This game is amazing. The others have said it, the almost flawless rating speak for themselves. However it has one huge flaw, which is game-breaking for me: there is no manual save. I mean, the game is meant to be played at a leasurly pace, diligently gathering, exploring, making use of the full game day. Ideally a full day lasts about 15-30 minutes (often pausing the game to think, craft, manage the inventory, look at the map, recipes, relationships, etc.). However some of us are on a tighter schedule. I have an infant son and I only get playnig time once he's asleep. Now, if he wakes I have to go almost immediately. It would be great if I could just save, quit and go, putting him and myself to sleep as well. But as there is no manual save, every in-game night there is a struggle. Do I have another 20 minutes? Sometimes I just quit because I'm not sure, wasting much of the precious playing time. Why for heaven's sake should this be an issue in 2016 PC gaming??? The stupides game design I've ever seen. Additionally, if you read about it on steam, there is a bug, when the game just doesn't save, so you sometimes lose full in-game days. This could also be mitigated by quicksave system.
In short: Europa Universalis series is one of the rare franchese where successive titles actually improved overall. If you have a lot of time and patience, I suggest starting with this one, to experience the progress. If you are put off by less-than-fancy graphics, please start with III or IV, just don't miss it altogther. I still remember fondly buying the game (in a retail store! in a paper box! with a manual printed on paper!), then getting my head around it. I invested a lot into understanding the manual and the game - English is not my native language and I was still learning it in school - but it was worth it. I had tons of fun and my grade in history has improved drastically.
This game is incredible, it gave me the most satisfying gaming experience in the past years. I won't repeat the arguments here. The graphics are good, the setting is amazing, the sounds are OK, but it is the self-reliant, boundless quality that sets this title apart from the rest. In this game, you are not given anything for free. The game gets easier or harder only because how you play it. As you get better at orientation, exploration is getting easier. Once you are familiar with exploration, you can choose to play the game as safe or as risky as you wish. You progress because your own orientation skills are getting better, not because the game showers you with power-ups. I really liked this game and was willing to overlook its few flaws (mainly technical), because it is such a rewarding experience.
