What's their best game?

magicka 1

if they were the ones who made the guild 2
then the guild 2

>>2092518 (OP)
hoi3 was peak paradox. Whatever came after was a downgrade.
I am just taking a break from playing it right now actually. June 1941 scenario as Britain.
Nothing like reorganizing the cluster fuck of a situation you find yourself in and slowly grinding out an edge.
Fuck I hate Uboats.

EU5

>>2092518 (OP)
objectively victoria 2

>>2092518 (OP)
Vicky 2. It's flawed for sure, but it was the last time they genuinely tried to push the genre forward and created something unlike anything else before. It's all downhill after that because they switched their strategy to try to attract more and more mobile game brained low iq normalfaggots so that they can sell to a wider audience.

>>2092777
>>2092708
>>2092549
>popular = bad
>understandable = bad
Midwits.

>>2092781
>detail = bad
>depth = bad
>simulation = bad
>simplicity = bad
>lots of buttons to press = good
>lots of fun wacky alt railroaded alt history paths thoughtfully laid out by the heckin developers = good
>le heckin graphics and 3d portraits = good
>le heckin racism = bad

>>2092788
Less depth doesn't mean no depth.

>>2092789
ck3 is still missing features that ck2 has and is selling them to you as dlc to make up for the unfinished experience they already sold you

>>2092792
1. Vanilla CK3 has more features than vanilla CK2 (you will ignore this point btw)
2. Doing this shit is what Paradox has to do to survive nowadays, especially counting they're not mainstream. The alternative is lootboxes, microtransactions, and actual mobile games.

>>2092793
>Vanilla CK3 has more features than vanilla CK2
https://store.steampowered.com/app/3315520/Crusader_Kings_III_Coronations/
i totally believe you bro, btw buy this dlc adding coronations
>Doing this shit is what Paradox has to do to survive nowadays, especially counting they're not mainstream. The alternative is lootboxes, microtransactions, and actual mobile games.
or they could uhhh...... make good games?
and also
>especially counting they're not mainstream
lol. paradox hasnt been niche since 2016/2017

>>2092781
>>popular = bad
yes, aiming for lowest common denominator usually results in bad but popular things
you are free to believe gangnam style is one of the greatest musical achievements of all time, and I'm free to call you a retard
>>understandable = bad
never said that, but if comes at the cost of cutting complex mechanics or butchering a functional UI then yes it's bad
a good game that's hard to learn is better than a bad game that's easy to learn, what's so incredibly difficult to understand about that? Perhaps you need a tutorial for grasping such basic concepts? Too bad, should have read the manual.

>NOOOO PARADOX CANT JUST MAKE GOOD GAMES
>THEY NEED DLC OR ELSE THEY WOULDNT SURVIVE THEYRE A SMALL INDIE COMPANY
ok siri, pull up the credits list for victoria 3

3D Character Art Nikita Svechnikov, Samar Vijay, Nils Wadensten, Nikolaos Kaltsogiannis, Pasha Guba
3D Environment Art Douglas Holfve, Daniel Swing, Paul Le Quéré, Mikael Forsman, Erik Hammarbäck, David Karlstrand, Helena Kasper, David Strömblad Lindh, Noelia Skabar
Animation Fabian Soon, Chris Brindzik, Fei Berg Hulthén
Tech Art Jerry Ronnegren, David Horler
Business Owners Fabricio Santos, Ryan Sumo, Bevan Davies
Product Marketing Managers Thomas Detaevernier, Christian Daflos, Alan Mahmodian
Content Producer John Ahlbäck
Community Manager Björn Blomberg
Community Developer Maciej Kozłowski
Partner Account Managers Viktor Stadler, James Gardiner, Jackson Downing, Albert Banda, Daniel Hjelmtorp
Commercial Manager Mattias Rengstedt
Paid Media Strategists Camilla Wemmerlov, Henrik Bonnichsen
Marketing Automation Specialists Annie Alström, Karola Kiessling
CRM Content Producer Christopher Borén
Public Relations Lead Troy Goodfellow
Triplepoint Public Relations Blane Humphries, Alyx Evans, Andrew Karl
Live Content Producers Anders Carlsson, Madeleine Jönsson
Live Stream Tech Alexander Eliasson
Analytics Fatemeh Seifan
User Research Hanna Löhman, Jenny Wickman, Victor Nihlwing
User Research Administrator Anna Ström
Localization Managers Michael Radnitz, Nick Citkoŭ
Compatibility Testing Jonathan Cole
Compliance Designer Lars Minkkinen
Release Managers Fang Chen, Óscar Beiroa Suarez

(+ picrel)

ummm okay google, now show me credits list for victoria 2

>>2092795
>i totally believe you
Wut? Why believe?
Are you telling me you... didn't even play the game you're shitting on?
Is this a fox and grapes poorfag situation?

