Victoria II was one of the first games I bought on GOG. I now have 1000 hours or so invested in it 2.5 years later. I have never played any of the many mods out there. At some point I will add GFM, TGC, DoD, etc. but this review only concerns the game as can be purchased. Let's start with the bad. You need Heart of Darkness DLC. That means too much money even when on sale. Some game details, such as coloring and fonts are poorly chosen. For example, moving a National Focus from one province to another requires reading small light green lettering on the province names. It is unnecessarily difficult to read. Big bold black lettering would have been an obvious choice. Bigger issues are more abstract. The game is difficult to master. You'll quit many playthroughs as you slowly learn. War and economy management is tedious, even frustrating. Some historical actions are rather railroaded, like immigration. National flavor is reserved for only the big boys. The beginning Great Powers (other than the Ottomans) are too easy with correct play. Now the Good. The game is fun and, if you like stats and map painting, rather addictive. The graphics are simple but attractive. Create (if you can) one of the formable nations like Poland-Lithuania, The Byzantine Empire or Gran Colombia. Play as a smaller nation or as a releasable colony. I especially enjoy South Africa and Australia. If I want a bigger challenge, Greater Java, which includes Sumatra. Japan is uncivilized but powerful and with real chances. Victoria II with HoD has its limitations and I only play a handful of nations...but I find enjoyment in building my imperial realm, watching my accepted pops grow in number and spread from the homeland, seeing how the SIM expands other empires in endless permutations. I'll look at the clock and realize I've lost a few hours. That's what gaming is all about - having some fun and forgetting about the real world for a while. Victoria II does the job on both.
I bought the original when it came in 7 (3.5) discs. Still have them (along with the original manual, spellbook and map) although I no longer have a machine that can load such an ancient format. I use the CD version I bought a few years later that contained the last patches. I still play the game today and I might have 3000 hours in by now. A lot of others have detailed the game so I won't add to those already excellent descriptions. Here;s the bottom line. The graphics are from 1992, the combat is less than ideal and the overall game is maybe the best of all time for its genre. This is worth buying...and in 25 years, you'll still be playing it too.
