Choosing the "best game ever" is subjective.
But yeah, Victoria is in that pantheon.
I do not know any other game which had the sheer
ambition that Victoria has. Sure, other games from Paradox come close, but this... This is another beast entirely. Playing it made me read much more about the late 17th century and the whole of the 18th.
I guess that the whole aspect of
truly building a nation that puts it so apart from the rest. The fact that yes, everyone has a culture, an ideology, a religion, need for goods, and something to say about what's going on in the country is very daunting at first. And then when you think you mastered it, comes a pesky war and forces you to adapt all that knowledge into carrying your nation through. And then when you think you know how to fight and handle your country, you come to the forums trying to brag and then see that your beloved nation that took so much toil and sweat actually sucks and doesn't measure to a fifteenth of it's true potential.
Then you grumble, load up the savegame, something bad happens and you get so pissed off that you quit and turn the game down for a while.
Two days later, you have read some AARs, did some research on relevant subjects of the XIX Century, such as the Crimean War, the Franco-Prussian War, Dutch presence in Indonesia, the march into Australia, the War of the Triple Alliance, the Berlin Congress, the Liberal Revolutions... And a spark happens. Your inner statesman rises from the darkness of your mind, as you read the history and start rambling:
"Silly Russians... or
"Kleinedeutschland my arse, AUSTRIA IS PART OF GERMANY!"
Your inner statesman takes control. You sit back on your computer chair, go to desktop, and contemplate the shiny Victoria icon.
And then friends, there is no turning back...
Until you read about VIP. Hahahaha