>>2092798
Bit of dishonesty/retardation here and there in your post. Let's pick it apart.
Answer me this: many good games are also popular. Does that make them not good anymore?
>or they could uhhh...... make good games?
Your idea of "good games" would make them go under. It's either mobileslop or more accessible games. Again, less deep doesn't mean not deep. You are thinking in extremes.
>lol. paradox hasnt been niche since 2016/2017
Once again you are thinking in extremes. Paradox is less niche now than it was before. Still niche.

Acquire IQ

>>2092800
>>2092801
Victoria 3 looks a lot better than Victoria 2.
>GRAFFIX DONT LE MATTER
ok release a game that looks exactly like Victoria 2 today, see how much money it makes.

>>2092802
>Are you telling me you... didn't even play the game you're shitting on?
it doesn't matter if ck2 without any dlc has more or less features than ck3 without any dlc
it is a matter of fact that ck2, as a finished, complete product, is dramatically superior in both quantity and quality of its features and that ck3 is objectively in comparison an unfinished game that they are selling to you piecemeal as DLC until it reaches parity with the previous fucking game in the series

>>2092806
You didn't play the game. You are immediately disqualified from having any opinions on it

>>2092805
>ok release a game that looks exactly like Victoria 2 today, see how much money it makes.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2189430/Gilded_Destiny/
this company has 19 employees and is making something that both looks way better but is also way more clearly inspired by victoria 2 than anything pdx could accomplish with its 500 employees
>>2092809
>nooo you didnt play the game that is objectively worse and is missing content that the previous game has on purpose so that they can sell it to you as dlc slowly over the course of a decade like a cow to be milked

>>2092802
>Answer me this: many good games are also popular.
kek, you just admitted you are one of the previously mentioned low iq normalfaggots
no, in fact all the games I enjoy are considered niche and most normalfaggots haven't even heard of them, therefore by definition they are not popular
no, fortnite, minecraft or whatever slop you play and is popular these days are not good games
end of story

>>2092802
>Your idea of "good games" would make them go under. It's either mobileslop or more accessible games. Again, less deep doesn't mean not deep. You are thinking in extremes.
paradox didnt suddenly pop into existence with its dlc sales model you fucking retarded faggot. paradox existed as a company for like 20 years that just made games and sold them. they did just fine and made the best games they've ever put out that way. then they just realized that they could make unfinished games and slowly sell you missing features over the course of years and years with over-priced dlc and make way more money that way and they go to fancy restaurants and sit on their yachts thinking about how stupid you are for buying yet another garbage dlc and affording them their next vacation

>>2092802
>Paradox is less niche now than it was before.
yes and that's a bad thing

>>2092811
>looks exactly like Victoria 2
>modern 3D graphics
Retard.
>nooo you didnt play the game
Exactly. You didn't play the game. Any complain is you being an emotional woman about something you hate irrationally.

>>2092815
And yet their modern vanilla games have more features than their old vanilla games.
You wouldn't know anything about this obviously because you didn't play them. You made your decision beforehand because actual critique requires thinking and you hate thinking.

>>2092817
If they were still niche after all these years they'd have closed down.
Also, again, you have not played the games you're shitting on.

It's really crazy to me how some people can be so confident in their opinions about games they never played.
What is it? Low IQ + huge ego? Plain dishonesty? Baffles the mind.

>>2092819
>And yet their modern vanilla games have more features than their old vanilla games.
>ck3 is missing features that ck2 had but thats okay because you had to pay extra for those ck2 features that they already made and you'll have to pay extra for them too when the ck3 devs re-make features that they already made for the last game for the new one
holy zogdrone

>>2092822
So we're not arguing about quality of games anymore, now we're arguing about the dev?
Ok. Weird goalpost movement but ok

>>2092823
the devs are the reason the game is shite mate

>>2092825
>game is shite mate
>didnt play it
Hmm.

