Reviews

• gamedeal user

  Dec 17, 2014

  For those of you actually looking for a review. Another DLC that adds little to no new content, and another depressingly shallow attempt at milking more money from us customers. To get into the actual features, the store page makes it out to be this exciting competetion as a powerful patrician family. Stealing and climbing to the top, you become Doge. Yeah, okay, sounds great right? The only problem with this is that THERE IS NO COMPETITION. Nothing. The AI will build trade posts and that's about it. The great elections, where you get to vote for the canidate? Hahaha, I wish. There is no elections. You click on a tab and it shows your "respect". The Patrician who has the most respect gets to be the new Doge. Respect is influenced by three things; Age, prestige, and if you increase the "campaign funds" which is just a box with two arrows. The split second the old Doge dies, a new one is elected. Instantly. You don't get a chance to vote, and it is not like feudal elections, oh no, there is nothing. Nothing whatsoever. Old ones dead, new ones in. No events for the election, debates or something like that. No variables like diplomacy or stewardship skill, nothing just the pathetically shallow respect system. The single, and only uncertainty is a 500 margin for the respect value. So, if you have 500 respect more then the next man, you will win. The AI doesn't even fund the campaign! It just sits there, and wins for the sole purpose of being old. That is it. They do not make any sort of effort to do anything except build trade posts. So to win the game, you make money by building trade posts in nations. Simple as that, build trade posts more money campaign funds win. Then you cover the entire world with your dumb trade posts because there isn't anything else to do. And feuds with rival patricians? Who are they kidding. If the AI actually did anything other then the occasional plot to steal a trade post then I would love to hear about it. In total, this DLC is garbage and lacks any and all depth. Keep away from this like the bubonic plauge and continue playing the base game. This is without a doubt the last DLC I will buy.
• gamedeal user

  Jan 30, 2015

  Of all the DLC available for CK2, this is by far my favorite. By choosing to play as a patrician in a republic, you are essentially converting the game into a mafia simulator where the boss of the republic is chosen from among the five families based on how much respect they acquire relative to one another. This DLC pairs especially well with Way of Life, Legacy of Rome, and Sons of Abraham, and if you get all 4 and play as a patrician it is a radically different game from the standard CK2 experience, while still maintaining the same gameplay fundamentals.
• gamedeal user

  Aug 16, 2015

  This could have been a great addition to CKII, but it's not. It still adds interesting depth to the game, but there are too many flaws in the DLC for me to actually recommend it. Basicly a republic earns a lot of gold, and increase tax in it's trading area. It also keeps a lot of ship levies, but few troops. But it won't last. - A republic has 5 dynasties called patricians. They are often unable to reproduce so they will die out and be replaced occassionally - oftenly they will not marry, despite that having a large dynasty is extra important for a patrician house. - The election of a new doge is pitiful. Each family head gets a "respect" value based on age and prestige. Age is more important. You can use gold to increase your family's score. Highest respect wins - no intrigue, no voting, no nothing, just the oldest fart wins. - Republics and patricians are unable to keep land in their dynasties. Give a city to a patrician and his steward or whatever will inherit the city rather than his son. Give it a few generations and the patrician dynasties will have lost all their holdings. - Republics oftenly revert to being feudal, probably because the capital gets inherited by the holder of a barony at some point. So while it is benificial to have republics as vassals, I have yet to experience them surviving 100 years as a republic. And while it is interesting to play as a republic, you will struggle to keep the patricians (and your family) landed and reproducing.
• gamedeal user

  Aug 22, 2015

  Playing as a republic is dull in every respect. You have no real control over any of the key aspects of trade, what you are, in terms of game play, is a second rate feudal lord who keeps losing your seat repeatedly in a way that you can't control. Boring.
• gamedeal user

  Aug 25, 2016

  The channels of great Venice are deep, unlike the contents of this DLC. Yes, as a Doge you will make hilarious amounts of money. Too bad you run out of things to spend it on. Yes, there is intrigue with your other Doges. Too bad its as shallow as a drying puddle. Yes, there is an Election for the supreme leadership of the republic. Too bad its trivial to spend most of your money on getting elected. Yes, there are more merchant republics to play as if you own Charlamagne and Old Gods. Too bad they are all modeled after the Venetian system, no deviations. You want to play as a Merchant Republic? Buy this DLC, its fun. You want to play as a Merchant Republic with tons of interesting content? Mod it till it breaks. Anything else? Purchase Old Gods first. The Norse are a blast.
• gamedeal user

