izigame.me

This is not the same game that had that rough start in 2019. The successor of Europa Universalis: Rome, a game that was ignored by most of Paradox Interactive's legions of fanatics (to be honest, the game had some serious issues – that made it borderline unplayable – that the Gold Edition eventually corrected), it had a similar reception when it originally came out: one of indifference and frustration. It seems that it was doomed to be perpetually compared to its older, more mature (read: fleshed-out) brothers: Crusader Kings II, Europa Universalis IV and Hearts of Iron IV. This comparison was partly warranted as it seems that it didn’t know what it wanted to be. It didn’t have the WW2 game’s military attention to detail, it lacked the profound personal relationships that Crusader Kings exploits and it was short of EU’s complex events. A “meh” medium.
But here comes the 2.0 Marius Update out of the blue, when most players had abandoned the game. And it managed to rework every aspect of the game and it even excels at creating a very entertaining mix of both military conflict management and internal and international political strife. The military progress, domestic growth, diplomacy options, foreign affairs, technology choices, research, Great Wonders (provided you have the Heirs of Alexander DLC), personal relationships… they all make sense now, and are actually fun! All these overhauls remade the game into something which is at last, cohesive and ultimately, fun to play. So, if you played the game when it originally came out, or if it’s your very first time, give it an honest chance! Don't compare it with any other Paradox games. You’ll be pleasantly surprised. The historical setting is nicely shaped and you’ll quickly discover that this game is a lot more entertaining to play than you originally thought. The update saved Imperator: Rome in the same way Gaius Marius arguably saved the late Roman Republic... (or was it Sulla?)