>>2092821
They're third worlders with shit computers. They're mad that developers didn't remain stuck in 2007 (like their thirdie PCs did), so they instantly hate everything without even playing it

>>2092826
why would i play a game that has less features than the previous game in the entry and their plan is to slowly sell you those missing features over time so that they make more money?

>>2092829
Have you considered that (this is just a wild guess) it's not the exact same game with less features?
It's.... wow... a different game. With a different rhythm, different things to do, some systems shallower yes but other systems deeper, and that maybe... this new version is enjoyable?

No of course not, because your PC can't run it anyways. Better go full fox and grapes mode and spout "it's shit!!! it's le bad!!!" without even playing it (because you can't play it)

>>2092708
>>2092777
>>2092792
>>2092795
t.

>>2092832
you know that foxes are allergic to grapes right? lol. the fox would have eaten shit and died if he didnt have the shitty pc to prevent him from even eating it in the first place

>>2092845
See, it's fine to have an older computer that can't play new games.
What's not fine is posting bullshit online about games you haven't played because "if I can't play them, no one should!!!"
That is pure third-worlder subhuman behavior.
Someone might read your posts and think you know what you're talking about (you don't, because you didn't actually play the game) and miss out on a good time.

Either get a job so you get out of this constant life of envy, or off yourself.

>>2092845
>>2092829
embarrassing

>>2092518 (OP)
their new space mining game coming out soon, my space mining autism will be fulfilled through the roof!

>>2092852
>>2092887
i have a gaming pc and i've never installed that trash not even once. you guys are literal whales who will eat up and buy whatever shit they serve you even if its LITERAL rehashing of content they released A DECADE AGO FOR THE LAST FUCKING GAME

and its not even like
"theyre rereleasing the same dlc they made for ck2 for ck3". they are actively BREAKING UP the dlc they made for ck2 into even SMALLER chunks so that they can sell you EVEN MORE dlc. and not only do you buy it, you defend it online. PATHETIC. kill yourselves, shills.

>>2092930
>>2092933
see >>2092832

You can't play the game, so you focus on the things it does worse, while ignoring the things it does better.
It's a fun game, people are liking it, so stay mad and poor

>>2092934
>yes i buy cherry-picked features singled out from individual ck2 dlc and sold as dlc in-of-themselves
>but stay mad and poor, okay?

>>2092939
>all games that cant run on my computer are bad
>because they just are ok
You've already been outed as dishonest, dunno why you're still itt

CK3 is better than CK2 because Coomer Kings is about depraved sex fantasies, which CK3 does much better due to 3d character models and DNA.

Victoria 3 is worse than Victoria 2 because Victoria is a game about industrializing your nation and managing your pops, which Victoria 3 does worse because it doesn't even have actual stockpiled goods, and pops aren't on a province by province level.

Hearts of Iron 4 is better than Hears of iron 3 because HoI is better at simulating WW2.
>inb4 assmad about memes
I'm talking about with historical mode on. Need I remind you without playing with the correct game rules CK2 is about satanist Aztecs playing games of chess with death.

>>2093016
But HoI IV is terrible at simulating WWII.

>>2093021
Indeed, but it's still somehow better than HoI3.
In HoI3 they just decided the Sino-Japanese war was too hard to simulate, so they just have Japan sign a peace treaty with China in 1938 to seize roughly the area they had in real life.
Also, while peace deals are notoriously shit in HoI4 they're somehow even worse in HoI3. When Germany surrenders either the USSR or the US gets the entire country, there's not way to split it, release puppets, or anything.

For reference, I probably enjoyed HoI3 more despite this, because it's more engaging, but once you "win" there's a great sense that you wasted your time, because the borders end up looking so shit. At least in HoI4 you can draw post-war borders yourself.

>>2093016
NOOO people need to think the new games are terrible so I don't feel so bad about being unable to play them!!!!!!

>>2093016
Victoria is a game about being comfy in the 1800s, which 3 does better. Checkmate

>>2092939
Looking forward to you coping and seething when EU5 comes out and your poorfag ass cant run it, really curious about the fox & grapes lies you'll come up with to cope

>>2092708
>>2092777
Based liqqy enjoyers

>>2092518 (OP)
Vict-
>>2092534
actually, this. God that game was soulful, shame the sequel was such dogshit.

