Paradox's Upcoming Game - Imperator: Rome ...Excellent News!

[Ian C]

Had the wallet out until I read some reviews. This one seems legitimately respectable. Can anyone shoot down his points?
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lamashtu
196 products in account
1 review

Not Recommended

2.0 hrs on record
POSTED: 25 APRIL

This is the first time I've ever written a game review in 35 years of gaming. This game suffers from a number of problems, beginning with the same lack of character that plagued Paradox's first Rome game. They somehow take one of my favorite periods of time, and make it un-enjoyable to me (did it with Sengoku as well). Neat trick I guess.

I've been playing Paradox games since EU2, and I broadly know what to expect, but combat continues to be fairly dull. It's not a deal breaker for me, but it would have been nice to see a bit more evolution by now.

The interface however is absolute trash. It's ugly, which isn't a huge problem. Much worse is the fact that information you need to make decisions during events is rarely available to you. Managing families and characters is difficult due to how information is presented, but also because as you click through from one element to another, you can't simply hit a button to return to an earlier element. For a game of such complexity, this is hopelessly broken. The presentation of trade goods via the trade goods map mode is unhelpful compared to what I remember from even EU2. In general, compared to prior games, I felt much more lost in the interface and its presentation of data. By contrast Vicky 1 was easier to work with, and that wasn't a particularly good interface.

Characters are richly detailed in terms of mechanics, but in terms of what we'd expect from CK2, there's not much going on. There's almost no feeling of agency when it comes to dealing with your current ruler or other characters. In fact that lack of a sense of agency permeates the entire game, driven by the incoherent user interface which obfuscates information you need.

The tutorial is almost insulting in how incomplete and how little it teaches you. I don't know that it was strictly necessary, but it was an immediate frustration and disappointment.

At the end of the day we're looking at a fiercely mediocre mix of prior Paradox games with a Late Antiquity skin thrown over them. I'm sure that if the setting is important enough to you, there's probably enough fun in here for you to enjoy it. Sadly, not for me.

I've been playing and loving Paradox games for a very long time now. I'm sad to say this game is the first by any developer that's ever moved me to request a refund. No, it's far from the absolute worst game I've ever purchased, but the combination of expectations not met, and ongoing concerns about Paradox's business practices just leave me cold. It's past time for me to say goodbye to Paradox probably, they're no longer a company I feel positive about, and this experience has finally made me recognize how I've felt about them for some time.

[HoodedHorseJoe]

So this is just my personal take, of course, but here we we go:

This is the first time I've ever written a game review in 35 years of gaming. This game suffers from a number of problems, beginning with the same lack of character that plagued Paradox's first Rome game. They somehow take one of my favorite periods of time, and make it un-enjoyable to me (did it with Sengoku as well). Neat trick I guess.

Would agree at this point in time. I never actually played EU: Rome (and I don't know enough about Japanese history to be able to comment about Sengoku, which I did play) but I've definitely felt that most factions in 1.0 feel a bit bland.

I've been playing Paradox games since EU2, and I broadly know what to expect, but combat continues to be fairly dull. It's not a deal breaker for me, but it would have been nice to see a bit more evolution by now.

Would disagree - it's more involved than EU4 or CK2, and has some really nice tactical and strategic flourishes that don't make me weary of fighting a war. Finding a reason to fight a war, on the other hand...

The interface however is absolute trash. It's ugly, which isn't a huge problem. Much worse is the fact that information you need to make decisions during events is rarely available to you. Managing families and characters is difficult due to how information is presented, but also because as you click through from one element to another, you can't simply hit a button to return to an earlier element. For a game of such complexity, this is hopelessly broken. The presentation of trade goods via the trade goods map mode is unhelpful compared to what I remember from even EU2. In general, compared to prior games, I felt much more lost in the interface and its presentation of data. By contrast Vicky 1 was easier to work with, and that wasn't a particularly good interface.

No comment - To be honest, I suspect it is less than ideal in a lot of places, but I honestly didn't dwell on it too much. I've always been good at finding out what I need so I haven't specifically noticed anything UI related. Plenty of others have, though.

Characters are richly detailed in terms of mechanics, but in terms of what we'd expect from CK2, there's not much going on. There's almost no feeling of agency when it comes to dealing with your current ruler or other characters. In fact that lack of a sense of agency permeates the entire game, driven by the incoherent user interface which obfuscates information you need.

Broadly Agree - I was never expecting the character mechanics to be on CK2's level though, not with Johan at the helm. I suspected this was more of a hook they were using to promote it. What's there could be interesting in its own way, but currently isn't I don't interact with characters in a meaningful way that often.

The tutorial is almost insulting in how incomplete and how little it teaches you. I don't know that it was strictly necessary, but it was an immediate frustration and disappointment.

Disagree - but then as I've said above, I never used it as a tutorial. Personally I really like it but I suspect it's a Marmite thing - either you appreciate how it tries to teach you the game, or you don't. Maybe calling it a 'tutorial' was an era, but I think it's more instructive than the haters say it is.

At the end of the day we're looking at a fiercely mediocre mix of prior Paradox games with a Late Antiquity skin thrown over them. I'm sure that if the setting is important enough to you, there's probably enough fun in here for you to enjoy it. Sadly, not for me.

I've been playing and loving Paradox games for a very long time now. I'm sad to say this game is the first by any developer that's ever moved me to request a refund. No, it's far from the absolute worst game I've ever purchased, but the combination of expectations not met, and ongoing concerns about Paradox's business practices just leave me cold. It's past time for me to say goodbye to Paradox probably, they're no longer a company I feel positive about, and this experience has finally made me recognize how I've felt about them for some time.

