Over the past five years, a marked shift has taken place in the development of Paradox Interactive’s grand strategy games. They’ve moved from a focus on history to a focus on historicity — that is, a sterner attempt at historical realism.
Europa Universalis IV was always meant to play out as history played out, but for a long time that meant it eschewed alternate outcomes for those peoples who were not part of the game’s focus — consigning success in Africa or Asia, let alone countries in pre-columbian America, to the domain of those with five or six hundred hours in the game. Nowadays, however, Paradox has begun to ever-more-skillfully strike the balance between a historical outcome and an alternate history driven by their players. Earlier this year, Hearts of Iron IV signaled that the trend would only continue. With the extensive system overhauls in its new expansion, Rights of Man, and the accompanying free 1.18 patch, Europa nearly completes its journey from history to alternate history.
The most important change in the patch overhauls the technology system, fundamentally changing how it spreads and develops. It overhauls cultures too, giving players much-needed control and transparency for that system. The expansion, though, adds lovely, game-deepening features — a couple of unique governments and religious mechanics, adding spice to countries’ rulers, and institutes unique diplomatic abilities and status for the world’s great powers.
For years, playing Europa Universalis IV meant you had to live with a simple fact of life: Certain concessions were made to history, and one of them was going to be that much of the game favors playing a European country. Europe was primed to develop technologies and expand faster than anyone else — so much so that, if you were anyone else, you had to find some Europeans to be your neighbors and then copy their technology. There were exceptions, of course — the Ottomans, Russia — but generally you had to “westernize” to survive and expand. It was a shame. It cut off or constrained interesting ways of playing the game.
In Rights of Man, instead of an arbitrary-seeming technology group defining the cost of progress, there are now seven abstract “Institutions” which appear and spread over the course of a campaign.
Things like Feudalism, The Renaissance, and the Printing Press have their own conditions to appear in the world, then spread outwards into neighboring provinces over time. For each year you don’t have every available institution, your technology costs increase. After a certain percentage of your country has gained the institution, you can embrace it — thereby lowering your tech costs and giving you a snappy little bonus.
The coolest thing about institutions is that you can make them happen for yourself even outside the system. You can check the conditions for them to appear and make sure you’re a candidate for that. You can also — importantly — develop your provinces to spread an institution to them. It’s slow and steady, sure, but you can kick off your own Renaissance in east Asia or southern Africa without waiting for it to spread all the way from Italy. Though the game’s name is Europa Universalis, the technological superiority of Europe is no longer a given.
It’s hard to overstate the potential alternate histories unlocked by removing the yoke that connected geographical region to technology cost. At the same time, the new system does have a satisfying historicity to it that fits the game. Early institutions show up in Europe, but later ones have a broader mandate for appearance — as your history diverges, so can technological development.
Speaking of divergent history, the culture changes that come along here shouldn’t be understated. Which peoples are prominent or oppressed in your empire has never been an obvious mechanic, though it’s important to a number of systems like taxation and rebellion. The new changes to accepted cultures help with that, giving a screen on the menu where you can see all the peoples of your empire — and influence them, deciding which are the upper crust and which are on the outs. For veteran players, it’s one more arrow in the quiver of optimization, while for inexperienced players, it surfaces as a subsystem that often comes as a surprise to overeager conquerors.
Speaking of overeager conquerors, a handful of interesting features from other Paradox grand strategy games make a partial appearance in Rights of Man. A Victoria-esque Great Powers system is a welcome addition, allowing the strongest nations in the world to actually be that on paper — whereas previously they often lacked crucial Power Projection absent nearby rivals to fight. Great Powers also have a suite of unique diplomatic options to work with, though some of them are near-useless outside of the rare multiplayer match — a consistent bugbear that Paradox has yet to conquer.
From Crusader Kings comes a stripped-down version of that game’s leadership mechanics. Rulers now gain unique traits and personalities over time. This applies to the AI too, and influences their behavior — a “Babbling Buffoon” king will insult nearby countries at random, for example. Much cooler, a royal consort system not only removes the pesky regency council mechanics — always obnoxious and game-stalling — but also gives presence to some of the invisible women and men behind the thrones of history. Should a ruler die, the consort Queen (or King!) will now govern until the legitimate heir is old enough to take over. The many empress dowagers of China, for example, are now a possibility in the game.
Europa Universalis expansions often come with a unique mechanic for a few countries or religions, and Rights of Man is no different. The Ottoman Empire’s government now allows the sultan to choose his heir, as was historically done, which keeps the appropriate dynasty on the throne of the empire. Prussians also get a tastefully designed new government reflecting their rich military traditions.
My favorite bits of new flavor are both from religions, though. Coptic Christianity now has a greater goal — resurrect the faith by taking control of holy sites scattered across the Middle East and Africa. For each one a Coptic nation controls, all Coptic countries receive a bonus.
The broadly-defined religious category of much of Africa has been given its own mechanics as well. Regional religious practices are now a choice of Cult that your country’s leader joins, much like worship of a particular god over others is a choice for Hindu countries.
The cool twist comes in reflecting some African religions’ penchant for syncretism. As you encounter other countries with unique religions, their traditions become cults within your own country. This is true not only for other African countries, but for nearly every other religion on the game map. Syncretic cults based on Buddhism, Christianity, and more exist, alongside unique events adding them to your country’s swirling mix of faiths. I love it not just because it’s a satisfying reward for expanding your country, but because it adds a layer of wholly unique storytelling to a part of the world map that didn’t have that yet.
Rights of Man is, along with Art of War, an expansion that I think anyone playing this game should have. Just when I finally thought that I’d gotten rid of it, Rights of Man has reignited my excitement for Europa Universalis, a game I’ve played well over a thousand hours of. If that doesn’t sufficiently summarize my views, well, I’m not sure what else to say.
Wait, no, I need to add one thing: You can now see friendly and enemy armies on the minimap. Thank all the many gods my Empire of Kongo worships.