>>2092518 (OP)
Victoria 2, followed by CK2 or CK3? These are specifically unique games that are barely made by anyone else. Except... Gilded Destiny and Star Dynasties.
>le Victoria 3
Warfare is still garbage and broken in a period where it was very important. The numerous colonial wars, the major wars in Europe, American Civil War, the Taiping civil war in China. All glossed over for le economic game. It should have a reasonabl in-depth naval system considering the progression from Ships of the Line to Pre-Dreadnoughts. The only people who play this game are whiz cucks who love no stockpiles and no physicality to the goods.

>>2093100
>>2092534
not pds, retards

Victoria 4 should just be a remaster of V2.

>>2093069
>>2092962
>>2092845
Accusing Victoria 2 and HoI3 nostalgiashits of being poor does not seem to produce any real rebuttal, which is concerning.

>>2093235
How do you respond to an ad hominem that presents no argument?
>victoria 3 is bad because x, y, z
>umm... you're poor!

>>2093248
>criticizing a game you didn't play
>misrepresenting a game you didn't play
CK3 was actually Paradox's most stable and most feature complete sequel they have released, ever. Trying to criticize it on those grounds is odd, to say the least.

HoI3 was also completely non-functional on release. Who the fuck praises Yellow Prussia Victoria 2? CK2 was barren. Comparing old Paradox works favourably to newer releases based on features smacks of a newfag that can't run anything new. Not helping you beat the allegations.

definitely CK2, although I have spent more hours on eu4.

>>2093255
>and most feature complete sequel they have released
*if you exclude all the dlc they made for ck2 and pretend like you should only be comparing it to vanilla base game ck2 and not ck2 + all dlcs
(otherwise its clear ck3 is a fucking scam and you fell for it)

>>2093270
comparing ck2 with 60+ dlcs against vanilla ck3 is just retarded

>>2093255
I played it and it was shit
what is your next cope?

>>2093275
>its okay for devs to remove features that they already made for the game so that they can remake them and sell them to you again

>>2093282
>its okay for the devs to release a 40$ demo, call it the game and have you buy at least dozens of dlcs or pay a subscription before its any good. Best game evah.

>>2093311
yeah
they did it once with ck2
and theyre doing it again with ck3
and people itt are unironically falling for it and defending it itt
theyre going to defend it when eu5 launches and immediately starts selling features that eu4 had as new dlc too instead of just HAVING THEM IN THE NEW FUCKING GAME and adding new things from there (and not things you already made a decade ago but sold again with fresh paint)

>>2093282
>>2093311
>>2093323
Why are you "consoomer rights" newfaggots butting in? This was always the deal we had with Paradox. In fact, it's older than you. You are not welcome here. Get out.

>>2093337
>This was always the deal we had with Paradox. In fact, it's older than you
lol go away newfrog

>>2093346
I'll stay, and drink your tears, degenerate.

ck2 with eu4-style peace deals and casus belli diversity would be their best game

>>2093323
>>2093282
>>2093311
>>2093346
Nodevs should keep their mouth shut about software business models.

>>2093370
And wallets open apparently.

>>2093375
Literally nobody told you to open your wallet, fuckwit. You were told to fuck off.

>>2093248
In their mind:
>"victoria 3 is bad because x, y, z"
>>2093278
reality:
>"I played it and it was shit"

give it time victoria 3 is slowly getting better

>>2093438
They can't run it bro. It could be the best game ever they'll still shit on it.

Imperator is honestly a great game. Doesn't get too autistic in any direction, but not too shallow in any direction either like Victoria does with warfare or HoI4 does with economy.
It's their most balanced game I think

>>2092781
Why do people think Vic2 is hard to understand?

>>2093454
Well, the combat system in Liqqy isn't exactly laid out easily. It's some kind of variation of EU3 combat system, I think? Forward line, Back line, and flanks?

>>2092781
See a doctor. Obviously all those retards you ass fucked gave you some of their brain rot.

