What made you start playing this game/series?
- Thread starter MCBC6
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If Japan appeals to you then get SHOGUN 2 and definitely also the FALL OF THE SAMURAI expansion. EMPIRE is fun with DarthMod attached. ROME 2 evolved into something good. I loved the original ROME and MEDIEVAL 2 but those would feel very dated by now. Setting is key - if you like a particular setting then you'll probably forgive it more than a setting that doesn't appeal to you. I think SHOGUN 2 is the best at what it does but the innovations of the final version of ROME 2 make it pretty strong. If you're hoping for great statecraft features, though, TW will always lag behind EU4/CK2, it's the battles that distinguish TW.
To each their own, but I found Shogun 2 battles much more boring than Empire's. In Empire mobile artillery made things interesting in land battles, and in naval battles you had to really work to outmaneuver in the wind. Only thing Shogun 2 eventually did better was the different kinds of castles/forts you had in the expansions which made sieges interesting enough to be playable for both sides.
Haven't played either in years, though, so maybe I've just had more time to forgive Empire its failings.
Personally, I would recommend Shogun and/or fall of the samurai. Rome 1 is a lot of fun, but there is no balance, Rome will wipe the floor with anything, no strategy needed, and once your economy gets going, it's a snowball 50 turns in. Medieval II is a lot of fun, especially once you mod it, but it's rather dated. Empire is a hit or miss, it depends on what you like (if you're big into 18th century warfare, it's fun, and the intro to ship battles is neat in its own regard) Shogun (but really, Fall of the Samurai) has a good mix of classical melee/bow combat and later rifles/Gatling guns/cannons come into play, which makes it a nice mix up. In addition, the naval battles are a bit more polished from Empire, and have some interesting mechanics. Rome II...... I'd be wary, I heard it's gotten a lot better, but it was so gutted and buggy at launch I can't recommend it.
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I don't even remember anymore. I have found it on Steam at some point last year (first aquired DLC was June 2014, so it will be around that time). Maybe I have bought it in the summer sale. I have periodically played it ever since and there are still many countries/regions I have never touched.
EU4 is one of the few AAA games running on Linux so I bought it shortly after it released on the platform. Fortunately, in contrast with other ported games, this one runs really smoothly, like it was natively built for it. I left it waiting for a long time, while busy with Total War games, then gave it try and after climbing steep learning curve, became addicted. I only miss those epic battles in Europa Barbarorum world ...
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I didn't mention it in my previous post in the thread but the reason I got CK2, which brought me to EU4, was Linux support. If either had lacked Linux support I would not be playing EU4.
Basically this.
Tried to get into the TW series but it wasn't as addictive as Civ V and then I found EU4.
I found CK2 on the steam store and you can tell that the reviews are... unique. Soon a I found Vicky 2 and EU4 and bought both.
After I saw the discussion of Civ V AI games in the Steam news, I decided to follow one of them and start reading the Civilization subreddit. When the first battle royale fell apart, I noticed a lot of people mentioning this Europa Universalis game and so I thought I would check out a youtube series to see what the game was like. The first series was I think EnterElysium's Brandenburg-to-Prussia(-to-Germany) run.
I originally decided that I didn't like the micro, but after seeing a few plays and spending time yelling at the player for derping around with mechanics, I decided that I might as well get the game next time it went on sale, which I figured would be when the next expansion pack (Common Sense) was released (since it had been announced when I started thinking about buying it). I probably wouldn't have liked the game if I didn't see the playthroughs first--I still find the opening decade or two of the game almost unbearable.
I originally decided that I didn't like the micro, but after seeing a few plays and spending time yelling at the player for derping around with mechanics, I decided that I might as well get the game next time it went on sale, which I figured would be when the next expansion pack (Common Sense) was released (since it had been announced when I started thinking about buying it). I probably wouldn't have liked the game if I didn't see the playthroughs first--I still find the opening decade or two of the game almost unbearable.