Which game to start with....

[philipearle]

Earlier in the year I purchased the Paradox Package from Steam. Due to all the other games I was in the middle of, they have just been sitting on my computer, just begging to be played. I purchased the package because of all the good reviews I have seen for these games.
Now to the question.....what would be some of the best games to start out with? I am kind of new to the strategy games, and thought I would start out with HOI. It is very overwhelming to me. There are so many different aspects to the gameplay. I am willing to learn, but the curve seems pretty steep.
So, which of the other games might help me get into the strategy game mindset? Some of the games I purchased was the HOI games, Sword of the Stars Complete, EU III, Mount and Blade, Pride of Nations, Victoria 2, Elven Legacy, etc.....and many others.
Just need a starting point for a Noob at the strategy genre.
Thanks in advance for any ideas/help on where to start.

 

[Johan]

Victoria 2 has a tutorial that has been made by scholary research on how to make a good tutorial for strategy-games and its been highly thought of it in reviews.

I'd recommend that one as a "entry point".

 

[fiallach]

I would answer with EUIII, because that's how i strated, and i still fill like it's the most "paradoxian" of all the games. Great fun and liberty, even if you don't know how to play, just try pushing random buttons,and see what happens. (Of course, the first time i tried, mercenaries armies where still insta-built, and i played castille in the scenario where they have a huge colonnial empire, so i just minted, and spammed mercenaries, and attacked everyone since there was no cassus belli system, and i couldn't see the "badboy".Good ol' times.)

Vicky econ is a bit tricky so i wouldn't advise this one.

HOI is super fun if you like wargames, and pretty simple in the system (easy to learn, hard to master).

Truely depends on what you like most: diplomacy? go EUIII
economy managment? go vicII
detailed war and conquest? go HOI

You can choose by timeperiod too, the graphics match the timeperiod quite a bit, it's a good flavor and a very nice "feeling of the times", especially in VIC II IMO.

 

[philipearle]

Thanks guys....I appreciate the input. The bundle was such a good deal, and like I said, I have only heard good things about Paradox. I can tell that I am going to have many hours of fun, even if it is probably going to be somewhat frustrating to me. That would be except for Victoria 2. It sounds like Johan is very fond of it. In fact, I might think Johan might have had some part of that outstanding manual. lol. I appreciate your time and your input.

 

[liamgamer55]

+1 To starting with Victoria 2. I really wouldn't recommend starting with HOI3, it's very micro focused and as you said overwhelming at the start.

I assume we're comparing eu3/vichy/hoi3.

When you decide to try out eu3 I'd also highly recommend you play & install "magni mundi ultimate". It's a seriously comprehensive mod which makes the game a lot better. It does however have quite a long manual although many parts you don't necassarily need to understand at first (e.g. understanding german electoral mechanics isn't necassary while playing france).

But yeh, definitely I'd recommend Victoria 2 starting out. You can just sit there and do basic troop management with wars, or you can play day to day keeping on eye on what every country in the world is doing and maximising profit in all areas or anything in between. Hence why it's a good bet to start out with. Similarly once you play victoria 2 a bit check out the PDM mod, it's quite a bit more refined and not really more complicated then base victoria 2.

Vicky econ is a bit tricky so i wouldn't advise this one.

You don't actually need to fully understand the vichy 2 economy at first. You can just gradually ease your way in. It may be important to choose an easy country in Victoria 2 at first though. Uncivs (african countries etc) get crushed seriously fast.

I'd also highly recommend you check out Crusader Kings Dues Vult (regardless of whether you play eu3 or victoria 2 first). It has very simple mechanics at first... but due to the character system a hell of a lot of depth (and from what I've played of the sengoku demo or eu rome full they aren't as good in this respect). It's a hell of a lot of fun and quite a different game to anything else. I find it to be the most relaxing out of the paradox games to play.

 

[fiallach]

You don't actually need to fully understand the vichy 2 economy at first. You can just gradually ease your way in. It may be important to choose an easy country in Victoria 2 at first though. Uncivs (african countries etc) get crushed seriously fast.

It was more about a "what are you looking for in a game?" answer, and a general main theme of each game, but yeah, i agree with you on that.

I'd also highly recommend you check out Crusader Kings Dues Vult (regardless of whether you play eu3 or victoria 2 first). It has very simple mechanics at first... but due to the character system a hell of a lot of depth (and from what I've played of the sengoku demo or eu rome full they aren't as good in this respect). It's a hell of a lot of fun and quite a different game to anything else. I find it to be the most relaxing out of the paradox games to play.

I discovered CK recently, and hell, when you come from more "modern" games, it's a mess to understand what's going on, and more important, where to do what, the UI would kill any person trying to get into paradox's universe IMO.

For magna mundi on EU, i would say "not on a first game", it's really really harder than the original, and adds a lot of complicated ( but really great, i agree) mechanics without any advice on "how to handle them". But once you've mastered the game a little, it's a must-try.

 

[philipearle]

Thanks again guys. I started Victoria II and am in the tutorial still. Got pulled off the game to do RL activities. I appreciate all the advice.