>>2093538
wat

>>2093446
good thing it's not the best game ever

>>2093541
You didn't play it. Can't say anything

>>2092518 (OP)
Teleglitch and I'm not even joking

>>2093571
dumb fuck

>>2092792
>>2092795
This nigga actually buys paradox DLCs and then bitch about it to other people

It is probably high time I tried Stellaris. Anything I should know before playing?

>>2093581
It has Paradox logo thus it is Paradox game.
They haven't developed virtually any good game of their own anyways.

>>2093417
That's your best cope? Why don't you try reading the thread and figure out what "shit" means?
Any other copes?

>>2093637
>damage-controls with more retardation
fuck off retard

>>2093720
I like Vicky 3 it's fun and le immersive
>NO DONT HAVE FUN, IF I CANT RUN THE GAME THEN YOU CANT HAVE FUN WITH IT
seethe lol

>>2093777
I make a living working with literal spreadsheets more engaging than the "games" this raging dumpster fire of a company puts out.
Total paradrone death.

>>2093791
Office drones are the paradrones of work

>>2093791
Nah you fucked up, confused the dev team with the publisher, and now you're larping and larping to cover it up

>>2092518 (OP)
EU2, no contest.

>>2093882
upgrade your PC

>>2093462
the combat system in ck2 is even more complicated when you go in depth, with retinues and army composition, instead of just "big number smash". No one really calls ck2 complicated because of that.

>>2093917
Yeah, because you don't get any control over your army composition in CK2. Like, at all. Retinues ain't shit, unless you're playing a republic. You do in Liqqy.

>>2094027
>Yeah, because you don't get any control over your army composition in CK2
Welcome to the time before organized militaries

>>2094054
The point is that a system's depth is irrelevant, if the player barely interacts with it.

>>2093882
Came here to say this. It's EU2 and the only reason the game doesn't have a following like Vic2, EU4, or CK2 is because it came out before Paradox became a big name.

>>2094056
But you can interact with it, you can decide the formation of your baronies' forces and the buildings you create are how you influence their composition. The alternative would be literally deciding what is recruited, which would be ahistorical, or having soldiers be independent units, which would be both micro intensive and ahistorical.

>>2094077
>you can decide the formation of your baronies' forces and the buildings you create are how you influence their composition
That's bullshit. Unless you cheat tech spread... Do you? In an actual game, your gold will come way faster than tech will unlock buildings, so you'll always be building everything available.

>you can't decide your units in ck2
the fuck are you talking about
the entire feedback loop is spamming baronies in your capital province, getting the +culture bonus building and then building the buildings that give you that type of troops

for example as england you'd build a level 3 longbow range in london, have 4+ baronies there all with maxed out archers and then your capital province alone would be able to produce like 10k archer "levies" that are better than retinues

>>2094079
? You can literally pick only the buildings that give you the units that you want, the game itself is quite explicit about it.

>In an actual game, your gold will come way faster than tech will unlock buildings, so you'll always be building everything available.
That's min maxer nonsense, this is an RPG.

>>2094087
Don't fucking question mark me, dumbass. If you're cheating tech, just say so. In a non-cheat ironman, you build everything, because tech spread and accumulation is slow, and you unlock individual levels of individual buildings extremely slowly.

CK: For fantasy loltards with an incest-gay-bestiality kink who think warfare in the year 1000AD was WW1 scale but with chickens running around aimlessly instead of soldiers in trenches
EU: A game for Chads. Except IV, which is for cock slobbering faggots.
Vic: A game for Chads. Except III, which is for suckers who didnt learn from EU IV and HoI4
HoI: A game for Chads. Except for IV, which is for cum chugging faggots.
Stell: Haven't played it but might be for Chads.

>>2094081
>building baronies
>instead of just owning more counties and destroying every Duchy title
Jesus Christ, you're a shitter.

>>2094279
>I have a shit computer and am salty about it: The Post

>>2094279
This nigga old.

>>2093913
It's not my fault that their best game is older than you and can run at this point on a processor build into a fridge.

>>2094060
>EU2
>Doesn't have following
Lol
They BECAME a big name thanks to that game. EU1, for comparison, was considered a cute indie game, before anyone even coined the concept of indie games.

>>2094533
But it is your fault you irrationally shit on games you can't play.

>>2094480
>Why yes, I suck cocks daily and love gargling cum. Especially my grandfather's. How could you tell?
The post.

