So I was planning to write a review for when I had 1,444 hours on the game but i missed that window by running the game while I wasn't playing. At least I've got 1,453 hours on it, which the second starting date, but anyways, to the review.
-----Pros-----
- Tons of replayability. You can play for ages and ages as different countries and do different stuff. This is the best and closest thing to a country game sandbox, and with DLC you can also get exclusive missions for nations which give you goals to accomplish or make your own countries and even get rid of all the countries on the earth and make a sort of battle royale.
- Fun learning experience. You can learn new stuff every time you play, and still not learn it all, or master it all. It looks overcomplicated at the start but the inner mechanics and the way everything works together to bring this great simulation is amazing, and as a person who wants to be a games designer in the future, this is just a great design and smart thinking that I have learned a lot from.
- Best in its category. Now, you could argue between Civilization VI and EU4, but in my opinion if you want at least a semi-realistic experience, pick EU4. Strategizing where to attack is fun and worthwhile, and in some cases if you pull off a win against a stronger enemy, it really uplifts your spirits.
- Multiplayer experience. If you get bored of playing by yourself, for which the chances are pretty slim, you can play with other people, and this game is great to play with your friends. Granted, the price is high, but only one of you needs to have the DLC in order for all of you to play it. It gets boring when you team up and steamroll the world, but a player vs player war requires much more attention and strategy.
- Workshop. The workshop community is, I woud say, probably underappreciated. You can get gems like Extended Timeline, which doesn't really work with the setting and mechanics of EU4 suited to its time period, but you can get modern-day nations and border provinces that really make up for it, or get Missions Expanded (although you need dlc) and have realistic and great missions for literally any country.
- Just fun in general. Take over the world, or expand realistically, or survive as a nation that was wiped out in real life.
-----Cons-----
- Downloadable Content Overload. The DLC are way too overpriced, but I would say this has been resolved with the DLC subscription. Still though, as one of the people that had to buy every single DLC, I'm not happy about the fact that it wasn't introduced sooner. Some of the DLC, like Dharma, are awful, while others, like Emperor, are wonderful, although after release Emperor was very buggy with the AI mechanics and unplayable.
- AI. The AI is probably the best it can be, but it has been awful recently. Pope joining the HRE and giving everyone a drawback, or the overpowered deathstacks that AI often do. I would love more realism in, for example, military, like splitting them to not wipe out the supply limit, and attacking in different locations at once to destroy the enemy with one blow. Or economy, in which every single AI nation that's over 5 provinces has liberty with taking loans and acquiring crippling debt. It would be interesting to see an AI nation that controls the economy carefully, taking the minimum of loans and trying its best to keep the country stable, like my playstyle. Not every king is gonna take 10 loans for war and then go into debt, or ignore the stability during war and get overrun by rebels.
-----Conclusion-----
I would recommend the game full-heartedly, because even with its flaws you can still have great fun and play as any nation, unlike CK2, without any limitations. The start is going to be hard as you are not gonna understand a lot of stuff, but after the first initial losses, you're gonna start becoming better and better at the game, and hopefully achieve that world conquest you've been dreaming of.

So I was planning to write a review for when I had 1,444 hours on the game but i missed that window by running the game while I wasn't playing. At least I've got 1,453 hours on it, which the second starting date, but anyways, to the review. -----Pros----- - Tons of replayability. You can play for ages and ages as different countries and do different stuff. This is the best and closest thing to a country game sandbox, and with DLC you can also get exclusive missions for nations which give you goals to accomplish or make your own countries and even get rid of all the countries on the earth and make a sort of battle royale. - Fun learning experience. You can learn new stuff every time you play, and still not learn it all, or master it all. It looks overcomplicated at the start but the inner mechanics and the way everything works together to bring this great simulation is amazing, and as a person who wants to be a games designer in the future, this is just a great design and smart thinking that I have learned a lot from. - Best in its category. Now, you could argue between Civilization VI and EU4, but in my opinion if you want at least a semi-realistic experience, pick EU4. Strategizing where to attack is fun and worthwhile, and in some cases if you pull off a win against a stronger enemy, it really uplifts your spirits. - Multiplayer experience. If you get bored of playing by yourself, for which the chances are pretty slim, you can play with other people, and this game is great to play with your friends. Granted, the price is high, but only one of you needs to have the DLC in order for all of you to play it. It gets boring when you team up and steamroll the world, but a player vs player war requires much more attention and strategy. - Workshop. The workshop community is, I woud say, probably underappreciated. You can get gems like Extended Timeline, which doesn't really work with the setting and mechanics of EU4 suited to its time period, but you can get modern-day nations and border provinces that really make up for it, or get Missions Expanded (although you need dlc) and have realistic and great missions for literally any country. - Just fun in general. Take over the world, or expand realistically, or survive as a nation that was wiped out in real life. -----Cons----- - Downloadable Content Overload. The DLC are way too overpriced, but I would say this has been resolved with the DLC subscription. Still though, as one of the people that had to buy every single DLC, I'm not happy about the fact that it wasn't introduced sooner. Some of the DLC, like Dharma, are awful, while others, like Emperor, are wonderful, although after release Emperor was very buggy with the AI mechanics and unplayable. - AI. The AI is probably the best it can be, but it has been awful recently. Pope joining the HRE and giving everyone a drawback, or the overpowered deathstacks that AI often do. I would love more realism in, for example, military, like splitting them to not wipe out the supply limit, and attacking in different locations at once to destroy the enemy with one blow. Or economy, in which every single AI nation that's over 5 provinces has liberty with taking loans and acquiring crippling debt. It would be interesting to see an AI nation that controls the economy carefully, taking the minimum of loans and trying its best to keep the country stable, like my playstyle. Not every king is gonna take 10 loans for war and then go into debt, or ignore the stability during war and get overrun by rebels. -----Conclusion----- I would recommend the game full-heartedly, because even with its flaws you can still have great fun and play as any nation, unlike CK2, without any limitations. The start is going to be hard as you are not gonna understand a lot of stuff, but after the first initial losses, you're gonna start becoming better and better at the game, and hopefully achieve that world conquest you've been dreaming of.