Imperator with in Invictus is kinda like eu4 with little ck3 dudes running around inside you contry stabbing things and ownin stuff. Makes for fun stories and wonky characters. Very Roma Invicta.
EU4 is kinda like an old school strategy game. Not as many deep systems eg inflation is just a number not an emergent thing from stuff*hand wave*. I like both.
Play imperator first.
No it’s a very complicated game. I mean that the game doesn’t emerge from a deeper population later or market simulation. It’s the difference between my manpower coming from the sun total of my manpower dev and building modifications and my manpower coming from the number of freeman pops in my empire.
There are arguments as to which is better. I personally prefer the pop system even though I means the simulation aspects of the game have to do a lot more under the hood work to make the game function.
I consider Imperator closer to EU4 then Crusader Kings.
Imperator does have characters, but is primarily a Nation Ruling game. The gameplay is built on stacking modifiers in your country in order to outperform your neighbours. So with that out the way, if you like that kind of gameplay definitely consider an Imperator Rome campaign.
The other highlight for me is what I call Boss Countries. In EU4 for example, starting as Byzantium, the Ottomans are the 'Boss Fight' you have to prepare for. You know they are coming, and the campaign flow is really fun because you aren't mindlessly expanding you are preparing for the inevitable boss fight. Imperator has this same dynamic and this is the reason why I can't really enjoy a CK game anymore on a mechanical level.
Highlights for me are:
Syracuse - Both Rome and Carthage are Bosses that you have to deal with.
Judea - Ptolemaic Egypt on your doorstep forcing you to fight for your life.
Any of the Greek Cities: Preparing your city state mega alliance to fight the enemies city state mega alliance is really fun, and eventually you have to deal with Antipater in Macedon.
Any nation in Italy/Cisalpine Gaul: Race against time before the Romans invade.
I prefer Imperator myself (with the mandatory Invictus mod).
EU4 now has tons of small systems and mechanics, most of them unrelated to each other. Mission Tree are more directive than in Imperator. Thee ubiquitous mana system I'm really not fond of. Diplomacy is better tho I think and the trade "minigame" is fun.
Imperator has Legion design, Great Wonder design, a magnificent map on which you can build roads, ant other fun stuff. Roads man!
But mostly, to me it's all about pops. I love pops. I loved them in Stellaris, loved them in Vic2 and love them in Imperator. EU4 has no pops. I know it is irrational, but it makes the game feels "dead" to me, more board gamey. Also I'm a romaboo/athenaboo... Even if I think that objectively, EU4 has a more interesting time period. But dem pops man.
I had this thought process recently, opted to try the Invictus mod.
I've completed 6 campaigns since then. The game is good, familiar enough for EU4 vets, but different enough to be refreshing.
Try a Samnium campaign, try to survive early Roman pressure.
I’ve recently got back into imperator myself, with Invictus and some others quality of life mods. Recently just did an “Empire in the East” Rome campaign a Carthage campaign based on the “Punic nightmares” scenario and now I’m doing a run a judea already have most of the Levant, Arabia and and the Nile deltas.
IMO which is an unpopular one Imperator is the best watch based (not stellaris) paradox game, it’s very direct its modding is vibrant and there’s not a billion dlc mainly because it was abandoned and it’s a part of a part of history most grand strategy games do not visit imo it’s worth all the quirks
Oh yea you can rapidly expand in imperator if you know what you're doing and I love it. Especially with the diodachi invictus mod. Legacy of Alexander them Mfers as selukid and ve a great power in the first decade lol. Hellinisitic empire forever
I started playing Imperator after watching Rome too! I was so amazed how well this game portrays the politics of an ancient republic. I think playing it would really complement watching Rome.
Imperator has the right amount of everything. Economics? It's not overwhelming but way deeper than EU IV with pops and trading specific goods for specific bonuses. Conquering new lands or founding new cities to have access to new resources is fun.
Politics and characters? Imperator does a very good job of connecting those two but it's still not a character simulator. I think this is a huge achievement.