>>2094534
... the fuck you are even talking about?
>"Which PDX game is their best?"
>Answer the question
>HURR CHANGE YOUR MACHINE
>YOU CAN'T PLAY NEW ONES DURR
Nigga, are you really THIS fucking bored and starved for human interaction?

>>2094534
>you irrationally shit on games you can't play
But enough about you

>>2092518 (OP)
CK II
Vicky II

>>2094550
This is my CK2 playtime.
It's not thousands of hours, I don't have a crazy amount of achievements, but I did play it and learn it and I liked it a lot.
I still prefer CK3 nowadays

>>2094544
Read the thread, there was a huge argument and a guy literally admitted that he didn't play the new ones, despite shitting on them

>>2094561
You sure you replied to the right post?

>>2094563
So let me get this straight:
Some other anon throw a fit, so you are arguing with different anon, continuing your previous argument?
Are you by chance on a mental disability dole?

>>2094561
Question: what do you like about CK 3 over CK 2?
Not trying to antagonize or anything...

>>2094564
ye
>>2094566
Hooks are really cool.
The knight system is great because it ties the character-heavy gameplay to warfare even more, so even managing your army is part of the character stuff.
I like lifetime focuses, they're better than focuses in CK2 which were very basic.
Muh graffix as well of course. Map looks really nice.
The dark matte UI. Some say it's soulless because CK2 had unique UI for various cultures, but I say it's comfy as hell and very efficient looks-wise. As far as the UX goes (AKA how the menus are arranged) that's a bit of a different story..
Unlanded gameplay is cool even if it's extremely unbalanced.

>>2094565
Answer me this: did you actually play the new games?

>>2094566
Different anon, but from the top of my head:
>Far more unified and uniform design, despite still doing regional-flavour DLCs
>Actual focus on dynastic play, rather than realm play, something that both CK1 and 2 are flat-out incapable of
>Above-average effort from PDX (it's not much, but it's still noticeable)
>Tournaments and Tours really helped this game
It has dozens of different flaws and problems (many of which due to dumb decision to copy-paste shit from CK2 without related elements of CK2 being with us anymore), and DLCs are very hit-and-miss, but I'd rather play CK3 for the sake of having dynastic play on reliable and workable mechanics that interact with the game, rather than "conquer the world and make your cousins your co-kings to help manage it"

>>2094571
... yes?
Which is why I find your entire line of insults lobbied at me so fucking weird.
OP asked for the best PDX game. That game is EU2, on the virtue of being a lighting in a bottle kind of deal and being perfectly functional in what it was trying to achieve. I played every single of their games, including the more obscure titles like War of the Roses, I'm actually glad with how CK3 is shaping up (except for China, that should just be a separate title) and one day Vicky 3 will be playable (soon tm), but your reaction was still fucking retarded, apparently arguing with someone else in your head

>>2094571
Pretty much the only of their games I genuinely dislike is EU:Rome and I:R, since EUR was trash-tier and I:R was just EUR 2: Zoomershit Edition, copy-pasting every single mistake of EUR while also applying every single EU4 bad design elements (including those already retired from EU4 at the time of release of I:R) and then hyped into being some sort of pinnacle of their development. Good riddance with how it crash and burned, which was entirely predictable if you knew what they were re-making.

>>2094573
>I am going to interpret the OP question in the most annoying fucking pedantic way possible: "what was their best game for its le time?"
die

>>2094575
I really enjoy the current state of I:R and wish its DLC development hadn't died. If that makes me a zoomer so be it

>>2094576
>Things nobody said or even implied, but I will still project in a futile effort to get people angry
Nigga, it's summer. Go outside and touch some grass.

>>2094577
Being born after 95 makes you a zoomer. That's literally the only criteria

>>2094578
You literally said EU2 is their best game because at le time blah blah blah.
Like maybe 0.0001% of players are playing EU2 today. Shut the fuck up you hipster weeb faggot

>>2094579
The only criterion*!

>>2094580
>You literally said EU2 is their best game because at le time blah blah blah.
No, I didn't. Yet you keep trying to insist I did.
>Rest of the post
What's the goal here, even? Like really, what the fuck you are trying to achieve here? It's so fucking confusing, given how absurdly hostile you are with this.

