I am looking at it and I can't tell what kind of game it is going to be. More like CK2? Or EU4? Or something else entirely?
I am hoping for IR to have better internal mechanisms that EU4 had, because the lack of real inner strife was what killed the interest in EU4 for me, while I spent thousand(s) hours playing CK2, due to how it was interesting both internally and externally.
The banners in the top left of the screenshots do indicate we will play as states (which is fine), but there are also people (probably generals and governors) and I do hope they will have deeper role than they do in Stellaris. And using CK2's system to keep armies and cities loyal to your cause is what could make for an interesting way of managing your "empire".
Since Total War: Rome 2's total fiasco I have been waiting for some grand strategy set in ancient history, and today is the day I know my long watch might be nearing an end. Cheers for the team.
Imagine an EU4 where there are actual living characters, and they have portraits, dynasties, all the stats, traits, relationships, rivalries, children, get appointments to councils and positions, run in elections, commit intrigue and assassinations, celebrate and hold parties become provincial governors and everything else you can think of.
That was EU-Rome, from which this game comes. Basically, it is a mix of both CK2 and EU4, plus elements from Victoria 2.
In this game you most likely play as a nation like EU4 rather than a dynasty like in CK2. But characters are still there, living their lives in the said nation. They will do all the stuff they can, just like they can in CK2, but within the confines of a nation state. Like if your generals in EU4 were actual people who had actual life like in CK2.
Just imagine. For example a young low-stat Roman man starting his senate career in Rome, ascending the ranks to become a judge and lives as a famous but poor man, while his bastard brother lands a career in the army, becomes a famous general and after victory is awarded with a governorship of a province, where he becomes corrupt and embezzles lots of cash into his private treasury. Then the first brother has an affair with the Consul's wife while the bastard brother launches a rebellion to take over the republic. He fails and gets imprisoned, but learns that the Consul is now a rival with his brother. He ransoms himself out, agrees to help the Consul take revenge on his own brother. They poison the first brother. In return, the bastard (now a high-martial, high-stewardship 38 year old brat) is given command of another army. He wins another victory, and retires as a famous war hero and has many kids....Just like CK2, isn't it?
Or for example, you are playing Egypt. You have a king named Ptolemy III, and his various sons and daughters. You get attacked by Mauryan Empire of India, so you move your armies and fleets to battle them. One of your sons is leading a fleet and sinks to the bottom of the sea, his wife you selected for him is widowed. But she was from a major noble family ruling one of your provinces, and now that there isn't a marriage, they lose loyalty. You placate them by bribing them and gifting them. Armies are not that different from EU4, so you appoint the head of that family to lead your army against landing Indian armies. But instead of fighting them, because he is a live character and now disloyal, he launches a coup against you. You lose, he becomes the new king, and the game continues as usual.
A mix.
At the same time, there are population and resources like in Victoria 2 (if you played MEIOU&Taxes for EU4 it has these things in some way). You have to carefully manage your resources, provide grain and food, sell off your resources for profit, import more from others and such. And population consists of various social classes and slaves.
Like EU4 this game too has government types. Senatorial republics like Rome are completely different from absolute monarchies like Seleucid Empire. But as I have said, instead of randomly generated rulers, this game actually has CK2 style characters who come from families, have a history and will be in their positions because of a concrete reason.
There is of course lots of diplomacy, a mix of EU and CK. You send out diplomats like EU4, but those diplomats are actual characters. And will be executed or imprisoned or whatever if the enemy didn't like them, because that can happen. And since it is nation-based rather than character-based, diplomacy happens between nations. Inter-character diplomacy can also be taken at the same time with certain limitations, after all they are all your subjects.
And then there is provinces, religions, cultures and all that stuff. But like EU4 there are also "uncolonized" provinces where instead of "natives" there live "barbarians". You can colonize them if you have enough population to send there (rather than money and a colonist like in EU4). But those barbarians also migrate, and will attack your provinces, and even raze it to the ground if they can. So you have to keep your borders secure, and appoint characters as generals to lead the said armies.
And of course, there are civil wars. Characters can belong to various factions, and if unsatisfied or ambitious, they can launch bloody large-scale wars against their own nation. And I can't recall correctly, but like CK2 each character has his own money/prestige/piety stuff, and will use his funds to raise private army if allowed, like adventurers. So civil wars can be bloody.
Think EU4 with every CK2 element, or think CK2 if it also had actual nation management.
So in essence, it combines the very best of EU and CK, takes elements from Victoria, simplifies them slightly, and packages them into a grand setting of Hellenistic world spanning from Britain to India. A wonderful gem of a game if it reaches its full potential
Since Total War: Rome 2's total fiasco I have been waiting for some grand strategy set in ancient history, and today is the day I know my long watch might be nearing an end. Cheers for the team.
As one of the most vocal critics of Rome 2 back in 2013-14, I'd say you can trust Paradox, at least for this game I hope, though be prepared for DLCs.
