This was the best review of a game I’ve ever seen. My dad told me about this game but didn’t know(He’s 65) I searched the game up for him and shown him this. It’s great because you’re not obnoxious like many reviewers and explain the game soooooo well. I was scared to show my dad any game review because they feel like they always are talking to children. Such a great review of the game!
No problem at all and thank you for your kind words! I hope you / your dad enjoy the game as it has so much to offer. It's complex, and I'm terrible at it, but still have a great time!
This was also a great review by yourself. As much as I agree with you that there are many content creators with gaming channels that not just gives childish reviews, but they pretty much act like children with all their content throughout. And its frankly unbearable to watch, and I don’t understand how other viewers can watch it 😂. But there are some mature and "serious" channels out there, you/we just need to have that patience while trying to find them is this vast, mega big haystack called RU-vid...
After watching this review, I wish YT had more than just a like button. A single like does not accurately express my admiration for what you’ve put together here, in this review. I have owned HoI4 for years and have played it a bit, never really getting past the learning wall (sorry, not just a curve for me). This video has inspired me to reinstall the game and give it another go. My wife might not be pleased at losing her husband to the computer-generated countries but I send you many kind regards!
I have hundreds of hours in this game. I still routinely learn new things while playing this game. If there's any way to learn how to play it is with friends and if they are experienced in hoi4 even better. Paradox is a well proven studio. Their DLC is sometimes low quality but I typically just buy them once they are half off. If anybody wants to play I'll be happy to help. I've taught probably a half dozen friends or more how to play.
That's awesome, thank you for the offer! I can't bring myself to pay full price for the DLC's, even though I REALLY want No Step Back I just can't justify it. Plus I still don't understand half the mechanics in the DLC's I have anyway. Something I really struggle with feels like it should be really basic. Physically drawing the front lines etc feels really glitchy, I often get a horrid ping noise and it only draws the front line on one region when I wanted it across like 10. Do you know if that's a known issue? I do wonder if it's the right clicker on my mouse not working properly.
@@twiglets2 If I understand what you are describing correctly you need to do one of two things. When you select the tool to draw a front line right click AND drag to create a specific frontline. Otherwise you can hold shift and left click once to establish a front across a boarder between your nation and the opposing one. As a side note, frontlines are a constant source of frustration. It takes a lot of learning and the way it's programmed still baffles me constantly.
@@smacky101 Thank you for the tips, I'll give them a try! If anything it's just good to know frontlines are frustrating in general and it's not just me!
Worth noting that not only is the modding scene incredible for HOI4, but HOI4 is pretty much the Garry's Mod of strategy games. There are total conversion mods for everything from the world of Fallout to My Little Pony to dozens of alternate history mods, and the fully fleshed out focus trees and decisions and mechanics of these mods have so much variety and content that, in my opinion, they surpass the base game by miles. Definitely worth checking out the total conversion mods, starting with Kaiserreich if you want something close to vanilla but recognizably different and with loads of content for everything from Argentina to Nepal
The sole reason I got this was simply for the mechanic of your country's population having various levels of acceptance or refusal towards warfare. Of course after I found out this is a Paradox game everything made sense, they always pay extra attention to detail for games like this and I love their Cities Skylines series!
Cheers Alex that means a lot! I know what you mean, I love the game but Jesus Christ can it piss me off haha Do you have a particular country you prefer to play as? I tried China the other day, turns out that was a big NOPE for me! (Thanks Japan)
I really enjoy trying the smaller countries in Europe, such as Romania or Hungary. I always lose, but it's more about the challenge of seeing how long I can last. The best I've done is with France with non-historical focuses. I went communist, joined the comintern, and together we almost took over Europe. Until the USA joined the war...
@@alexbarnes2904 haha that sounds really fun, just seeing how long you can hold back the tide! I've not dropped a nuke yet, I tend to get half way through the war then want to start again because I've learned so much in that playthrough!
Playing this game has brount me through a gigantic rabbit hole when it comes to history politics ecomomies and militaries. Of which two mods have created some of my most favourite dystopian worlds sucn as TNO. Im not sure if thats a good thing though
@@twiglets2 allso there are SO many mods that change all of the mechanics and add more mechanics. For example modern day mod(set in the modern day) , old world blues(based on the fallout games), obligatory starwars mods like "Star wars: palpatines gamble" and many "what if "X" country won WW1" mods
@@cisarovnajosefina4525 I haven't investigated mods at all as I find the base game so overwhelming, they sound awesome! Are those the mods you would personally recommend? I'm always tempted by a Star Wars mod...
