Reviews by Air H.

Stellaris: Apocalypse
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A great, fun expansion!

- The marauders provide a fun obstacle in the early game and their event chain is interesting and can go in many ways.
- Blowing up planets is, if a bit wasteful, a lot of fun.
- Titans are basically capital ships of a fleet, very strong and important, if a bit too restrictive imo- they could use more unique weapons.
- The new music tracks are amazing.
- The new unity ambitions is a great addition to the end-game.
Why 4 stars then? Well, I'd rather wait for a sale on this one, only get it if you really like what I just listed here.

by Air H., Latvia - Jul 5th 2018

Europa Universalis IV: Res Publica
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Small, cheap expansion

It adds a few new government mechanics for a select few nations (iirc it was Poland, Venice and Netherlands) and if you play those kind of nations, I'd recommend you pick this one up- it is pretty cheap after all. Otherwise, outside of republics, it doesn't add much really, except the national focus feature, which you can already get in Common Sense.

by Air H., Latvia - Jul 5th 2018

Stellaris: Distant Stars Story Pack
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Like events, story? Get this!

If you want more events, more flavour and more interesting things to explore in your game, I definitely recommend this story pack! There isn't much to say otherwise without spoiling things.

by Air H., Latvia - Jul 5th 2018

Europa Universalis IV: Cradle of Civilization Collection
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Middle East expansion

This expansion adds trade policies (a nice feature), expands the muslim religion in interesting ways by adding "schools of thought" which you could think of as sub-religions- be friendly with a nation of a different school and you can get their unique bonuses! Army professionalism isn't as game-changing as you would think, but it still a nice feature. If you like to play in the Middle East, I would definitely get this expansion!

by Air H., Latvia - Jul 5th 2018

Hearts of Iron IV: Waking the Tiger
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Great expansion- but get it on a sale.

This expansion gives you the ability to modify general traits, which is really important in my experience. There are other smaller features added, otherwise it is mainly focuses trees for China and modified alt-history focus trees for Japan and Germany- and especially for Germany, the alt-history focus tree is a lot of fun, and playing in China is also fun, though before the newest update (1.5.4) it was plagued by some big problems but it should be fine now. I'd recommend this expansion to anyone interested in the Asian region and even if not then- for Germany alt-focus tree and general traits.

by Air H., Latvia - Jul 5th 2018

Europa Universalis IV: Mandate of Heaven
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Amazing expansion

Not only does this expansion add a lot of unique mechanics to the Asian region (Mandate of Heaven, Japanese shogunate mechanics), it also adds 3 global features: the ages which give you amazing bonuses and incentivize you to go for their goals, prosperity which awards having a region not experience the horrors of war and makes fortifying even more important, and the diplomatic macro-builder: an amazing tool for figuring out who you can ally and automating your diplomats!

by Air H., Latvia - Jul 5th 2018

Stellaris: Synthetic Dawn Story Pack
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A great and fun expansion if you like robots

This expansion allows you to play as a special type of an empire- a machine empire. There are 3 unique types of them (Rogue Servitors, who are basically machines keeping people as pets and making sure they are happy; Driven Assimilators, who want to assimilate other beings into their hive-mind and Determined Exterminators, who just want all biological life to die. Machine lives are cool though) and one standard type, which is is pretty fun in itself. It also adds advisor voices (which are nice and add a bit of flavour), new machine portraits and a Fallen Machine Empire. I'd recommend getting this story pack if you want to primarely play as a machine empire, otherwise it is just a bit of flavour and not necessary at all.

by Air H., Latvia - Feb 3rd 2018

Stellaris: Leviathans Story Pack
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Great Story Pack

This expansion adds 3 major things: Enclaves, War in Heaven and Guardians. The enclaves are stations with unique aliens that you can do different things, depending on their type (Traders, Curators and Cultural?) which give you nice bonuses and add a bit of flavour. The War in Heaven is when two fallen empires basically start a Galactic World War because of their hate over each other- I haven't had this event personally fire for me yet, so I can't tell you much, but from what I read, it is pretty fun and exciting. The Guardians are the big thing in this story pack, basically bosses you can fight in the galaxy for great rewards. Overall, I would recommend this story pack to everyone, as it adds a great ammount of flavour and fun in the game.

by Air H., Latvia - Feb 3rd 2018

Hearts of Iron IV: Together for Victory
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Little expensive, but good expansion for UK/Commonwealth

This expansion adds focus trees to almost all of the Commonwealth countries and adds a new autonomy system, making playing as them fun: and managing puppets as UK is also pretty important. You also get the spearhead battleplan command and the expanded battle log- which are nice. I'd recommend getting this on sale.

by Air H., Latvia - Dec 24th 2017

Hearts of Iron IV: Death or Dishonor
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It's nice, but very small

The expansion adds a focus tree to a few EU minors, and they are good and fun and add replay value to those countries- the other thing you get is the expanded Puppet system for fascists- and it also adds new music and art. I'd recommend getting this on sale if you like what the expansion offers and are planning to play with the new trees.

by Air H., Latvia - Dec 24th 2017

Endless Legend - Shadows DLC
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Pretty good DLC if you wanted more "stealth" in your 4X

