just made my account rn I'm between eu4 and ck2. I know ck2 is more focused on characters while in eu4 you play the "spirit" of the country but which is easier to get into? And which has more content currently. (with and without dlc)
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ck2, if only because in my opinion the CK2 devs are putting foward better effort and support while EU4 has been lackluster over the last couple years, so CK2 will have a better experence.
CK2 is a lot of fun and easier to learn than EU4 in my own experience. Plus in CK2 you can have a lot of fun even without conquering large amounts of land, while in EU4 basically the only thing you can do is conquer (or colonize, or PU but that is way too complex for a beginner imo)
I played, according to steam I spent playing CK2 for 494hrs and EU4 668 hrs and I can only say I always enjoyed my campaigns in CK2. The playthroughs on which the characters I played are fun and memorable. With EU4 on the other hand It's very much stressful management because if you or one of your allies lost a single war the game can snowball from there. Hence rage quitting is very often but then I want to play again and try another strategy. So I guess if you want an addictive game, EU4. But if you want a fun game, I mean and live and have fun as a medieval ruler and it's CK2.
I don't enjoy Europa Universalis at all. I am very biased bit Crusader Kings II is a lot of fun. The narrative the players can create in their heads makes this game fantastic and always fun. EU4 seems so shallow without any expansions, all you do is map painting. As I already said, I'm very biased but post-Holy Fury CK2 takes the number one on my Paradox games ranking.
People on here seem to say CK2 but my friends and I all have gotten more time and enjoyment out of EU4 over the years. That being said, the last update and expansion for CK2 was fantastic and the last for EU4 was the worst so far in my opinion. I actually think EU4 is easier to learn if only because you can come across some really unfortunate situations in CK2 that are entirely not even your fault. But, it really comes down to whether you want to Role Play a little or rule a country. In CK2 once you've learned the game the AI is really easy to beat and kind of makes the game less enjoyable if you like challenges in actual fights. If you want to role play your actual character a bit though CK2 can be really fun. EU4 is much more country sim and based on the actual country and not the characters at all. If you are just learning your first paradox game I always recommend watching a lets play to learn and grasp the basics. There are a lot of things in the games that are really hard to explain, you either have to be looking at the numbers a lot or see it done.
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CK2 is the better game as EU4 mechanics only promote aquiring more provinces. So, it's a complex tool to paint the map in one color.
In CK2 you have more role play and can do more than growing in terms of size.
As for which is easier to learn, I'd say CK2.
Both have huge amounts of content, and near endless replayability especially with DLC's. Both are great games.
CK2 is harder to get into and focuses more on roleplay while EU4 is more focused on war and conquering the world.
Eu4 is overall more popular but the forum is more negative towards it as the last 2-3 DLCs havent been all that great.
What you should buy depends on what you like.
CK2 is harder to get into and focuses more on roleplay while EU4 is more focused on war and conquering the world.
Eu4 is overall more popular but the forum is more negative towards it as the last 2-3 DLCs havent been all that great.
What you should buy depends on what you like.
And why is that? I'd say EU4 is going downhill for the last 3-4 expansions while CK2 is quite the opposite.
CK2 all the way.
EU4 might look complex, but in the end is rather simplistic and the only challenge is to learn which of the buttons to press when to game the system. Also it gets boring very fast as everything plays the same once you blobbed, and blobbing is the only thing you can do in EU4.
EU4 might look complex, but in the end is rather simplistic and the only challenge is to learn which of the buttons to press when to game the system. Also it gets boring very fast as everything plays the same once you blobbed, and blobbing is the only thing you can do in EU4.
I enjoy EU more, could never get into CK. I am just not interested in that stuff. I do own CK2 + every DLC and mechanically it might even be the better game. But somehow, I just don't like all the vassal and family management stuff.
I think it might have to do with my general aversion to feudal politics and royal intrigue and stuff like that. I just like economic, industrial and military game-play more so I prefer Vicky, HoI, Cities Skyline, Stellaris, EU, and so on. And for the same reasons will probably like Imperator as well as it seems to be closer to EU than CK.
Also, I disagree with "map painter" memes. I have been playing PDX games since 2003 and the only time I did a world conquest or anything close to it was with Hearts of Iron 1 lol.