  Sep 19, 2016

  Merchant republics stood out from feudal Europe by their unique politics and economy. Not here. To explain, politics in merchant republics rested on institutions and laws to a far grater degree than in feudal realms. This is not the case ingame as the main difference is essentially a pay to win succession law, which is neither realistic nor fun. This is bad enough, but the method by which houses obtain the all important gold is not better, as patricians just build trade posts that make them effortlessly richer than most feudal kings. Although it would be unrealistic to expect a full trading system, since that is not what the game is about, neither is building trade posts and improvements until the end of time. There are event chains that add flavour to this blandness, and although they do help a bit, they feel like a forced and insufficient remedy to a problem Paradox couldn't be bothered to address. This could have been a great expansion, pitting patricians against each other in a merciless competition for control of trade and the state, but no. It's just Campaign Fund Clicker.
• gamedeal user

  Jun 14, 2017

  Say goodbye to incest, murder and bribery and say hello to......well..... incest, murder and bribery. But in a REPUBLIC!
• gamedeal user

  Jul 25, 2017

  Assassinate your way into a democratically elected position. Totally fine.
• gamedeal user

  Nov 17, 2017

  You know, this one isn't actually that bad. The Republics have dozens of events attached to it, they are interesting to play although extremely overpowered and easy, and are a nice addition to this game. However, there are 3 things that bother me about this DLC: 1. It's extremely easy to play as a merchant republic. Even if you start as independent Genoa in the dates where the HRE is at it's strongest, and stay independent, there's virtually no challenge if you know what you're doing. You make an insulting amount of ducats in no time. If you don't end up buying your direct adversary's favor, you end up buying enough mercs to royally stick it up his asshole. And if you start as Venice...well, good luck on trying to die, because it's impossible to lose. 2. Trade is a joke in this game. Like everything in CK2, it's been very much dumbed down to the point where you just click "build tradepost" and "upgrade" buttons. There's no trade management, no trade goods, no naval blockading, no economy-shifting mechanics, no real interaction between other Patricians, nothing. This is a sore point for me, because it turns this game into a "counting money" sim. Once you have a power-base and secured your borders... the game has ended. No more challenges, nothing else to do but wage boring wars against your neighbors for control of ONE city, then control for ONE county. This isn't what I signed up for when I started as a Patrician. Where's the fun of administering your trade posts and building a macro-economy in the medieval times? Why is it so stupidly dumb that your trade empire doesn't affect other realms or the economy of your region in any way? Why can't I create in-land trade posts and shape my trade routes? 3. No economy mechanics attached to it or even in the game to support this DLC. Similar to the previous point, the lack of any worthwhile interaction with other rulers regarding monetary issues is extremely limited and very much underwhelming. My biggest gripe is the lack of a "Lend money" option, which was one of the main reason Republics were allowed to exist throughout the 11th to 19th century and allowed some of the greatest men and nations in history to actually fulfill their objectives. Honestly, the only thing that Republics contribute to you if you play near them as a Feudal ruler is easily attainable provinces (AI is usually messing up bad) and constant wars for your one city.
• gamedeal user

  Nov 24, 2017

  [h1]The DLCs in a nutshell, and in order of my opinion of necessity:[/h1] [b]More cultures / governments / religions available to play:[/b] [b]Charlemagne[/b] (earliest start date, more cultures) [b]Sword of Islam[/b] (Islamic cultures, Iqtar, Islamic government / religion) [b]Old Gods[/b] (Vikings + new start date) [b]Horse Lords[/b] (Nomads, Mongol Hordes, Silk Road) [b]Rajas of India[/b] (Hinduism, Buddhism) [b]Legacy of Rome[/b] (Byzantine, retinue's, factions) [b]The Republic[/b] (Merchant republics) [b]Jade Dragon[/b] (China, but hardly) [b]Sunset Invasion[/b] (Aztec, but even less so than China) [b]More actions / events while you play:[/b] [b]Way of Life[/b] (form your character) [b]Holy Fury[/b] (more control over religious aspects and wars) [b]Monks and Mystics[/b] (adds secret societies and items) [b]Conclave[/b] (council votes on your actions) [b]Sons of Abraham[/b] (Abrahamic religious options) [b]The Reaper's Due[/b] (adds court physician, illnesses and hospitals) Adds Merchant Republics, a playstyle based on election and money and 'what have you done for me lately'. A Merchant Republic is fun to be, not too easy to become, and its pretty hard to stay succesful as. Your initial choices of Merchant Republic rulers are a bit slim, but you can work towards becoming a Merchant Republic with a ruler of choice, which is where most of the fun lies, imo. Not as necessary as aforementioned DLCs, but not a bad DLC, in my opinion.