It's actually a good game

[Ir0nSlug]

Feeling let down and unsatisfied by a recent Pds release I went on a gsg frenzy and tried out almost every modern Pds games. As it happens, I had imperator + dlcs in my library, bought it during a sale, so I tried it along the others.

And I very much like it.
It has undeniable flaws, was kinda hard to get into, but overall it's a nice experience. Interrupted development is sad, but it shielded it from what I consider a problem with modern Pds titles: feature bloat.

It is absolutely a matter of taste, for instance, EU4 is a very good game, but it has a tons of not so important and almost independent little mechanics that I find annoying. Stellaris is also great (my most played Pds title) but it is a literal click fest. I personally prefer a macro scope rather than a micro one for gsg.

To me I:R is really close to what I expect from a gsg in this regard. I feel like there is a point in life for every game where more is not better.

That said I:R falls just a little bit short on this point, and it would definitely have needed a few more DLCs. It's overall helped by the fact that it is an empire builder, according to the time period, even if it is also limiting in a way.

+ Pop system is really great, and the micro seems like it can be safely ignored if one wish to (I mostly do).
+ Provincial management is just enough, more would probably be too much
+ Same for cultural/religion management, I like that you got to choose between integration for immediate gain, or assimilation for long time gain. And that it take time and has consequences on your other cultures.
+ Characters management seems a bit easy but is way more engaging than in Stellaris without being as annoying as in other titles (I haven't seen any character make fun of the other one peepee so far). I love the concept of great families.
+ I really like the legions/levy system (even if, in Paradox tradition, a lot of information regarding warfare and legion composition is obfuscated and I had to dig around)
+ Having to take only provincial capitals rather than every single province
+ No absurd CB/peace deals limitations (Vae Victis !)
+ No "hard mana"
+ Governors deciding their policies and superseding them costing Tyranny

= Diplomacy is sufficient but could clearly need improvement to get on the EU4 level. I like the diplomatic stances and that you can switch freely at a cost (without absurd blanket 10 years cooldown like in Stellaris)
= Tech is meh, but not really the focus. Does not seem to be the single most important thing like in Stellaris, which is good along with the fact you can only indirectly boost it. (Maybe I'm wrong about this)

- IA is really not great even if far from the worst of all Pds titles
- Heritage is kinda limiting, you got what you got
- Trade, especially exporting, is kind of a pain
- Pirates are extremely annoying despite large automated fleets hunting them, but maybe it's a skill issue
- I'm not sure what to think about laws, every time I look at the screen I end up thinking "whatever"

 

[alvaro]

the ultimate metric to measure fun for me is the gaming session duration. i cannot seat to play this game without ending up saying "crap, it's too late and i work tomorrow".
definitely it is a good game for me.

 

[fabius]

I recommend trying the mod

Imperator: Invictus​

 

[Ir0nSlug]

I recommend trying the mod

Imperator: Invictus​

Yeah I plan to, but I'm an achievement s**ker. And I wanna get to know the vanilla game better first.

 

[yenot]

In a recent Vic3 survey I ended up choosing I:R as my favorite Paradox game. Not because it's my hands down favorite, but a) it's probably the most balanced experience, and b) each other game has strong arguments against choosing it (say, my most played game is EU4, but 99,5% of time spent is M&T, which has a significantly different formula, compared to vanilla).

Having said that, the release version did not feel all that great to play, 2.0 was a huge jump in quality for me.

 

[Lamisatr]

Such a shame that this games fate was sealed on release day.

 

[Gremoleen]

It's really an excellent game, especially with a few mods. I'm using 'Invictus', 'Better UI' and 'Full mechanical overhaul'. Very immersive time stealer!

 

[Paul93]

I like A LOT the way internal politics is simulated. It does not have the same sheer number of mechanics, factions and laws of other PDX games, but despite that I:R is the only one that make me feel to be in charge of a living State (well, OK, also the CKs do the same, but since they focus on families it's easy peasy for them).

