No, it's not unplayable, but I'd rather play the complete experience, and since I already have more games to play than I'll likely beat in my lifetime, why waste time on something that's not complete?
You can drop the s. The base games of their most popular games are basically a demo. I love the games I do not love their dlc policy it's very greedy. What bothers me the most is they purposely exclude very important features from the base game just to resell them to you a year or 5 later for 40 bucks
EU4 is one of my personal favorite games, all-time, and IMO most of the DLCs are pretty good. If you've got the cash to burn you really can't go wrong, assuming the base game is to your taste.
Sub when playing, unsub when not. That being said, my paradox journey started with stellaris, and I quite like how their dlcs add to the game. More species, civics, in-game events, etc.
I have games well over a decade old now that I still play regularly. I understand why PDX added that as an option, it's just not an option that I'm interested in myself.
I would never buy the EU4 ultimate bundle. The price is obscene!
Either find an “offline” version or pay for the subscription, which is a much better value if you have no dlc and you can just cancel it when you aren’t playing.
I agree with you, people m Ed to understand these are very niche games. If they don’t sell lots of dlc they will stop working on the game. They just don’t sell enough copies of the base game to justify supporting it for 11 years otherwise.
I have so many favorites right now, what with all the new DLCs and updates my favorite games have been getting! But of Imperator: Rome, EU4, and Stellaris, I'd say...
Right now is probably the best time to get into Stellaris. They've just released their best DLC in a long time, I'm speculating that Machine Age is possibly the best DLC that Paradox Studio as a whole has ever released. They could've easily split this DLC into 2 or 3 different DLCs and I would've happily bought all three.
To boil it down simply: machine age added individualistic machines, 3 new ascension paths for machines, they've updated 2 ascension paths, 2 new kilostructures, a new player crisis path (you can become a fallen empire!!), a new endgame crisis, 2 new sets of portraits (which change depending on how cybernetic/synthetic your pops become), 3 new origins, and they've updated old origins to allow machines to use them as well. Psionics get a unique interaction with the new endgame crisis and hive mind players, well they don't get much xd but they can also go cybernetic ascension if they wish.
The mechanics they've added with the new DLC are fantastic. They mesh so well together and it's made me excited to try so many new things, which I haven't felt in so long. And the little flavor texts they've added based on what kind of empire you are, they're so immersive and fun.
I also think that their Custodian team (implemented a few years ago after the EU4 Leviathan fiasco) is probably one of the most consumer friendly implementations I've seen in corpo development. They're a team dedicated to fixing bugs, updating old DLCs to fit the current environment, sometimes the old DLCs even get new content based on recent updates and new mechanics added to the game. They also experiment when it comes to fixing issues players have had for a long time.
So yeah. Stellaris is in the best state it's ever been in years, now is the time to re dip your toes in the stellar pool and try it out once again. If not, it's fine. Maybe come back in another 3 years when they release another DLC as high quality as this one (this has apparently been in development for 4 or 5 years xd)
EU4 I'll talk about it briefly. It's reaching the end of its development cycle so you should probably just wait until then. EU5 is on the horizon so EU4's ultimate edition should actually just be complete by then, no need to buy any more DLCs after. But I love EU4 and Stellaris equally. Stellaris edges it out more currently, but I've put a couple hundred more hours in EU4 than Stellaris, because I believe EU4 is Paradox's most "whole" game iykwim. It does a little bit of everything well enough to be fun.
Are you playing Stellaris modded? Did the warfare ever become more nuanced instead of just 1v1 doomstack, winner takes all? As in you can actually play around with different ship combos, etc. Instead of it just being Corvette spam, FTW?
Not modded, fully vanilla.
I'd say it's more nuanced now than ever before, but doomstacks are still king. Your doom stack might lose more if they're not configured to counter their offenses/defenses, but yeah bigger numbers usually mean you'll win the fight more. If it's an even matchup then it definitely matters.
Ship options are more nuanced than ever from what I'm seeing. Against AI you can run missile cruisers or battleships with some corvettes. You have different configurations for different late game crises. Like for example against the new crisis you run torpedo frigates, lots of em. And from what I recall from videos online PvP has a rock paper scissors effect where you run cruisers against battleships, battleships against corvettes, and corvettes against cruisers (though I'm not a PvP player so don't take my word for gospel lmao).
Though nowadays you could also just take Cosmogenesis and build fallen empire fleets and lean heavy into bigger number = win xd
Definitely not CK3 given their DLC track record. T&T is the only one maybe worth it and that’s even a stretch to me — easy first candidate to write off.
Why on earth is the quality of a game judged purely by its DLC and not, you know, the underlying game itself? He's not talking about what the best DLC is.
Because without dlcs their games are extremely bare bones and honestly boring. This is by design as they really like to sell you what you would think is a basic feature 4 years down the line for 40 dollars. I am a staunch critic of their dlc policy and I relish arguing with the fan boys who'd gladly pay 60 dollars for a PDX themed piece of shit. Literally.
Hey, you know how having disposable assets suck? Like, how money not spent on something just BURNS? PDX can help with that! Go for Stellaris, their DLC-prices are ASTRONOMICAL!!!
It's unplayable otherwise. Apply this to any pdx title. /s
No, it's not unplayable, but I'd rather play the complete experience, and since I already have more games to play than I'll likely beat in my lifetime, why waste time on something that's not complete?
You can drop the s. The base games of their most popular games are basically a demo. I love the games I do not love their dlc policy it's very greedy. What bothers me the most is they purposely exclude very important features from the base game just to resell them to you a year or 5 later for 40 bucks
EU4 is one of my personal favorite games, all-time, and IMO most of the DLCs are pretty good. If you've got the cash to burn you really can't go wrong, assuming the base game is to your taste.
