Summary: This is a great blend of mechanics from multiple PDS grand strategy games and they do a great job capturing the feeling of the era. I have no reservations at all recommending this game to fans of grand strategy games. Here is some context for those of you who are hardcore Paradox strategy players. I currently have about 50 hours in Imperator: Rome. I've played a few hundred hours in Europa Universalis, around a hundred in Stellaris, and about six hundred hours in Crusader Kings 2. Stability: The review build was remarkably stable. I never had any issues with crashing or disconnecting in singleplayer or multiplayer. The game takes a similar amount of time to start up as other Clausewitz engine titles, but it's extremely fast once you get to the menu and start a new game or load a save file. If you're a fan of CK2, the kingdoms and settled tribes in this will be a good transition, with politics and character management. The new character portrait system is a huge upgrade and I'm looking forward to seeing it when the next Crusader Kings title rolls around. If you're a fan of Stellaris, the population management will feel familiar but is still different enough to be fresh and will take some time to learn. I'm still sinking my teeth into this and learning new ways to optimize with every game. For EU IV fans, you get to paint the most beautiful and detailed map I've yet seen in a strategy title. Gone are the days of building a simple 40 inf / 40 artillery stack and just using that army template to conquer the world. There's a huge variety of units and you need to customize your composition and your tactics to counter your opponents, so it pays to have a large variety of troops to face opponents of different cultures and in different terrain. Also, with all of the different ways to min-max your economy, you actually have things to do while your AE dies down. This might be my new favorite Paradox title. I'll know for sure in 500 hours or so.