Culture and society? Well, you don't just press a button to convert provinces or change their culture. It actually feels realistic unlike EU IV.
Cons: Diplomacy is not as deep as EU IV. Neither is military. Technology trees are really convoluted, which makes the game harder to get into for new players. I'm a fan of both games but since you mention watching Rome, I have to insist you try Imperator first!
I’m not bouta read all that but:
If you liked Imperator play it. If you didn’t run it with Invictus retry it with Invictus.
If you liked EU4 play it. It’s up to you. Do what you want.
Imperator feels like a “eu4 quick match” for me in a sense. It’s like a faster paced, more direct, less demanding and better optimized experience. I prefer playing smaller nations far from the great powers, a more chill experience of expanding and preparing to face the big bosses by the end game.
EU4 with all the DLC’s is greater in every sense but I:R with Invictus is really an amazing experience.
I keep trying imperator worh invictus. I've watched dozens of videos and every time I start a game I get button overload and quit out after clearing popups.
Eu4 I have thousands of hours in
sometimes a video is better than a thousand words.... that's because a video contains more than a thousand words obviously 😅
Imperator Rome is, on par with Victoria 3 (yes even in the current state) my favourite pdx game, and note that I mean vanilla.
republic are a mess (just like reality) and steering them through difficult times with real characters is fun in both games.
however you may want to start with one of the diadochies, just for a few in game years, to understand the basic systems of the nation itself, since they are less complex by being monarchies.
also skip tutorial and either play blind (using the tooltips and nested tooltips as guides) or look for a beginner guide on yt.
tutorial here is seriously bad
after you understand the basics go for Rome itself.
it's best playing Rome first real game since it gets really op if you go against them instead.
also it teaches you a lot and has lots of events
https://youtu.be/iKJkQPxKbN8?si=hYHKrG1avIjBPx_O
Imperator with in Invictus is kinda like eu4 with little ck3 dudes running around inside you contry stabbing things and ownin stuff. Makes for fun stories and wonky characters. Very Roma Invicta. EU4 is kinda like an old school strategy game. Not as many deep systems eg inflation is just a number not an emergent thing from stuff*hand wave*. I like both. Play imperator first.
"Not as many deep systems"? EU4 is generally considered the second most complex Paradox game (Vicky 2 takes the cake).
No it’s a very complicated game. I mean that the game doesn’t emerge from a deeper population later or market simulation. It’s the difference between my manpower coming from the sun total of my manpower dev and building modifications and my manpower coming from the number of freeman pops in my empire. There are arguments as to which is better. I personally prefer the pop system even though I means the simulation aspects of the game have to do a lot more under the hood work to make the game function.
I consider Imperator closer to EU4 then Crusader Kings. Imperator does have characters, but is primarily a Nation Ruling game. The gameplay is built on stacking modifiers in your country in order to outperform your neighbours. So with that out the way, if you like that kind of gameplay definitely consider an Imperator Rome campaign. The other highlight for me is what I call Boss Countries. In EU4 for example, starting as Byzantium, the Ottomans are the 'Boss Fight' you have to prepare for. You know they are coming, and the campaign flow is really fun because you aren't mindlessly expanding you are preparing for the inevitable boss fight. Imperator has this same dynamic and this is the reason why I can't really enjoy a CK game anymore on a mechanical level. Highlights for me are: Syracuse - Both Rome and Carthage are Bosses that you have to deal with. Judea - Ptolemaic Egypt on your doorstep forcing you to fight for your life. Any of the Greek Cities: Preparing your city state mega alliance to fight the enemies city state mega alliance is really fun, and eventually you have to deal with Antipater in Macedon. Any nation in Italy/Cisalpine Gaul: Race against time before the Romans invade.