I think it might have to do with my general aversion to feudal politics and royal intrigue and stuff like that. I just like economic, industrial and military game-play more so I prefer Vicky, HoI, Cities Skyline, Stellaris, EU, and so on. And for the same reasons will probably like Imperator as well as it seems to be closer to EU than CK.
Also, I disagree with "map painter" memes. I have been playing PDX games since 2003 and the only time I did a world conquest or anything close to it was with Hearts of Iron 1 lol.
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If you like strategy games for how they make you consider different options with tradeoffs, costs, and benefits, go for EU4.
If you instead wish strategy games could be more like the Sims with opportunities for roleplaying, go for CK2.
If you're fine with external factors being your primary opponent, go for EU4. You'll get better warfare and external diplomacy.
If you hope for mechanics that promote internal instability, go for CK2. However, temper your expectations because people heavily overexaggerate the difference between CK2 and EU4 in this regard.
If a more passable UI and less needless micromanagement are important for you, go for EU4.
If game balance and diversity of playstyles are important to you, go for CK2.
If you're still undecided, you can go for whichever timeperiod of history intrigues you more. Ultimately you'll probably enjoy both like I do, if you enjoy strategy games in general.
I think EU4 is the better strategy game overall, but it's been trending downwards in quality while CK2 has been trending upwards.
If you instead wish strategy games could be more like the Sims with opportunities for roleplaying, go for CK2.
If you're fine with external factors being your primary opponent, go for EU4. You'll get better warfare and external diplomacy.
If you hope for mechanics that promote internal instability, go for CK2. However, temper your expectations because people heavily overexaggerate the difference between CK2 and EU4 in this regard.
If a more passable UI and less needless micromanagement are important for you, go for EU4.
If game balance and diversity of playstyles are important to you, go for CK2.
If you're still undecided, you can go for whichever timeperiod of history intrigues you more. Ultimately you'll probably enjoy both like I do, if you enjoy strategy games in general.
I think EU4 is the better strategy game overall, but it's been trending downwards in quality while CK2 has been trending upwards.
Why not Imperator: Rome, it well release the next month and take some insperation from both EUIV and CKII.
CK2, probably my most played singleplayer game of all times. I always come back to it every couple months....prepare to have a lot of fun.
I could never get over how much it hurts to lose in EU4. You're on a mountain with a 3 star general, and get wiped by 10k less men with a 2 star general and worse tech than you because of a dice roll. Then get dogpiled by your neighbors again because you have no troops.
In CK2, even if you "lose" everything, the game is still fun. You could go from emperor to count, and there's still going to be wacky intrigue, like your cousin getting your daughter pregnant who turns out to be the spawn of satan that kills all of your children. And even though CK2 is highly event-based, there's enough variance that you'll see new combinations of things happening all the time.
After 1000 hours in both games, I'm pretty warn out on both of them and have little time for a whole campaign anymore. But I had a lot of great times with CK2, and some pretty enjoyable ones with EU4. You won't find yourself regretting even buying all the DLC, if you put as much enjoyable time into them as I did.
In CK2, even if you "lose" everything, the game is still fun. You could go from emperor to count, and there's still going to be wacky intrigue, like your cousin getting your daughter pregnant who turns out to be the spawn of satan that kills all of your children. And even though CK2 is highly event-based, there's enough variance that you'll see new combinations of things happening all the time.
After 1000 hours in both games, I'm pretty warn out on both of them and have little time for a whole campaign anymore. But I had a lot of great times with CK2, and some pretty enjoyable ones with EU4. You won't find yourself regretting even buying all the DLC, if you put as much enjoyable time into them as I did.
EU 4 has fallen off lately, with some poor DLC and flat out bizarre design choices. CK2 does not share this issue; it has fewer obviously broken bugs, and the holy fury DLC was solid.
Even the pre-game rules/ironman honesty consideration favors CK2.
I had a lot of fun with EU 4, having played it thousands of hours. But it's declined, to the point where CK2 seems the better option.
Even the pre-game rules/ironman honesty consideration favors CK2.
I had a lot of fun with EU 4, having played it thousands of hours. But it's declined, to the point where CK2 seems the better option.