC for sure.
i finally have gotten into it and actually dropped some $ just for the ease of update
they fixed one of my main gripes with political movements now being slow burn instead of just sudden petitions. feels more realistic.
but as someone that really enjoyed the economic build-up of HOI4 more then the war itself i realized hey that's basically what this game is. just the build-up with other cool social stuff happening.
so that's what finally locked me in
don't really mind the warfare kind of sucks. i actually like how mindless it is. but you're right there are some wonky things that happen
I'd agree on the warfare, if it felt different. Right now it still feels off to me. You can (accidentally) do some weird things like build up the "start battle" bar and if you activate two armies at once, get two battles instead of 1. Annoying things like 60k troops vs 3k taking forever (and not in a guerilla war, because you end up in a traditional western battle at the end and roll them every time).
Its weird, but just thinking about it makes me want to go back lol. And yeah totally agree that the econ of HOI4 was usually the best part. It'd be neat if they just made an Anno style game or even something more abstract but 100% about logistics or something.
Yes and no, it's about extraction and colonization in so far as those were dominant themes of the Victorian period; it also is about many other things like revolutions (broadly, both bourgeois and proletarian), industrialization and international markets, emerging nationalism, and with the most recent DLC anti-colonial struggle.
Qing runs reinforced in my mind that non-European powers had a nearly impossible position in the world (and most performed impressively given that), and that more strategy games need to focus on material goods. Trying to catch up with the massive goods deficit while also worrying about the Euros fucking you/India/Oceania/etc too much for you to have any shot at them was some of the most fun I've had in a strategy game in a long time.
Definitely don't like some of the mechanics both in the economy (goods having a max/min price and being buyable/sellable even when "all" of them are accounted for just doesn't feel right) and the military (not just everything anyone else has said, but armies randomly teleporting back to Beijing despite being previously stationed in Singapore/India/Africa). But worth grabbing on sale and pirating the DLC for sure.
i finally have gotten into it and actually dropped some $ just for the ease of update
they fixed one of my main gripes with political movements now being slow burn instead of just sudden petitions. feels more realistic.
but as someone that really enjoyed the economic build-up of HOI4 more then the war itself i realized hey that's basically what this game is. just the build-up with other cool social stuff happening. so that's what finally locked me in
don't really mind the warfare kind of sucks. i actually like how mindless it is. but you're right there are some wonky things that happen
also this game is a legit Marxism simulator
I'd agree on the warfare, if it felt different. Right now it still feels off to me. You can (accidentally) do some weird things like build up the "start battle" bar and if you activate two armies at once, get two battles instead of 1. Annoying things like 60k troops vs 3k taking forever (and not in a guerilla war, because you end up in a traditional western battle at the end and roll them every time).
Its weird, but just thinking about it makes me want to go back lol. And yeah totally agree that the econ of HOI4 was usually the best part. It'd be neat if they just made an Anno style game or even something more abstract but 100% about logistics or something.