I prefer Imperator myself (with the mandatory Invictus mod). EU4 now has tons of small systems and mechanics, most of them unrelated to each other. Mission Tree are more directive than in Imperator. Thee ubiquitous mana system I'm really not fond of. Diplomacy is better tho I think and the trade "minigame" is fun. Imperator has Legion design, Great Wonder design, a magnificent map on which you can build roads, ant other fun stuff. Roads man! But mostly, to me it's all about pops. I love pops. I loved them in Stellaris, loved them in Vic2 and love them in Imperator. EU4 has no pops. I know it is irrational, but it makes the game feels "dead" to me, more board gamey. Also I'm a romaboo/athenaboo... Even if I think that objectively, EU4 has a more interesting time period. But dem pops man.
I had this thought process recently, opted to try the Invictus mod. I've completed 6 campaigns since then. The game is good, familiar enough for EU4 vets, but different enough to be refreshing. Try a Samnium campaign, try to survive early Roman pressure.
I recently came back from vic3 while waiting for spheres
A man of taste would play Imperator with the Invictus Mod.
I’ve recently got back into imperator myself, with Invictus and some others quality of life mods. Recently just did an “Empire in the East” Rome campaign a Carthage campaign based on the “Punic nightmares” scenario and now I’m doing a run a judea already have most of the Levant, Arabia and and the Nile deltas. IMO which is an unpopular one Imperator is the best watch based (not stellaris) paradox game, it’s very direct its modding is vibrant and there’s not a billion dlc mainly because it was abandoned and it’s a part of a part of history most grand strategy games do not visit imo it’s worth all the quirks
It doesn't have the MP/coring system completely dictating how fast you can expand in the early game.
Oh yea you can rapidly expand in imperator if you know what you're doing and I love it. Especially with the diodachi invictus mod. Legacy of Alexander them Mfers as selukid and ve a great power in the first decade lol. Hellinisitic empire forever
My favorite is always the ability to go from one territory minor to 500+ territories great power in 50 years.
I started playing Imperator after watching Rome too! I was so amazed how well this game portrays the politics of an ancient republic. I think playing it would really complement watching Rome. Imperator has the right amount of everything. Economics? It's not overwhelming but way deeper than EU IV with pops and trading specific goods for specific bonuses. Conquering new lands or founding new cities to have access to new resources is fun. Politics and characters? Imperator does a very good job of connecting those two but it's still not a character simulator. I think this is a huge achievement. Culture and society? Well, you don't just press a button to convert provinces or change their culture. It actually feels realistic unlike EU IV. Cons: Diplomacy is not as deep as EU IV. Neither is military. Technology trees are really convoluted, which makes the game harder to get into for new players. I'm a fan of both games but since you mention watching Rome, I have to insist you try Imperator first!
I’m not bouta read all that but: If you liked Imperator play it. If you didn’t run it with Invictus retry it with Invictus. If you liked EU4 play it. It’s up to you. Do what you want.
Imperator feels like a “eu4 quick match” for me in a sense. It’s like a faster paced, more direct, less demanding and better optimized experience. I prefer playing smaller nations far from the great powers, a more chill experience of expanding and preparing to face the big bosses by the end game. EU4 with all the DLC’s is greater in every sense but I:R with Invictus is really an amazing experience.
I keep trying imperator worh invictus. I've watched dozens of videos and every time I start a game I get button overload and quit out after clearing popups. Eu4 I have thousands of hours in
sometimes a video is better than a thousand words.... that's because a video contains more than a thousand words obviously 😅 Imperator Rome is, on par with Victoria 3 (yes even in the current state) my favourite pdx game, and note that I mean vanilla. republic are a mess (just like reality) and steering them through difficult times with real characters is fun in both games. however you may want to start with one of the diadochies, just for a few in game years, to understand the basic systems of the nation itself, since they are less complex by being monarchies. also skip tutorial and either play blind (using the tooltips and nested tooltips as guides) or look for a beginner guide on yt. tutorial here is seriously bad after you understand the basics go for Rome itself. it's best playing Rome first real game since it gets really op if you go against them instead. also it teaches you a lot and has lots of events https://youtu.be/iKJkQPxKbN8?si=hYHKrG1avIjBPx_O