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Even by paradoxical standards, Victoria 3 will be an unusually complex game and one that has a completely different focus than, for example, Hearts of Iron 4 or Stellar is. Because wars play a supporting role in Victoria 3, the focus is on economic and social progress, for which you have to master complex interlocking game systems: raw material production and processing, trade, domestic politics and so on.
Michael »Grand Duke« Graf talks to two experts in the podcast about what is so much fun about it that Paradox had to use the crowbar to tear us away from a preview version of Victoria 3:
- our Paradox expert Reiner Hauserwho, after more than 2,500 hours of play in Europa Universalis 4, can operate its menus in his sleep and has already written a detailed preview of Victoria 3 for GameStar Plus.
- and stone wallsthe on Twitch and Youtube prefers historical strategy games denies and in his Let’s Play von Crusader Kings 3 just conquered Iberia… as a Provençal nudist.
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Together we talk about the fascination of Victoria 3, but also about the things that we still dislike – such as the diplomatic failures of the AI nations and the soporific warfare. In general, we would like to see more fine-tuning in some places – for example, Micha’s small Grand Duchy of Baden conquered all of Belgium with a trick that shouldn’t have been possible.
It remains to be seen how much paradox can still grind before the release of Victoria 3 on October 25th. Some problems have therefore already been solved (e.g. French landing companies in East Prussia), others would require deeper interventions in the game mechanics, which are probably no longer possible.
Balancing will also be decisive for Victoria 3. From what we’ve seen in the preview, we think Victoria 3 will be a lot of fun at launch, but Paradox will have a lot of follow-up work to do.
The good thing is that this rework also happens, Paradox is known for continuing to refine games for years after release (except Imperator: Rome, sniff). At PDXCon, the Paradox in-house exhibition, Reiner was even able to chat with the developers about possible DLC plans for Victoria 3.
Not only that, but Reiner and Steinwallen are also bringing Crusader Kings 3 and Stellaris news from PDXCon. Because Paradox has taken up the cause of an AI offensive that should finally make our opponents in both titles more sane…
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