Beware, most people are disliking this game because they were coming in expecting it to be like other Paradox GSG's where it's mostly about using your units to conquer other countries and paint the map with your color, not realizing Paradox were trying to do something different here that was more focused on economics and political simulation and dealing with your country internally. A good example of this is people complaining about having to micro your trade routes... except if you get rid of microing your trade then what's the point of the economic system if you're having an AI do it all for you?

There's definitely some issues with this game don't get me wrong, but most of them are just launch jitters regarding balance, the AI behaving weirdly, and general bugs. The main core issues with the game I've found so far come down to mainly that the UI can sometimes be a bit opaque in showing you the information you need, and that the war system in general does need to be fleshed out and fixed a bit. What they were going for in general with not having you micro individual units in war makes a lot of sense because they shifted that micro focus over to the economy and politics side of things where you're constantly building buildings and microing your marketplace, but they did go a bit too far and it wouldn't hurt to at least give your generals a sense of direction ala HOI4 battleplans, and on top of that there's some unrealistic intricacies like how despite having complete naval supremacy as Britain, France can still ship and supply their army halfway across the world and attack Britain's colonies. Needless to day though these issues can be ironed out with a few DLCS.

Ultimately I'm very much enjoying my time with Victoria 3 so I can't help but give it a positive review. Your mileage may vary though. If you're someone coming in here for more of the combat and conquest side of things then this is not your game. In general I'd even say if you're coming here expecting a typical Paradox Grand Strategy game this may not be your game right at the moment, as Paradox usually focuses quite a lot on the military aspect of the economics, diplomacy and military systems of GSG, whereas this is more focused on economics and diplomacy, though with a few dlcs that might change somewhat. If you're someone who likes economics simulators like the Anno series or political simulators like Democracy, this is very much a game right up your alley and you will enjoy it. I'm that kind of player and I feel like I got my money's worth.

Beware, most people are disliking this game because they were coming in expecting it to be like other Paradox GSG's where it's mostly about using your units to conquer other countries and paint the map with your color, not realizing Paradox were trying to do something different here that was more focused on economics and political simulation and dealing with your country internally. A good example of this is people complaining about having to micro your trade routes... except if you get rid of microing your trade then what's the point of the economic system if you're having an AI do it all for you? There's definitely some issues with this game don't get me wrong, but most of them are just launch jitters regarding balance, the AI behaving weirdly, and general bugs. The main core issues with the game I've found so far come down to mainly that the UI can sometimes be a bit opaque in showing you the information you need, and that the war system in general does need to be fleshed out and fixed a bit. What they were going for in general with not having you micro individual units in war makes a lot of sense because they shifted that micro focus over to the economy and politics side of things where you're constantly building buildings and microing your marketplace, but they did go a bit too far and it wouldn't hurt to at least give your generals a sense of direction ala HOI4 battleplans, and on top of that there's some unrealistic intricacies like how despite having complete naval supremacy as Britain, France can still ship and supply their army halfway across the world and attack Britain's colonies. Needless to day though these issues can be ironed out with a few DLCS. Ultimately I'm very much enjoying my time with Victoria 3 so I can't help but give it a positive review. Your mileage may vary though. If you're someone coming in here for more of the combat and conquest side of things then this is not your game. In general I'd even say if you're coming here expecting a typical Paradox Grand Strategy game this may not be your game right at the moment, as Paradox usually focuses quite a lot on the military aspect of the economics, diplomacy and military systems of GSG, whereas this is more focused on economics and diplomacy, though with a few dlcs that might change somewhat. If you're someone who likes economics simulators like the Anno series or political simulators like Democracy, this is very much a game right up your alley and you will enjoy it. I'm that kind of player and I feel like I got my money's worth.