I mean, if he bought it a full price, then yeah, fair enough. You know this is going to get better over time so it's an investment, but you also know that it'll be going cheap around the time it finally 'gits gud' anyway so I could see people both buying it and sitting on it for later, or requesting  a refund/waiting for a year or so. I think he's personally being a bit fatalist at the end here but a lot of the old-timer PDX fans are really struggling with how the company has evolved in terms of design philosophy and post-release support.

[Pete Dero]

I am going through the YT tutorials (I posted before) and find the game has deeper mechanics that you can't uncover in 2 hours (the time he spend on it before refunding).

Most other reviews are more positive (even IGN  ;D).

I think it is a bit unfair to review this game after a few hours, let alone after less than 2 hours (in that time I believe you can't finish the in game 'tutorial')

If you like Paradox games like CKII and EUIV you will probably like this one (and probably more after patching and DLC).
If you didn't like them this game will not change your mind.

[JasonPratt]

Another somewhat surprising (to me) comparison with Vicky2, is that you can't choose a start time. This isn't a dealbreaker for me, at all, but it's still a little odd by comparison with the others.

Has anyone seen yet how far the game runs? I know there's a game-over date which can be disabled in various not-overly-obvious ways, but I don't know the date. (I infer it's in the Christian/Common Era, because I know there's code to switch overt the dating system at some point or to show both types of dates, Roman and Christian.)

[mikeck]

I just don't see it as a mystery. If you liked EU IV and CK2, then you will most likely enjoy it. You know what paradox is and what the Clausewitz engine does. You know DLCs will add to the game and it will be better in a year than now...better in 2 years than in a year. I don't see how reading and analyzing reviews will get you the info you need b/c these games are SO deep and complex that each will get something different from it.

If you are looking for someone to convince you to buy it, or one to convince you not to...you can find that review. For every "this sucks...it's bland", I can find a "this is great...very deep" review.

[mikeck]

Take a look at this guy's beginner guide vids. VERY informative. You get a good idea of what you are getting:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mIAUVx040as

[Anguille]

Can't remember a game having such a bad start at release (speaking of reactions on steam)...Swords of the stars 2 maybe?  ???

I am almosted tempted to buy it to see how it works on my computer....

[Jarhead0331]

Can't remember a game having such a bad start at release (speaking of reactions on steam)...Swords of the stars 2 maybe?  ???

I am almosted tempted to buy it to see how it works on my computer....

Reviews on steam are "mixed"...that's hardly remarkable as far as a bad release. I'm hard pressed to compare this even remotely to the God awful state SOTS2 was in when it released.

[Anguille]

Can't remember a game having such a bad start at release (speaking of reactions on steam)...Swords of the stars 2 maybe?  ???

I am almosted tempted to buy it to see how it works on my computer....

Reviews on steam are "mixed"...that's hardly remarkable as far as a bad release. I'm hard pressed to compare this even remotely to the God awful state SOTS2 was in when it released.

My comment is not about the state of the game but about the reactions. I don't think either that Imperator is in a state that a couple of patches won't make it run a lot better.

[Jarhead0331]

I think the reactions upon release of SOTS2 were hardly mixed. They were closer to overwhelmingly negative...although it might have been before the review system was implemented. I simply don't see a comparison in any vein.

[mikeck]

I agree. Comparing SotS 2 reactions to this is a little off I think. The reviews for that were ripping the developer for releasing a game about 40% finished...literally. I would compare this to the release of hearts of iron 4, europa Universalis 4  and almost any other paradox game. Everyone screaming that it'll be good in a year but it's ———— now. Meanwhile, they all play and in 4 years when paradox releases Imperator 2, they will all be complaining that it should have been as good as Imperator 1

[WallysWorld]

I'm still on the fence with this game, but I admit I've hardly have put any time into it.

I am getting a bad stutter every time the day rolls over and though I admit my old i7-920 at 4 GHz with GTX 970 is not anywhere near top hardware, I've read that a lot of people with both the latest hardware and with stuff older than mine are having the stutter as well. I tried CK2, EU IV and HOI IV again and there is almost no stutter compared to what this game is doing at least to me. The stutter is almost a show stopper for me.

Anyone else experiencing a very pronounced stutter as each day rolls over and especially when scrolling the map?

[mikeck]

I played a bit tonight and honestly, I don't know what the complaints are about. I scaled the UI down so I could still read it and it's fine. I don't notice intrusiveness. As for the prior copied review on combat...short of HOI, I'm not sure what Paradox game has deeper combat. Varied (9) unit types, assigning generals and choosing from multiple battle tactics depending on your force. Different troop types excel at different tactics. Has the complex trade of Vicky, some of CK2 character management and EU IV style national and provincial governance. I don't get it....it's exactly as advertised

[Toonces]

That was the first review I read on Steam, Iam C.

I think you guys have given a good idea of what the game is about..what to expect.  I'm inclined to buy it, but not right this moment.  I loved CK2, so I'm sure I'll eventually buy this game and enjoy it. 

[mikeck]

That was the first review I read on Steam, Iam C.

I think you guys have given a good idea of what the game is about..what to expect.  I'm inclined to buy it, but not right this moment.  I loved CK2, so I'm sure I'll eventually buy this game and enjoy it.

Good move I think. Paradox games always get much better and "fleshed out" with age. Like previous paradox games, I like it at release and continue to for years...but if these aren't your thing, wait.