Have to say this is the most comprehensive summary of hearts of iron ive seen. 2.5 k hours on the clock and can say ive never seen a more accruate description. Well played sir.
Soundtrack is also important when a large part of the game takes place in the theater of the mind. This was a great review brother, perfectly got me back into the mood to start a new campaign
Nice video. I started on Stellaris. I think it's a bit less overwhelming than HOI4 and allows one to ease into the Paradox grand strategy world view. Now I'm getting into HOI4 and having a blast!
@bobk4438 Thank you! Glad to hear it, do you have a particular nation you prefer to play? I started with CK3 which was a baptism of fire, but something about it made me forge ahead to a point where I enjoyed the game. Then Stellaris came along and oh boy what a game! Not that I have a clue how to play it...
@@twiglets2 What I love about Stellaris is that you don't have to master all the mechanics to have a great time. I think of Stellaris as a "story generator".
@@MelvinGundlach I couldn't agree more. Each time I play Stellaris I'm rather baffled by it all, but always have a great time reading all the text that pops up with a variety of stories. Without fail an epic experience whenever I fire it up!
My two critiques of the video is that you shouldn't really be adjusting your divisions very often. Instead, you should adjust your production to meet the demands of the army you want to build. Also about battleplans, they don't really matter in multiplayer games (I have 1.5k hours in mp). Instead of battleplans, you ideally manually control every division, especially tank divisions. But great job overall!
Thank you! The feed back is really useful so thanks for sharing. I haven't played multiplayer myself so that's interesting to hear about the differences! I got the impression it's quite difficult to find a decent game unless you play with people you know - is that the case?
@@twiglets2 Sadly that is the case. There are plenty of good servers with good people, but in general it's very hard to find a good game. The best thing you can do is find a server with people you like and just keep on playing there.
I love this game. Closest you will ever get to being a nation leader in ww2. So much of it is VERY realistic and it feels like you are rewriting ww2. I love it when I take moscow as Germany or take Africa as Britain or form the roman empire. Very realistic although its obviously not exactly like real life. 100% recommend. Favourite game on steam? Quite possibly. Amazing review so far (havent watched the whole thing) and thanks for another amazing review on another game that I love.
Thank you Axpa - I hope you enjoy the rest of the video! I'm still exploring the game (probably will be for the rest of time!) but the sheer number of possibilities is mind boggling! It's stressful if you want it to be but between 1936 and 1939 it can actually be quite relaxing! And then the Spanish Civil war begins!
@@twiglets2 Agreed. I have nearly 200 hundred hours on the game (not as much as some people) and I think I have done a 1939 start once. 1936 start is amazing as you can set up the nation more to your liking. With 1939, if you play a major nation, the game has already decided most of the stuff which makes the game fun and its not quite so enjoyable.
@@axpa2771 That's much more than I have! I guess if you want a quick game getting straight to the action 1939 works, but you can't beat the full 1936 experience!
@@speedy01247 Well, to an extent. Yes, its not super realistic but it is probably the most realistic Second World War grand strategy game. Maybe being able to take over all of Europe as Sweden isnt exactly historically accurate but lets be real, if you could take over the world as Luxembourg, the game would be dead. So yes while it isnt super realistic in terms of historical accuracy it is the closest you are gonna get to the real thing and a lot of battle mechanics do have an aspect of realism compared to most other games. If the game was perfectly realistic, it wouldnt be fun but when I called it realistic, I compared it to most other grand strategy Second World War games.
I can't get into it; it's just such a needlessly convoluted mess; like it was designed by someone who has never actually planned things in real life. It's pretty enough but feels like it was designed by a 50 year old who liked at home watching documentaries but never actually learned to communicate.
I fully agree. My mother can rest with full confidence that I am not autistic enough to get into it I recently got back into Star Wars Empire at War. While I would LOVE for it to be upgraded with a few creature comforts and graphics, it really scratches the itch
Another great review! Honestly looks too deep for me. Not sure I could face it. If a hardened Strategy player like you found it steep then no way for me!
As a Hoi4 veteran, excellent review mate. This game is one of my favorite games and seeing it get more and more expansions as time goes on and it’s community grow is heart warming. A lot of love was put into this game and it certainly deserves a lot of love in return.