The senate tries to do things each terms. Governors set their policies and cannot be recalled for free. Generals and admirals are not always 100% loyal. Elite groups expand their power base and expect favors from the government. There is a lot of emergent gameplay without burdening the game with tons of buttons or metrics. I hope devs will reproduce some of these aspects in Stellaris and Vic3.

 

[Ir0nSlug]

I like A LOT the way internal politics is simulated. It does not have the same sheer number of mechanics, factions and laws of other PDX games, but despite that I:R is the only one that make me feel to be in charge of a living State (well, OK, also the CKs do the same, but since they focus on families it's easy peasy for them).

The senate tries to do things each terms. Governors set their policies and cannot be recalled for free. Generals and admirals are not always 100% loyal. Elite groups expand their power base and expect favors from the government. There is a lot of emergent gameplay without burdening the game with tons of buttons or metrics. I hope devs will reproduce some of these aspects in Stellaris and Vic3.

I love it too for the aspects you described. Doesn't really need more mechanics (would have been too much imo), only some tweaking.

My only grief is that it doesn't scale extremely well. As Rome with a big empire (but not even as big as the OG) it felt like I was constantly switching guys around to avoid scorned family, and I was playing at lowest speed. Thing is, when you have dozens of governors, tribunes etc... you have some guy dying every other day, and with 5 families each expecting 7 or 8 jobs (often just as much as they have available characters!), it becomes quickly a chore. I wished I could just give some provinces or armies/classis to some family that they'll keep for good or automate some regions.

Gameplay wise, as Rome it felt kind of easy, like everything else, but as a tribal chief, characters are a pain from the very start, that's fun.

Also, don't know if it was a bug or I didn't read, but at some point I elevated some family while I was already at 5 and one of my previous families just became NULL_FAMILY and quickly vanished. They weren't in particular bad shape character or prestige wise, so kinda felt wrong.

Finally, it's benign but when you incorporate and refuse nobles, they just die. Less ridiculous than the "former politician Louis-Philippe d'Orleans died" in the logs, but it still seems brutal, I mean one of them was 10.

 

[Telenil]

It shielded it from what I consider a problem with modern Pds titles: feature bloat.

I agree, and to PDX's credit, the DLCs are very modular. The really important reworks tend to be in the free patches, so I feel like I can absolutely skip a DLC (or even turn it off) if its features don't interest me very much. You can tailor your experience to an uncommon degree, almost as if using mods.

 

[Johan]

My plans for DLC for Imperator was for them to avoid the mistakes of EU4 where we had to add new mechanics every expansion, and instead focus on content like missions, unique things for specific countries etc.

I am very happy with how the dlc for Imperator was made, and I think those types of DLC is the best.

Luckily for the community, the mod 'Invictus' adds this type of content for free now!

 

[Telenil]

My plans for DLC for Imperator was for them to avoid the mistakes of EU4 where we had to add new mechanics every expansion, and instead focus on content like missions, unique things for specific countries etc.

I am very happy with how the dlc for Imperator was made, and I think those types of DLC is the best.

Luckily for the community, the mod 'Invictus' adds this type of content for free now!

I really think that was the right call. Paradox games tend to accumumate mechanics contained in a single DLC, to the point I would end up skipping some DLCs to keep my game to the point and the power creep under control. In practice, adding mechanics for the sake of it doesn't necessarily improve the experience.

 

[manager2525]

My plans for DLC for Imperator was for them to avoid the mistakes of EU4 where we had to add new mechanics every expansion, and instead focus on content like missions, unique things for specific countries etc.

I am very happy with how the dlc for Imperator was made, and I think those types of DLC is the best.

Luckily for the community, the mod 'Invictus' adds this type of content for free now!

Indeed the Invictus moders are doing an excellent work.
Although I understand it is unlikely and that it will have no monetary benefit for PDX I really wish that one final patch, that would increase modability according to their needs, would take place.
I am not complaining that the game did not get support to improve after launch, I just feel that such a move could go a long way to improve the game (with the help of the invictus team) for those of us that enjoy it. Who knows like Vic 2 Imperator could be a founding stone for a future more popular Imperator 2.