Recent reviews by Monsieur Bourse

While mechanics like absolutism and different ages are fun and add another layer of complexity to the game, the changes they made to Ming are obnoxious.

Ming will basically never collapse unless the player is involved. The tributary system makes them stupidly OP and prevents anyone from expanding towards their neighbors, unless they are tributaries themselves or already as strong as them.

This removes one of the fun parts of the game : randomness. Every game you play, things will span out differently. Sometimes the Reconquista never happens. Sometimes France gets invaded by Burgundy and England. Sometimes Poland and Lithuania are not in a personal union and get destroyed by Muscovy. Even the Ottomans can (rarely) fall to the AI.

But Ming, Ming will always be there, will always be the same from game to game, unless the player destroys them.