Recent reviews by A Certain Pole

Now more than ever, this is probably one of the best FPS experiences you can have. Valve as a studio showcases their mastery at weaving world building, narrative, and game play seamlessly. The 20th Anniversary update has made the game even better - Episodes 1 & 2 now come bundled for free, workshop support has been added, and general QOL updates to bring the gum up-to-date with modern systems. This game is worth playing. Full stop.

Solid little line go up sim, very satisfying to see the networks of planes expand steadily across the world. (Protip: start in Shanghai)

I LOVE GOONING!

2 hours in. how do i get the purple ideology?

Lot of potential here.

While this game is rough around the edges, it has a lot of care and passion put into it. The amount of research, depth and variety is incredible! Best way I can describe it is a blend of Darkest Hour, Suzerain, and an RPG in a way with some of the scenarios.

I have mainly played the Shanghai uprising, and was surprised at how much replayability and variety there was to it.

Has its share of bugs, but the dev is pretty diligent about fixing them if you tell him on Discord!

Please give this a shot!

Rather fun, 'simple' game that I would recommend for anyone who enjoys antiquity based games that strive to be immersive. Rise from a simple conscripted Hastati to the Centurio Prior of your Legion. This unlike most rogue likes, is pretty much always going to be a tough start. But as you go on and your character's stats improve the game gets easier and easier until you basically become a killing machine. The only challenges being the occasional duel or being outnumbered. Worth the money, and plenty replayable.

Many will fight me but this was Total War at it's peak of design. Game play is beautifully simplistic, but is far from dull. Units have clear roles and there is no bloating of 12 different spears infantry. The campaign is straight forward, making your goals clear.

Some will tell me that this game is too simple. And I disagree. Why? This game at it's heart is a a look back at what started this franchise, and making it as best as it can be with what was available at the time.

What more, this title easily has the best expansion: Fall of The Samurai (Technically it's own game now) which I can best describe as probably the best line warfare I have played in a game. If you are looking to get into TW, start here. You won't regret it.

What can I say about this game that hasn't already? I went into this game almost completely blind (aside from the main gimmick) and it was amazing. Blasting off for the first time and seeing this solar system felt so calming. I can't quite describe it beyond that. Every loop, every piece of the puzzle slowly set in the realization that my adventure was coming to an end. And without spoilers, the ending made me cry-- and for a while just hearing the main theme did the same for me.

My only complaint? There is little to no replayability.

Nothing says "power fantasy" like going from a peasant who can barely handle himself against a bandit to single handedly clearing out a camp of 6 enemies in heavy armor.

Perhaps one of the best turnarounds done by Paradox. Compared to previous lackluster releases like March of The Eagles, or Sengoku (Which in all honesty, more served as test beds for upcoming titles) PDX has shown great effort in making Imperator: Rome a fun, and enjoyable title that can sit beside the like of EUIV, CK3 and HOI4. If you didn't like the game last year, I implore you to give it another shot (And play the tutorial).

What's changed since release?
- Removal of the various "Manas"
Perhaps the worst part of the original design, you had essentially five different manas to manage (Compared to EUIV's 3) and using these was required to basically do anything (Research, get legal support, fabricate claims, investing in provinces, etc.) it wasn't hard to run out either, and have to wait to have enough saved to continue. This was changed pretty early to just a single resource: Political Influence, and has enhanced the gameplay greatly as a result.

- Blobbing:
Early on it was pretty easy for you to blob very quickly as any country with a decent starting position. As Rome once you secured most of Italy it was pretty much smooth sailing from there on. Culture & Religious conversion was very easy as well, and even as countries like Egypt you could easily get most of your population to the state culture & religion in only a couple decades. Additionally, with the old army system it didn't take much effort to get a good army, or to abuse mercenaries. Conversion is now much more long-term and requires smart decisions in whether to integrate or assimilate cultures, as each integration comes at a cost of overall happiness, and having too many integrated will be more harmful than helpful. Blobbing is still pretty easy, but it takes more effort now, and can bite you in the ass if you aren't careful.

-Military:
Originally, the army system functioned very similarly to EUIV - you recruited cohorts of 500 men, of various types of units at a cost of gold and manpower. Some units were locked behind special trade goods like elephants or iron. While this worked *okay* it never did a great job of depicting multi-cultural empires or Auxillary/Tributary troops. Now there are two types of troops: Legions and Levies. At the start of the game, practically no countries have access to Legions (Elite, standing armies). Levies are much like CK3 where you raise them at times of war at a small penalty to production. Levies draw directly from your pops - specifically those of your integrated cultures. (All regions however, give a minimum of 2,000 levies no matter what) So as a country like Rome, unless you integrate other cultures, your levies will be rather limited in size despite how much territory you hold. Additionally, if levies take too many casualties you will start to have pops die as a result. Legions on the other hand require a special law to raise.(Available to monarchies at the start, and to republics after a certain tech is researched) They, like levies, draw from pops and are dependent on cultures. However, you can customize their composition to your content along with adding engineers and supply trains to bolster their abilities. Legions also are automatically stronger than levies, and can gain further buffs throughout the game if they meet certain conditions. (A triumph was help for their commander, do a certain number of sieges, etc) Legions however, are expensive and can also swear loyalty to their commander - who in turn should they grow ambitious enough - attempt to take over your government.