Tropico 6

Tropico - the original game - had soul, charm, and was a caricature of a very specific concept - and was nothing like this corporate product. Even Tropico 3 had some of that original spark. Then they started doing the "lulzy" caricatures of people in Tropico 4 which set the tone for the games which followed. Tropico became a caricature of itself. Tropico 5 and Tropico 6 are more or less the same game. The game is completely sanitized, every operation gamified, and every DLC overpriced and seems to be aimed at the R*ddit crowd. I suspect this will be the end of the series as we know it. Next iteration of Tropico will be some kind of free-to-play always online MMORTS where you can buy packs to open for rare items like a new limited edition pipe for your presidente! Don't waste time on this, the developers have no idea what they are doing. Play Tropico 3 or 4 even, or even the original. This used to be a good series of games and now it is a dumpsterfire.

This series just keeps degenerating. They've kept the outward appearances, the music and improved the graphics, but everything about the city building and managing aspect is dumbed down, streamlined or just plain made more boring. It's not even a question of difficulty, all the Tropico games are easy. But there's simply less to do here and less control you have over everything. Why would I play a city builder if I wasn't interested in managing my city? Now they've even gotten rid of the concept of time.

The more this series goes on the more it stays the say or makes crazy decisions to make the games more annoying. Between constantly having to kowtow to the factions who demand you build random building or do other annoying shit all the time and the constant attacks with your brain dead soldier running around like idiots and getting to the figtht way after the building was destroyed. Do you remember when this series was fun?, when it was about being a dictator and being able to do silly things and not have to constantly placate factions, worry about elections and could build an army strong enough to defeat any rebels? Also people still prefer to live in shacks as opposed to all the houses you will build because you dared to try and build your city like an actual city and didnt just spam houses near the places they work.

I've played 3, 4, and 6. The jump from 4 to 6 is worth the purchase. The game feels more polished than ever and mechanically, economically, everything makes sense and progresses well. I mostly play sandbox mode, and with each era the game gets bigger and more difficult. By the late game balancing foreign relations is a bigger challenge than in 4, and foreign threats are more complex than the old Cold War instant loss invasions. However, internal politics are simpler for the first few eras and feel somewhat unfair in the late game. In my view, without these real threats, most of the conflict is gone, and the stakes feel much lower. After 60 hours of gameplay I've never been in danger of a coup or revolt like the old days. Instead I've had games stagnate to embargoes and mismanaged economies. The series has shifted from the Cuban dictator simulator to a more polished city builder, and in the process it has lost some of the character it was built on.

I've played the original Tropico, Tropico 5 with DLCs, and a lot of other city builders over the last three decades. Something about Tropico 6 just hits a happy nerve that makes me want to play it for hours. Of the DLC, I will say that New Frontiers is the most fun since it adds big goals that require a robust island economy to pull off. The festival and the sky one are okay, but the wall street one can make the trade game more fun. I use the Lobbyistico features the least. I didn't bother with Spitter because I hate social media IRL and don't want to deal with in a game. I'm hardly a pro gamer or a critic, but I find myself playing Tropico 6 like I used to play DungeonKeeper, Sicily 2000, and Emperor: Rise of the Middle Kingdom. Some free tips: -The Colleseum is extremely powerful as it reduces the complexity of meeting happiness needs. -Votes are based more heavily on factions than on happiness, so make sure you watch your faction relations. I do social engineering (propaganda, reducing faction pops), but keep the big facs happy if you like a less evil playthrough. -Keep an eye out for imports as well as exports. Especially with the Wall Street add-ons, you can get some good import deals that you can sell through at a profit or use in industry. If your island lacks a resource that you need for industry, find it on the high seas through piracy. It is possible to sustain a factory or two through piracy. -Professional military is nice, but you really need the high school edu wonder to have enough education to pull it off. It can be a good way to employ high school folks if you have a large population of them. -I prefer to cluster my military near my palace, and will often relocate my palace to do this. This guards against surprise raids/revolts. You may also set your troops to guard buildings so they win together rather than die in solo fights. Towers can slow down attackers in key areas until the cavalry arrives.