Last time I tried to play a Europa Universalis was back in 2007. The game's scope appealed to me. However, due to its sheer complexity and my lack of patient at spending hours and hours at reading guides, I gave up on it. A month or so ago, I decided to give EU IV a try.

I completed the quite-easy in-game tutorials and then started my own campaign. At first, all the mechanisms --most of which the tutorials do not really teach you of-- hit me in the face. It hurt, but instead of giving up, I watched ~10 hours worth of YouTube tutorials and gave it another try. I am glad that I was persistent. The game is highly addicting and immersive. It has been a while since I last paused from a game only to find to out that it is 3am! There are quite simply so many different ways to play the game, so many different nations/religions/types of government each with its own little differences and gameplay mechanics.

Do you want to become a colonising nation? You can do that. Do you want to become a global trade power? It is of course possible. Do you want to lead your religion's countries into holly wars? Yep. Do you want to create an alternate history universe where the Byzantine Empire lives on, USA never happened, and Africa nations are the world's great powers? It will take some good planning, but it is possible! In short, there is quite simply "no right way to play this game." As long as you know which mechanisms/buttons/sliders to use and when, you play the game the way you want to.

Negatives:
1) I had to watch 10+ hours of tutorials done by third parties. This shows, in my opinion, bad in-game tutorial design.
2) Lots of DLCs, most which are quite expensive for what they add: a couple of revamps or other small features that could have been part of a free update (e.g. a button to abdicate the hair).

Last time I tried to play a Europa Universalis was back in 2007. The game's scope appealed to me. However, due to its sheer complexity and my lack of patient at spending hours and hours at reading guides, I gave up on it. A month or so ago, I decided to give EU IV a try. I completed the quite-easy in-game tutorials and then started my own campaign. At first, all the mechanisms --most of which the tutorials do not really teach you of-- hit me in the face. It hurt, but instead of giving up, I watched ~10 hours worth of YouTube tutorials and gave it another try. I am glad that I was persistent. The game is highly addicting and immersive. It has been a while since I last paused from a game only to find to out that it is 3am! There are quite simply so many different ways to play the game, so many different nations/religions/types of government each with its own little differences and gameplay mechanics. Do you want to become a colonising nation? You can do that. Do you want to become a global trade power? It is of course possible. Do you want to lead your religion's countries into holly wars? Yep. Do you want to create an alternate history universe where the Byzantine Empire lives on, USA never happened, and Africa nations are the world's great powers? It will take some good planning, but it is possible! In short, there is quite simply "no right way to play this game." As long as you know which mechanisms/buttons/sliders to use and when, you play the game the way you want to. Negatives: 1) I had to watch 10+ hours of tutorials done by third parties. This shows, in my opinion, bad in-game tutorial design. 2) Lots of DLCs, most which are quite expensive for what they add: a couple of revamps or other small features that could have been part of a free update (e.g. a button to abdicate the hair).