This expansion adds a new espionage system with spies who can infiltrate enemy cities and give them debuffs- while you will rarely use this naturally if you are winning, it is a good way to catch up if needed or weaken an equal foe.
The new faction Shadows takes this to a new level- they are very fun to play with, having stealth on ALL their units (enemies can't see your units on the map unless you are next to them) and having dust replace their science definitely make them a unique playthrough to be had. I fully recommend this expansion, especially so on sale.

by Air H., Latvia - Dec 20th 2017

Endless Legend - Guardians DLC
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Small, but good

While this DLC doesn't have a major "feature" outside of the guardians, which are pretty fun in their own right, and games will be decided by who has them. Their strength varies, for example, the first one you get is pretty weak compared to all the others, but it has it's unique abilities.
The other thing this adds is "Cooperative and Competitive" quests, as well as Technology Deeds- these are special things you must do for a reward, and it incetivizes rushing them to get ahead of your opponents. It's very good, especially in multiplayer. And the legendary buildings are... eh. I like them, but most of the time Cultists will get them, which is a great thing for them, but others? You are out of luck. Other than certain factions having a very big advantage of getting them, I like the system. It's like Civ V wonders.

by Air H., Latvia - Dec 20th 2017

Europa Universalis IV: El Dorado
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Like playing as a colonizer? This is for you! Don't? How about making your own n

El Dorado is an expansion to the colonizing aspect of the game- making it less tedious and more fun overall. However, the most major feature here is custom nations. You can make your own nation with their own ideas, flags, colour, unit look and ruler. This adds a lot of replayability to an already big game- I recommend this for everyone who likes EU4. It's not necessary, but it is very good.

by Air H., Latvia - Dec 20th 2017

Stellaris
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4X/Empire Simulator from Paradox

This is a 4X game with the Paradox spin on it. This means really in-depth systems can be found in this game- though a bit less in-depth than their other games, it is really fun to make your own empire- whether it be the Democratic Defenders of the Galaxy or the No Xenos must live sort of empire, you will like this game. It has it's flaws, but it is getting a really big update semi-soon: I recommend looking up more on that if you aren't sure on getting the game. If you like Paradox games and 4X- I think you will enjoy this one too.

by Air H., Latvia - Dec 20th 2017

Europa Universalis IV: Mare Nostrum
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Naval DLC

This DLC mostly focus on naval aspect of the game and other small things. While the naval missions are nice, the DLC doesn't really add a lot- except the timeline, which is nice. However, for multiplayer, this is an expansion I really recommend. If you play singleplayer, this should be pretty low on your list of what DLCs to get.

by Air H., Latvia - Dec 20th 2017

Europa Universalis IV: The Cossacks
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Better Hordes + Revamped Diplomacy

This expansion focuses on two things: hordes and diplomacy. Hordes get a few nifty things, such as horde unity, which replaces legimitacy and forces them to raze down provinces to keep it high. The diplomacy aspect is the more appealing of the expansion: it changes the way alliances work with a "Favor" system and adds estates (esentially factions in your country). They are good and fun additions, though the estates are a bit disappointing and the "favor" system is a bit controversial. Look up a bit on this DLC if you want to know more, though I would personally recommend it. -1 star for having "give province to vassal" in this DLC though- that is really stupid and it should be free.

by Air H., Latvia - Dec 20th 2017

Europa Universalis IV: Wealth of Nations
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Nice to have

This is one of the cheaper DLCs for EU4, and it shows- it doesn't add a lot except for improved "Reformed" faith mechanics and some other nice things for trade nations- nothing too notable. Look up the features more in-depth and decide for yourself if you want it. My recommendation is it's good to get on sale.

by Air H., Latvia - Dec 20th 2017

Hearts of Iron IV
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Thrilling WW2 Simulator

I just started playing HOI4 and I am absolutely loving it- the production system that you use to make your "war resources" (like guns, because you need guns for soldiers, duh), the preparation for WW2 (which is a period where you carefully decide what you do and prepare to attack/defend in 1939, or even faster if you are Germany, or later), the battle plan system is great, though you do have to micro-manage it a bit to go your way. I recommend this game to any paradox fans and WW2 fans who like strategy games.

by Air H., Latvia - Dec 20th 2017

Europa Universalis IV
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A great game for strategy fans looking for a very deep experience

At the moment of writing this review, I have put 85 hours into EU4 and I have enjoyed every single minute of it. While it can take a good time to wrap your head around (even now I am still not sure I am using the games very deep systems to their full potential), the amount of options you are presented will make any strategy fan excited.
There is a huge amount of DLCs for this game, though most of them are cosmetic- out of the main expansions, the ones I'd recommend you get are Common Sense, Art of War and Rights of Man. While the game is playable without them, it would be best to either revert to a previous version or play only in Europe (even then, without AoW transfer occupation, it is quite annoying).
If you can get past the DLC and the steep learning curve, the game will be a blast, and I can fully recommend it to anyone. -1 star for the DLCs however.

by Air H., Latvia - Nov 19th 2017

Europa Universalis IV: Art of War
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A great expansion (and a necessary one)

This is one of the highest recommended expansions for EU4, and for a good reason- it boasts a lot of improvements to war and it's related systems. It is necessary however for one key feature: transfer occupation. It will change your experience with the game a lot. Other main feature would be the League War, which will make playing in the HRE region of Europe really interesting. The other features are a nice addition as well. (Templates, Sortie from siege, etc.) -1 star for keeping transfer occupation in a DLC however.

by Air H., Latvia - Nov 19th 2017

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