>>2094575
Also weird that you say I:R included EU4's bad design elements, considering that game has completely subsituted EU4 for me.

>>2094582
nigger SNEED listen here: their best game is HoI4 (in its current state not at launch), followed by... actually let me make an ordered list. All games here are considered as they are now, in their current state. From best to worst:

>HoI4
>Vicky 3
>CK3
>Imperator
>CK2
>EU4
>everything else except Stellaris
>Stellaris

>>2092518 (OP)
I will samefag my answer:>>2094586

>>2094584
And that changes the fact it copied EU4 mana mechanics in the form that was retired from EU4 itself for nearly 2 years due to various problems they were causing and known and reported issues from players... how? Or did you simply miss the release state of I:R and thus dodged the bullet on how awful and comically incomplete it was for first 6-7 months (which is a common factor for people that stick to I:R to this day - they weren't there for the premiere and thus never got tainted by it)?

>>2094586
... so it all boils down EU2 is not on your personal list?
Ok

Nigga, you're weird as hell

>>2094590
I wasn't there for the launch, but what the shit does it matter? Game's really good now and I wish Paradox hadn't dropped its DLC.
EU4 is still mana galore so I've no clue what you're talking about there

>>2094590
>... so it all boils down EU2 is not on your personal list?
It's an opinions thread. Whose fucking opinion am I supposed to post if not mine?

>>2094593
>I wasn't there for the launch, but what the shit does it matter?
Let's see... maybe because the release of the game was a completely different game than what they were trying to pull with it post-release? The entire post-premiere effort to "patch" I:R was caused by the fact they've made Game A, and people hated it so much, they were forced to make a Game B instead, except by grafting it over the skeleton of Game A, rather than actually making Game B.
That's a clusterfuck of bad design and even worse management.
And then they cut any support for the game despite never wrapping up the overhaul, realising only three years in they were doing sunk-cost fallacy overhaul of something that can't really be overhauled without writing it from a scratch. Hence pulling the plug.
The only good thing about I:R was how it affected the company internally and how they got a humble pie force-fed into them, so they had to iron out CK3's release, or they would be in a free-fall.

>>2094594
There is posting your opinions and then there is throwing a temper tantrum every single post, because how dare someone online have different opinion than you.

>>2094600
>Imperator was so bad it humbled Paradox, that has released nothing but incomplete shitty games since then and it's about to launch Imperator: Europa Universalis.

>>2094603
>Still trying to stirr some shitlifting
You'd think one would realise it's not working...

>>2094600
>There is posting your opinions and then there is throwing a temper tantrum
wut
Bro you seriously need to get that redditspeech out of your head

>>2094610
Maybe the next $30 DLC will fix the game, anon.
Good luck!

>>2094646
All DLC costs $0, my dear reddit ma'am

>>2094533
LOL
It raised their profile, but they remained an indie dev and didn't turn AA until about the time CK2 and EU4 rolled out. RoFL.

>>2094533
>before anyone even coined the concept of indie games.
Never heard of Apogee? Indie games have been a thing since the 80s.

>>2092795
>>2092793
>more features
This isn't a good thing.

More content doesn't equal a better thing. Especially since most PDX DLC just add bloat, with Stellaris and EU4 being the poster child.

>>2095009
Lmao CK2 was well-known for having extremely disjointed DLC.
Also
>new games dont have content!
>no uhh I mean they have content but not the right kind!
How about fucking playing them and seeing for yourself, instead of blindly grasping at straws?

>>2095009
And then there's this asshole.

>>2092793
>what Paradox has to do to survive
Nah. They're just responsible with money. Which means no 400 million and 8 years in development gambles, but eh, I'll live.

>>2095021
...yes that's what I said. Or are you just arguing semantics now

>>2095022
I thought you meant "survival" as in "they don't make any money, otherwise". I don't usually see someone working a good, steady job and having growing savings described as "surviving".

>>2095023
Yeah you're arguing semantics, im out

>>2094586
vicky 3 is one of the worst games ever made thoughbeit

>>2094657
Doesn't matter if you eat shit for free or you pay for it. You are still eating shit.

>>2092534
This dude's right, also I count spell combos as "strategy".

