It has been a long time since last I played and I haven't played it much either. With Crusader Kings 3 and 2 being my favorite Paradox titles, but finding the Victorian age appealing, I wanted to go revisit the game tonight.
Let's see how it's changed and if it's a bit more up my alley now.
Will the tribal Kingdom of Norway restore it's borders after being ripped apart during succession?
We're roleplaying, no min/maxing and beginners are 100% welcome. We love to teach the game and just hang out and see me flail about in trying to fight our wars!
Honestly, I am looking forward to this. Legitimacy sounds like a very interesting system. Getting to play as adventurers also sounds like fun and I am greatly looking forward to the inclusion of plagues like the Black Death again. It's a nice mid to late game upset.
Of course, the cost is high, cannot recommend it for anyone but people like me who really love the game.
Want to learn how to play Crusader Kings 3? - I got you!
I've got two fairly long playlists over here for you to follow along in learning how to play the game. The idea is simple: I play the game and explain what I am doing, while I am doing it.
I'm not one for "New Year's resolutions", but I am one for overly ambitious projects.
For 2023, Project365 is "One New Game Per Day".
Given that I have 634 unplayed games in my Steam account and {mumble} unredeemed bundle Steam keys, there's a reason my unplayed collection is tagged "Pile of Shame".
I'll pin this to my profile, and give a brief summary here each day (or x, if I miss x days due to work or stuff).
I'll play 15-30 minutes of (at least) one new game I've never played before (or played less than 15 minutes of). I'll give every game at least 15 minutes, even if I hate every minute of it.
I'm also open to suggestions; if you reply to this thread with a game, I'll schedule it, or tell you what I thought of it.
One of the things that's come up is that I have a bunch of games that I've played once, and not touched again.
January 21, 2024 - Day 386 - NewPlay Review
Total NewPlays: 422
Game: AI War 2
Platform: Steam
Released: Oct 23, 2019
Installed: Jan 21, 2024
Unplayed: 0d
Playtime: 27m
Rating: 1 - Nope
AI War 2 is a "grand strategy/RTS hybrid", involving fighting back against an AI that's taken over a galaxy.
Reading other reviews of the game, it certainly sounds like a game that I'd like, but they don't reflect my experience of the game.
Over time I've concluded that I'm not really wired for this kind of RTS game. They very quickly become overwhelming, which I think is an aspect of #AuDHD. There are so many different moving parts to try and follow, and I tend to hyperfocus on one aspect, which doesn't work terribly well in a lot of RTS games.
In this case I found the tutorials overwhelming. There was so much to keep track of, and so much going on, that I started to feel stressed out.
In the tutorial.
From a design and execution point of view, AI War 2 seems like a really good game, however from the point of view of whether or not I'd enjoy playing it?
Victoria 3 is a grand strategy game from Paradox Interactive. It's the first game in the April Humble Choice bundle, and if you're a Paradox fan who doesn't already own it, would probably make the whole bundle worth the purchase.
Strategy games are not my go-to choice for gaming. It took me a long time to connect the dots between my general lack of enjoyment, and my ADHD.
The number of things a strategy game requires me to keep on top of simultaneously, is inversely proportional to how much I enjoy the game.
Then there are games with a steep learning curve. If a game requires me a drop a dexy to stay focused long enough to learn the game systems, that generally doesn't go well.
Paradox Interactive's games tend to be both of these things at once. They are deeply complex games, with steep learning curves, that require patience, tenacity, focus, and the ability to multitask.
I already have a day job, I don't need a second unpaid one at night.
21 minutes is not enough time for me to make a fair objective judgement of Victoria 3, but this project was never about objectivity. It was about whether I enjoyed a game enough to keep playing it.
Victoria 3 seems to be a well developed, and incredibly deep grand strategy game. Will I play it again?