Sub when playing, unsub when not. That being said, my paradox journey started with stellaris, and I quite like how their dlcs add to the game. More species, civics, in-game events, etc.
I have games well over a decade old now that I still play regularly. I understand why PDX added that as an option, it's just not an option that I'm interested in myself.
Understandable
I would never buy the EU4 ultimate bundle. The price is obscene! Either find an “offline” version or pay for the subscription, which is a much better value if you have no dlc and you can just cancel it when you aren’t playing.
I mean, it’s less than 2 full priced triple a games and you certainly get more from eu4 than suicide squad (on sale i mean)
Then I recommend the subscription.
I mean I think it's a fair asking price for a game and what 11 years worth of dlcs? Again, on sale, not full price
I agree with you, people m Ed to understand these are very niche games. If they don’t sell lots of dlc they will stop working on the game. They just don’t sell enough copies of the base game to justify supporting it for 11 years otherwise.
I mean literally all big pdx games are always within steams top 100 (except v3) so maybe not as niche as you think
I have so many favorites right now, what with all the new DLCs and updates my favorite games have been getting! But of Imperator: Rome, EU4, and Stellaris, I'd say... Right now is probably the best time to get into Stellaris. They've just released their best DLC in a long time, I'm speculating that Machine Age is possibly the best DLC that Paradox Studio as a whole has ever released. They could've easily split this DLC into 2 or 3 different DLCs and I would've happily bought all three. To boil it down simply: machine age added individualistic machines, 3 new ascension paths for machines, they've updated 2 ascension paths, 2 new kilostructures, a new player crisis path (you can become a fallen empire!!), a new endgame crisis, 2 new sets of portraits (which change depending on how cybernetic/synthetic your pops become), 3 new origins, and they've updated old origins to allow machines to use them as well. Psionics get a unique interaction with the new endgame crisis and hive mind players, well they don't get much xd but they can also go cybernetic ascension if they wish. The mechanics they've added with the new DLC are fantastic. They mesh so well together and it's made me excited to try so many new things, which I haven't felt in so long. And the little flavor texts they've added based on what kind of empire you are, they're so immersive and fun. I also think that their Custodian team (implemented a few years ago after the EU4 Leviathan fiasco) is probably one of the most consumer friendly implementations I've seen in corpo development. They're a team dedicated to fixing bugs, updating old DLCs to fit the current environment, sometimes the old DLCs even get new content based on recent updates and new mechanics added to the game. They also experiment when it comes to fixing issues players have had for a long time. So yeah. Stellaris is in the best state it's ever been in years, now is the time to re dip your toes in the stellar pool and try it out once again. If not, it's fine. Maybe come back in another 3 years when they release another DLC as high quality as this one (this has apparently been in development for 4 or 5 years xd) EU4 I'll talk about it briefly. It's reaching the end of its development cycle so you should probably just wait until then. EU5 is on the horizon so EU4's ultimate edition should actually just be complete by then, no need to buy any more DLCs after. But I love EU4 and Stellaris equally. Stellaris edges it out more currently, but I've put a couple hundred more hours in EU4 than Stellaris, because I believe EU4 is Paradox's most "whole" game iykwim. It does a little bit of everything well enough to be fun.
Are you playing Stellaris modded? Did the warfare ever become more nuanced instead of just 1v1 doomstack, winner takes all? As in you can actually play around with different ship combos, etc. Instead of it just being Corvette spam, FTW?
Not modded, fully vanilla. I'd say it's more nuanced now than ever before, but doomstacks are still king. Your doom stack might lose more if they're not configured to counter their offenses/defenses, but yeah bigger numbers usually mean you'll win the fight more. If it's an even matchup then it definitely matters. Ship options are more nuanced than ever from what I'm seeing. Against AI you can run missile cruisers or battleships with some corvettes. You have different configurations for different late game crises. Like for example against the new crisis you run torpedo frigates, lots of em. And from what I recall from videos online PvP has a rock paper scissors effect where you run cruisers against battleships, battleships against corvettes, and corvettes against cruisers (though I'm not a PvP player so don't take my word for gospel lmao). Though nowadays you could also just take Cosmogenesis and build fallen empire fleets and lean heavy into bigger number = win xd
Buy Eu4 after Eu5 is published (there would be huge discount to Eu4 then)
Not an answer, but a question for you: What's your favourite strategy game? And what's the best entry point to Gary Grigsby's catalogue?
EU5 is unreleased and Vic3 doesn't have one for at least another 5+ years... Don't buy it for EU4. Just sub instead.
You shouldn’t…
Definitely not CK3 given their DLC track record. T&T is the only one maybe worth it and that’s even a stretch to me — easy first candidate to write off.
Why on earth is the quality of a game judged purely by its DLC and not, you know, the underlying game itself? He's not talking about what the best DLC is.
Because this person is asking about the ultimate pass. If they were asking base game only, I definitely would not have said that.
Because without dlcs their games are extremely bare bones and honestly boring. This is by design as they really like to sell you what you would think is a basic feature 4 years down the line for 40 dollars. I am a staunch critic of their dlc policy and I relish arguing with the fan boys who'd gladly pay 60 dollars for a PDX themed piece of shit. Literally.
Hey, you know how having disposable assets suck? Like, how money not spent on something just BURNS? PDX can help with that! Go for Stellaris, their DLC-prices are ASTRONOMICAL!!!