Liking this game is like being in an abusive relationship.
I was lured into this game via YouTube videos with titles like 'COMMUNIST UK VS FASCIST U.S'. Alternative History has always been a concept I've liked, so to have a game that let you play that out, not just in the actually war, but in the politics in the lead up to it, was exciting.
The issue is that that's not really what Hearts of Iron 4 is about. It's about micromanaging 100 things at once, and multiple hidden mini menus, to make sure that when the war does kick off you can actually play the game, only to inevitably get locked into a neverending conflict and abandon it. It's a game that makes you feel like an idiot for not being able to handle all the info being thrown at you, and even after you invest your time into it and get slightly better, the outcome isn't rewarding. I'm sure there's plenty of folk that love all that menu flipping, but its just not for me.
THAT SAID, the reason why I've scored it a bit higher is that the modding scene is steller. The base game feels like it has so many missing features and inadequacies that these mods build on amazingly. Kasierreich expands on that political early game so expertly, giving you so much more variety in how to play. The New Order overhals the UI completely while making the focus about avoiding an all out World War, and actually improving the gameplay as a result, turning the focus towards those focus trees. Its atmopshere is also second to none; vanilla HOI wishes it could invoke this type of dread.
Overall, overly complex but yet bare in the areas that are fun. A game held up by its community rather than its publisher, and yet a community you have to approach at a safe distance; if you have a game with multiple community discord servers entitled 'Roma Victores' I suppose you need to be wary.
I was lured into this game via YouTube videos with titles like 'COMMUNIST UK VS FASCIST U.S'. Alternative History has always been a concept I've liked, so to have a game that let you play that out, not just in the actually war, but in the politics in the lead up to it, was exciting.
The issue is that that's not really what Hearts of Iron 4 is about. It's about micromanaging 100 things at once, and multiple hidden mini menus, to make sure that when the war does kick off you can actually play the game, only to inevitably get locked into a neverending conflict and abandon it. It's a game that makes you feel like an idiot for not being able to handle all the info being thrown at you, and even after you invest your time into it and get slightly better, the outcome isn't rewarding. I'm sure there's plenty of folk that love all that menu flipping, but its just not for me.
THAT SAID, the reason why I've scored it a bit higher is that the modding scene is steller. The base game feels like it has so many missing features and inadequacies that these mods build on amazingly. Kasierreich expands on that political early game so expertly, giving you so much more variety in how to play. The New Order overhals the UI completely while making the focus about avoiding an all out World War, and actually improving the gameplay as a result, turning the focus towards those focus trees. Its atmopshere is also second to none; vanilla HOI wishes it could invoke this type of dread.
Overall, overly complex but yet bare in the areas that are fun. A game held up by its community rather than its publisher, and yet a community you have to approach at a safe distance; if you have a game with multiple community discord servers entitled 'Roma Victores' I suppose you need to be wary.