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The latest immersion pack for the sprawling historical strategy sandbox will give the nations of Iberia new toys to play with and flavor for their vast overseas colonies.

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These days, Europa Universalis IV is a rather different beast than it was at launch. Years of free patches, DLC and content have transformed the game into something that has a little of something for everyone. Every time new content is announced, a very vocal part of the community asks if the relatively-neglected Iberian region will get its turn to shine. With Golden Century, it looks like Paradox is seeking to cater to its fans.

The developer diaries for this latest DLC show that the lion’s share of changes will involve the Iberian region and its Muslim neighbors in North Africa. The map has been tweaked and both national ideas and missions have been added to the nations there. Things like new holy orders like the Franciscans and a rework of colonial regions (and the missions of potential breakaway countries like Mexico) have also made it in.

Have a look at the official features listed:

  • Minority Expulsion: Settle your distant colonies with homeland minorities, promoting greater cohesion at home, while adding more diversity to your subject nations.
  • Establish Orders: Iberian nations can appoint Jesuit, Franciscan or Dominican clerics to govern their states to reduce unrest or ease conversion..
  • New Mission Trees: New missions and objectives for the nations of Iberia and Northwest Africa, including Spain and Andalucia.
  • Pirate Republics: Play as or combat against pirate nations in dangerous sea zones, with their own flavor and game style.
  • Flagships: Appoint a Flagship to lead your navy, adding combat and trade power to your fleets.
  • Naval Barrage: Use your ships to help besiege coastal forts by bombarding the walls.
  • New Iberian Army Units: 20 unique infantry units for Granada/Andalucia, Navarra, Leon/Galicia, Salé and Pirates.
  • New Iberian Ship Models: 17 new ship models for the Iberian nations (Portugal, Spain, Aragon, Navarra, Galicia, Leon, Andalucia and Granada.)
  • New Berber Ship Models: 17 new ship models for Berber nations (Morocco, Tlemcen, Algiers, Tunis, Fezzan, Mzab, Toggourt, Djerid, Tripoli, Tafilalt, Sus, Fez, Salé.)
  • New Music: 10 to 12 minutes of original music inspired by the discovery of the New World.

Pirate Republics might seem a little out of place but the vast treasure fleets of Spain and Portugal were juicy targets for privateers and brigands of all sorts. I’m not sure how fun it’ll be to play these new countries but it’s certainly something different to the usual EU fare. The Barbary Coast remained a cause of concern for European powers well into the 19th century so it’s great to see them feature in an expanded capacity in the game.

Those of you looking forward to expand the Spanish Empire (or maybe just declare bankruptcy four times in as many decades) or lead your own pirate nation will be able to do so when Golden Century releases December 11.

You can preorder on Paradox’s Webshop if you’ve got more doubloons than patience. That said, as always, we advise against preordering.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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About the author -
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History, sci-fi, technology, cooking, writing and playing games are things I enjoy very much. I'm always keen to try different genres of games and discover all the gems out there.

Oh and the name doesn't mean anything but coincidentally could be pronounced as "Buttery" which suits me just fine.
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3 comments

mao_dze_dun Nov 21, 2018
I just realized Dharma is getting completely review bombed. Hint-hint Paradox. 20 bucks for a bare-bones DLC and then a 10 bucks immersion pack 2 months later. Why is it we hate on Ubisoft for games as a service, again?
DMG Nov 22, 2018
No, no, no. Enough with EU and Crusader Kings. They could be great games, but most of the time I have to spend outside game, to find solutions on game problems. Game itself does not help with that at all. I better play Total War games than any of these.
Mal Nov 23, 2018
  • Supporter
EU4 is a mature game. It doesn't need overhauls anymore, but there are ample spaces of optimizations when considering individual areas of the world. That's the reason why recent DLCs (not just immersion packs) are heavily area focused. Indeed Dharma sucks if you don't play in India but at the same time you can skip it with no real consequences.

It's worse when they make an area focused DLC and then add a global balance altering mechanic in said DLC like professionalism was in cradle of civilization. When that happens the game has to be balanced for stronger armies, but without the DLC you don't have access to this strength. Remain behind a few "mandatory DLCs" and your game experience deteriorates.

All in all the last ones, Rule Britannia, Dharma and Golden Century are just fine. They are DLC you can happily skip if you don't play that region. For Golden Century I would argue that it's only game changing if you play Portugal.
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