i like making plans, minmaxing the hell out of every minmaxable situation, jumping over mental hurdles, and solving problems in general, but i don't like doing it with too many variables around. therefore, grand strategy games have never clicked with me. be it a paradox game or any huge-scale resource management sim, i could never keep my ropes together. i was sucked in by the cold futuristic vibes of stellaris and loved connecting things in factorio, but my skill could not keep up with them, so they both ended up more frustrating than enjoyable. i did well in games like sid meier's civilization series, but then i felt as if the game was not giving me enough options to carry out all of my plans.

as you can see, i'm a bit hard to please, but total war games are the ones that hit the sweet spot, and rome 2 was my most beloved one. it walks the line between casual and complex, never straying too much in either direction. you keep your eyes on a couple of gauges, and you get a handful of options to keep them in line. it's turn-based, so no panic-inducing commotion is happening behind your windows while you are adjusting sliders, deploying spies, and declaring wars. speaking of wars, that's all this game is about. the research tree is a slave to raising an army, and there is no cultural victory. in total war, you win with your swords.

another thing i love in these games is the real-time battles. controlling your units on the battlefield adds an entirely new skill curve to the game, and i enjoy it immensely. depending on your taste, you can reenact historical battles or bravely bring an experimental army to the battlefield.

in the end, while i acknowledge that this may not be the game for you, it absolutely is a game for me.