@patriotproductions2486 Thank you, I'm glad you think so! It's an insanely complex game that I struggle with, but part of the charm is knowing there is always more to learn.
This video that made me play the game 2 years ago to this day 😂 , The game is a lot of fun ( and some time insane specially with historic AI off or modes like red flood ) but about buying the game just 🏴☠️ it because a lot of fun is behind overpriced DLC just like every Paradox game.
No, it's not. It's expensive, overly complicated, frustrating and shit. And yet i try it every couple of months after watching further guides just to get my head smashed by the AI again. Screw this game.
This was great thanks man! I was wondering if you could do EU4? Its so different to the ww2 based grand strategy and I was wondering your opinion on it if youve played it before
No problem I hope you found it useful my friend! You know what, EU4 is basically the ONLY Paradox game I haven't played, but I've been meaning to for a long time... If you would find it useful I'd be more than happy to make a similar video about it. The best videos come from suggestions like yours!
How does Hoi compare to Stellaris? I feel my gripe with Stellaris is that building your empire takes long and is too simple to be repeated fun. Does Hoi4 also suffer from this?
@___hxcKid Hmm well in hoi4 your borders are already established, so there is no exploration, simply trying to increase the size of what you already have so you can expand. I would say that both Stellaris and hoi4 are complex. If you think Stellaris is too simple then I suppose you might find hoi4 simple too. Though you would be one of very few people with that opinion
@@twiglets2 Sorry, I meant the expanding of the empire specifically to be too simple, as in sending a research ship and then a colony ship, which is all there is to it.
Excellent review as usual ty! I have a ton of time spent in Paradox games, and HoI4 is a legend as you have stated. I would love to watch your reviews on Stellaris and Endless Space 2.
@@twiglets2 Oh, well I played Stellaris a lot - however, I haven't played Endless Space at all. Been reading positive things about it. I've seen you reviewed Homeworld so thought these two good be proper additions :)
If I have a tendency to get seriously addicted to games and the willpower of a 4 year old, should I avoid buying this game? I need to perform an adult job 9-5...
@daniellec2172 hearts of iron is a very absorbing game and can be hard to put down. If you've played other paradox games such as Stellaris or crusader kings it's a very similar kind of vibe to those
I love the game but struggle to get my head wrapped around what I am supposed to be doing in different phases of the game. I really struggle with the Naval end the most. I fool with it a while, then leave it alone for months then pick it up again. I do have the majority of the DLC packs that majorly affect the overall gameplay or mechanics but not some of the smaller country ones that focus more on just a single countries focus tree. I will say that although yes the price does add up even the DLC packs if you are patient and wait a while until they are on sale you can buy those for 25-50% off full price or get them in a deal with a big sale bundle. Also by waiting a while all of the new contents bugs and its balance issues have been addressed as well. Again I like the idea that a game that I invested originally in a number of years ago is still seeing updates and new content/phases added to the game play. As far as the investment sure it gets higher but how many other games are in your library that are of this age since launch is still being added to by the studios? If I figure the number of entertainment hours I get out of this for the dollars invested its still one of the cheapest things I can do for entertainment. Nice video and you hit it on the head, this is a complex game that can drive you crazy but at the same time is so involved in how you control a nation from all aspects the playability always has something new to offer, even the DLC packages can change things as to where what worked last year when you played will not cut it on this new play through. Honestly overall the best game I have ever bought as far as never getting old, stale or predictable. I just wish I could get better at it!
@billwiley7216 thank you! I know that feeling well, I always come back to this game and have a great experience, but not once have I felt like I knew what I was doing!
One of my all time favorite games. Paradox is the master of grand strategy. If you're ever bored you might give Stellaris a look, or Europa Universalis 4! I saw you checked out Crusader Kings (another favorite of mine), but with over two hours, that vid is to long for me. :-D
I think that Stellaris is one of my favourite strategy games of all, I don't really understand it but love every minute! I have never tried Europa Universalis 4 though, I'm assuming it's as amazing as all the other Paradox games?!
