Suzerain

A great day that requires your attention. If you can devote some time to getting lost in the world, it's one of the deepest political games I've played. Highly recommend.

Quite simply, I would call Suzerain more of an "experience" than a video game. As a fan of narrative adventures and text-heavy RPGs with serious choice and consequence (Disco Elysium, Pentiment, Torment: Tides of Numenera, Telltale Games, etc.) Suzerian far exceeded my expectations. Never in a videogame have I agonized so much, and so often, over my decisions. The level of nuance and gray area contained in this game is almost overwhelming - your ideals WILL be compromised; your moral compass WILL be challenged; the 'right' way is rarely ever the 'best way'... If you want to feel the emotional weight of running a developing, but unstable 2nd world nation - in the midst of greater international turmoil and maneuverings - Suzerain is absolutely a game not to miss.

A refreshingly innovative choose your own adventure style interactive political novel. The characters and story were very mature and well written. This is a great recommendation for non-gamers who like to read. The reason I only give 4 stars was the poorly developed combat system which seemed arbitrary and did not give me any reason why I lost the war. Some voice acting could also have helped break up all the reading although I understand it probably wasn't available due to budget. This is essentially an interactive novel that would be great to consume over a long plane/train trip due to the complex plot and lots of reading. Pros - Refreshingly innovative game concept - Excellent political narrative story and richly developed characters - Great atmosphere, music, map, UI Cons - Arbitrary combat system

I really wanted to like this game. And the first time I played it I did. The problems started on the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th times when the process of reading all the same dialogue over and over again became tedious and outcomes I was trying to achieve seemed impossible to get without a step-by-step guide. Frequently a decision made in Turn 3 will completely screw you over but you won't find out until Turn 8, which would be fine if that didn't mean having to go back and replay ALL those turns in between again. I get that not knowing what precisely your decisions will do adds a degree of suspense to the game but it would be nice if there was perhaps a toggle that displayed future outcomes next to decisions after completing the game once. As it is I'm unlikely to bother playing this game again without a guide to guarantee the outcomes I want, and since most of the guides out there are for Reformist Capitalist playthroughs I probably just won't play it again period.

The setting appears authentic and allows you to take in important facts and details step by step. You also feel in-character while mainting personal connections which, in one way or another, play into your poltical manoeuvres as well. As a sidenote: The aethetic suits the setting well and reading is made easier due to clear fonts and sensible contrasts - good for you as a player as you will read a lot.