All of the wizard robes were very cool, I liked that some of them just had guns. Also Magicka 1 was actually possible singleplayer, Magicka 2 singleplayer is dogshit. I'd say the Reddit robes are cringey but...eh, it's all a product of its time. Shame it'll be left dead in the water forever because it's not a GSG, but honestly looking at what they did to Prison Architect or Cities Skylines 2? Maybe that's for the best.

Also everyone please remember that Paradox made a game called "Empire of Sin" where if you paid more you got a season pass for the first three DLC, like they do, but then they abandoned the game before they ever actually released the promised DLC. Dogshit company.

>>2094579
well actually its 1997 not 1995

>>2095122
You didn't play it.

>>2095129
not made by paradox dev

>>2094619
Accusing anyone of "reddit speech" is a sure sign of your low intelligence and the fact that you have no rational argument to offer.

>>2092518 (OP)
I'm an EU4 enjoyer myself.

>>2095253
If you think someone's mad just because they're swearing you are literally a redditor bro

>>2095133
>t. 96 on cope patrol that he's a zoomie
The actual cut-off is '90, but up until '95 it gets very uneven results due to socio-economic factors. But if you start with 95 and up, you have people who were at best in their early teens when social media (not to mention wide access to internet) and smartphones were already a common thing, affecting the way how they grew up.

>>2094556
Are you me?

So are you lads shitposting or should I actually pick up EU2?

>>2099503
No, first gen europa engine games are a meme. The paradox golden age is sort of from late EU3, Vicky2, Hoi3 with honourable mention of Darkest Hour which is technically older gen base don HoI2 but was actually contemporary to HoI3 (and technically not made by paradox).
CK2 was the big breakout hit, it had it's lows, but it's still a good game overall despite starting the DLC trend. EU4 was really the beginning of the end, it was questionable from the start because of ruler mana but it was still okay, it's where you can see the effects of the DLC model the most and started slide of the company into shit.
HoI4 is supposedly popular but Hoi players are like dark matter, might as well exist in a different universe because there's little overlap with other games.
New games are meh, because they are being dripfed content and have a hard time justifying themselves when the old ones exist.

last versions of all their franchises where they finally recognized that not everyone just wants a directionless "choose your own adventure" autism sandbox and there needs to be *some* story and handholding

>>2092518 (OP)
Victoria II + crimeamod

>>2099655
Dead mod.

>>2099528
>No, first gen europa engine games are a meme.
Eh, CK1 was ok and it actually has a couple features I miss, CK2 is still the best game of the series thoughbeit.

>>2092811
>admits he didnt even play the game he is shitting on as inferior
the total state of this board, wasnt vst supposed to be a high iq board

>>2099996
the mod is complete, no need to add anything more

>>2100062
>4chan
>high iq

>>2092793
>defending ck3 literally designed and marketed as le wacky medieval sims for women
now this is good bait, here's your (you)

>>2092534
This
>>2092708
Honourable mention

>>2092518 (OP)
HoI2.
They pretty much peaked there in therms of "we want complex, but easy to learn games with AI that puts up a challenge and easy moddability".

>>2099528
>first gen europa engine games are a meme
Both EU2 and Vicky1 are perfectly fine.
What's meme is EU1 (it's literally a tech demo of turning a board game into a vidya) and HoI1 (which is EU2 with very crudely grafted WW2 theme on it - but the research system was superb) and CK1 - to the point people memed PDX into making CK2 and it resulted with Dujiangyan-tier kerkuffle ever since, since CK2 turned into a massive cash cow

>>2101899
I'm pretty certain you've meant Zhengguo Canal, but I get the reference

>>2092518 (OP)
Crusader Kings 2.
Vicky 2 is dogshit people Homer Simpson Lemon themselves into pretending was good.

>>2094603
Imperator Rome actually got good with a few patches and a mod or two. The only "problem" with it is the fact Rome blobs and you can't stop them.

>>2101927
>The only "problem" with it is the fact Rome blobs and you can't stop them.
Both Carthage and Syracuse play is entirely about crushing Rome. And it can be VERY easily done, especially after they reworked military and Rome can't build large armies anymore

>>2099655
>crimeamod
Isn't this the mod which caused /gsg/ to derail into a hive of schizophrenia, which ultimately led to it being banned on /vg/?

Why is everything associated with this mod such a massive vortex of autism, drama, and schizophrenia, anyway? Can anyone give me a rundown?