great game but sometimes and I don't know what it is but it won't start

You're in luck today, this review is for the actual game rather than yet another rant about Paradox's DLC policy (which I could care less about, frankly). I haven't tried multi-player yet, so this only covers my single player experience.

The concept of EUIV really appeals to me, and, on paper at least, this should have been a no brainer "like" for me, especially because I enjoy other similar Paradox titles (CKII & Stellaris, for example). However, ultimately I found EUIV mostly to be an exercise in masochism. I think a forum reviewer once summed it up perfectly as "this is a game that loves to hate you" <grin>.

My impressions were not due to lack of strategy game experience nor lack of understanding of EUIV's game mechanics; I don't shy away from complex games, and in EUIV I did indeed have a few "successful" campaigns. But during the campaigns I played, I just felt that the AI was layering on too many negative random events, like a neverending quagmire of artifical roadblocks put in place. Yes, some of that would be fine and would add some interest, but I felt that it was layered on a bit too thick, to the point that gameplay became somewhat tedious at points.

There are fun aspects to the game and I can see why EUIV appeals to a lot of folks, and of course this review only reflects my personal opinion and taste. I certainly would not say EUIV is a bad game at all -- it is not -- but it was also not a game I enjoyed that much, nor would recommend in most cases. For my money, I have found both CKII and Stellaris a lot more engaging and enjoyable.

Love this game. Map is beautiful and there is a great deal of depth. The only thing I wish is that there was more flavor for the rulers. I want more than three stats. I want a picture or something. I don't know why it bothers me... I think CK2 has made me want MORE. But honestly this a game is a historical masterpiece.

Despite every new patch destroying EUIV even further... there are a number of abnormalities related to nation strengths and weaknesses.. especially in later versions.

Ottomans as a start, are highly underpowered, especially post 1600's era.

Any army, especially European can wipe out an Ottoman army 10x their size just because they are "not Ottoman" ... I'm sure that's how the game is programmed. Evidence to back up my theory is paradox developer's backgrounds.. all from russian/east european nationalities who until today, are ♥♥♥♥♥♥ at how Ottomans ♥♥♥♥♥ their ancestors so they decide to fantasize about revenge by underpowering such a glorious empire in a video game. Every point leads to this theory being true.

Try yourself now a game with Ottomans.. from 1500-1520 circa will be beautiful moments when your armies are strong.. then comes a major gap in terms of strength. Then notice how after 1600's, your armies start with less than 50% morale, even if you are world's leading military technology, and better discipline... and not only that.. put 50k of your army on a mountain and watch how 40k enemy will wipe you in less than 0.5 seconds (spain/france/austria in my case).


Even worse, naval combat is super fabricated by those commie developers... Ottomans start with less than 50% morale.. and even if you have 150 ships vs 50 of european ships.. you will lose.. only way to win as Ottomans is to have minimum 400% the size of any enemy force you're about to encounter.. that's how I win my Ottoman battles.. despite all obstacles placed by the communist developers.. we will still overcome and enjoy an Ottoman game and even more, enjoy ♥♥♥♥♥♥ and conquering everything East of Vienna and Georgia.


And what is up with the stupid soundtracks on Cossacks DLC?!
Some poor unfamed talent couldn't find any luck so he was spotted by paradox...


I would recommend you get this game at Steam sale seasons.. and don't buy anything above Common Sense (Cossacks & Mare Nostrum) unless they have 75% discount. I haven't found them on sale yet so I'm still waiting for commies to do that. Bare in mind anything after patch 1.13 has harder expansion; especially all games after patch 1.15.

I would without a doubt recommend this game, however I feel as if the DLC's are EXTREMELY overpriced and they do not add enough substance to be reasonably worth the money. The gameplay is very good, the AI isn't ♥♥♥♥, and it is not as hard to run as most Paradox games, if you have the right graphics quality, that is. It not only offers an intriguing idea of the world in the 1400s, but the timeline reachs lengths of nearly 400 years ingame. Colinization would probably be one of the games strong suits. You can be a small Russian state, form the mighty motherland, and expand into the Siberian wasteland; or you can be the Kingdom of Castile, unite the Iberian Penisula, and explore the unknown, destroying enemies with the ease of your infinite fleet. You are not only limited to Europe however, you can chose the tribes of the Americas and Africa, the wise people of Asia, or even the powerful nations of the Middle East. At times the game can get quite intense and you might find yourself being extremely ♥♥♥♥♥♥ that the Ottomans nearly annexed your ♥♥♥♥, but besides that this game is extremely versatile and you might just find yourself for hours on end.

I am writing this review because I believe that this game no longer deserves to have a positive overall rating.

I do not mind spending money to increase my enjoyment of a game through DLC. However, Europa Universalis 4's last three major DLC's have been terrible. Normally the solution to this would simply be not to buy them, but DLC's are accompanied by free patches that implement some of the changes. This makes the game unbalanced and much less enjoyable than before. Even a few positive reviews on this page strongly recommend reverting to an older patch. If you are still thinking of buying this game, I suggest reading some reviews for the “Common Sense”, “The Cossacks” and “Mare Nostrum” DLC's. The reviews for those DLC's illustrate the current state of this game.

Like many other people, I used to enjoy this game and have now written a negative review about it. I would estimate that close to 90% of my game time came before the release of the DLC mentioned above. I hope that Paradox addresses the issues caused by recent DLC before making some more. This would make a game on which many people spent around 150$ or even more worth playing again.

I really like this game. It gives you a lot of oppertunities to play through the history of the world and the alter it to your own bidding. though it is hard to learn it certainly is worth the money as you go through the steam workshop to enhance your game even more so you can try small nations or big nations who you could never play to begin with

Love Paradox, love 4x games. Lots of negative reviews which put me off buying this at first but purchased on deal along with Art of War expansion...

Completed the tutorials followed by ENGLAND on ironman mode, started war with Scotts, shafted down south by the french, no cash and I didn't last long after that.
Started again, war with Irish. Lollards kicked off and ended up broke...

Decided to check out a few forums for a few new-starter tips and tried again but NOT on ironman.
A few angry stares from the missus and I quickly realised I'd not moved an inch in the 9 hours I'd been playing... Cost me a few days in the doghouse but I did mnage to create western and eastern Ireland states, Lollards dealt with, defeated Richard the Tird in the War of the Roses, have a little cash coming in now and tech steadily developing.

...I've only just scratched the surface on this beast of a game but so far it plays fine to me, but then I've come into this fresh at v1.17.1.0 (6704).

I can see a lot of sleepless nights in the future.

Buy during sales and play with MEIOU.

I'm frustrated that I bought a game that requires a large portion of the DLC to fully enjoy. DLC should add new and separate content to a game, not put in things that should've been in the full game. I am able to enjoy without the numurous expansions and dlc, but it isn't an experience worth 40$, unless you really, REALLY love strategy games, in which you will probably buy all 200$ of dlc anyways.