14 DAY TRIAL // Austria needs more good royal marriages. The idea is to push for more personal unions and lead them, gaining more power in Europe and more partners. The Ottomans aren’t the massive power they started as but can be threatening. And we also have to contain France or even battle a future united state in the Italian peninsula.
Being the leader of the Holy Roman Empire helps, although resources are required to keep electors happy and threats at bay. The mission tree also encourages diplomatic domination and strong internal development. That means Austria should stay at peace, keep neighbors mostly happy, and develop a web of alliances.
With historical hindsight, it’s easy to remember that the Reformation will throw a spanner in the works. A few well-placed colonies would also offer a good advantage. But for the next 50 to 80 years, let’s gain strength using mostly diplomats and trade.
Europa Universalis IV: Winds of Change is developed by Paradox Development Studio and Paradox Tinto, with publishing handled by Paradox Interactive. This is the most recent downloadable content pack for the grand strategy title. It’s a big package that refreshes a wide range of nations.
The focus is on the big empires of Central America, unprepared for the coming European invasions, middle Europe, dealing with the upheavals associated with the Reformation, and the core of Asia, where the Mongol legacy can be a heavy burden. Many countries get new mission trees and associated tweaks to ideas, internal politics, and reforms.
The DLC adds no big new mechanic, but it delivers unique touches for Austria, Hungary, Bohemia, Venice, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, the Mughals and Timurids, other post-Mongol hordes, Byzantine pretenders, as well as Inca Empire, Aztecs, and Mayans. There’s a lot of variety that accommodates plenty of play styles.
The structure of Europa Universalis IV is unchanged. Gamers are in charge of internal development, trade, diplomacy, and warfare. Internal stability is crucial, as is solid provincial development. Warfare is all about force composition and zones of control. It helps to have a good alliance network to at least keep the bigger powers out of the fight.
Winds of Change is best experienced initially in Europe, where Austria has always been a favorite of mine. Playing as the Mughals is also very interesting, and Asia also offers options for horde lovers. The three South American empires are more difficult, with a different set of challenges.
The associated free 1.37 patch also does important work. It rebuilds the generic and shared mission trees and updates map sections. This should make playing all more nations interesting. There’s also a raft of other tweaks, balance changes, and bug fixes.
Europa Universalis IV: Winds of Change adds new units and improves mission tree looks for the featured nations, but these are small improvements to a grand strategy title that’s starting to show its age. It’s not bad looking but the interface isn’t always helpful, especially for players returning to the game after a significant pause. The soundtrack continues to the pretty good.
Conclusion
With the next title in the series getting Developer Diaries, this probably is the penultimate expansion for EU IV. It’s impressive how it manages to enhance the player experience without adding mechanics. Winds of Change is good enough to bring back lapsed fans and should serve as a model for future content releases for grand strategy titles.
Review key provided by the publisher.