I remember when I got into this game last year, I heard about after I saw a video about the mlp Equestrian War mod for it which I thought was cool, so I got the game and installed the mod on Steam not really knowing what I was getting into and I was just confused and I didn't know how the systems worked and the combat system I never understood, heck I still have no idea how to really use navies. Either way I still have no clue how to really play even with how I learned how to exploit the a.i. and resources, but it is still enjoyable because I just get lost in playing it and five hours has gone by. What really sells it for me is the soundtrack both for the base game and the mods, I'm not kidding when I say for the first half hour all I did was just listen to the various tracks and it was super immersive. If anyone is thinking of getting the game I really do recommend watching tutorials both before and while your playing the game as there are so many systems here to keep track of and there is so much micromanagement and I would also highly recommend going to the wiki to learn how the factions play and you'll also see how each of the dlc's effect the factions. All in all awesome review!^^
Thank you! Great to hear how much you're enjoying the game. I tried to play the Equestrian War mod and couldn't get it to work. Apparently you need to roll back the game to an older version...any tips for someone trying to get that mod to work?!
i would listen to this kind of review for every game from now on. I'm a world war 2 nerd, but not a fan of straight up board games. this looks closer to historical stellaris than die rolls / miniatures. thanks for all the hard work put in this
Had no idea that you could get hoi4 with Xbox game pass and I just started to gain interest in the game so this video coming out was at the right time and move video too
I'm glad to hear it! Personally I gave the game a try on Xbox game pass to see if I liked it. When I got to a point I knew I wanted to buy the DLC's I waited for a Steam sale (they're every couple of months) and picked up the base game for cheap and a couple of DLC's. You can get the DLC's on Xbox game pass but you have to pay and the sales aren't nearly as often so I just bit the bullet and went for Steam in the end!
Thank you for such an informative, yet clear and concise video! I am in the process of looking for a good WW 2 simulation game. Getting tired of playing online PVP games like World of Tanks and getting my butt consistently shot off due to the terrible matchmaking, OP tanks and other annoying crap. Decided to check out this game as saw it at a great sale price on Steam, BUT, no point buying a game and then not enjoying it. Your excellent video will make my decision a lot easier! Many thanks, sir!
@barrysworld640 Thank you, I'm glad it was useful! Have you decided whether to purchase the game yet? If you do be sure to come back and let us know how you get on!
Yes I did purchase. Wow what a complex game! Kudos to Games With Brains for his epic beginner tutorials. The fog of war is starting to lift. Amazing game, so thanks for your time and effort reviewing this game!@@twiglets2
Man this (waay too underrated) review is perfect! I'm planning on buying the game when it's on sale, yk I wasn't completely sure if this is something for me or not, but this video really helped me out! tysm
Hello , i love your content especially Rise of Nation series helped me alot , but i have just little bit complaint of the Audio of your video is a bit low, i have to use headphones to hear clearly
Thank you Kaustubh! Especially for the feedback on the audio, I'm always tweaking it to try and improve everything so I'll take a look at the audio for the next one - thanks!
@@twiglets2 It would be great to get your take on Unity of Command II. I know it's way lighter than HOI4 but does it properly scratch the itch for mid-tier wargamers? It looks more complex than Panzer Corps 2 (for instance) whose overview of yours I watched.
@williamsmeds1368 The base game is pretty cheap in a sale, and more than enough to keep a player happy for years! Not sure the DLCs are worth the price. Didn't they try a monthly subscription model? That went down like a tonne of bricks!
I own what I like to call Paradox's "big three": Stellaris, HOI4 and CK3. And in terms of difficulty, I find this game to be slightly overwhelming than Stellaris, but not as much as CK3. Thats more from a personal experience. What I will say is that I had a lot of fun playing as certain countries non-historic paths, specifically a democratic Germany or a monarchist Britain re-conquering your territory abroard. The sheer degree of alternativeness, makes the wars batshit insane. I've owned the game since 2016, and I'm STILL learning stuff (DLCs aside).
@linkieloos agreed with those three games. Each have their own unique appeal but are all challenging! I have a soft spot for HoI4 even though I think I ultimately prefer Stellaris, probably due to the discovery / mysterious stories element. Bravo to Paradox for creating such games!
I watched your Frostpunk video and decided to give a try and currently I am hooked in that game(can't wait for FP2)... These videos are so well made and unbiased as well as spot on imo. Keep up the great work. Hope your content reaches more and more people. (Also eagerly waiting for your RON and Frostpunk gameplay)
Thank you Debjit I hope you found them useful! I plan to try Frostpunk again when we get closer to Frostpunk 2 - I'll need a while to remember how it all works!
