Europa Universalis vs Europa Universalis III
Europa Universalis
Europa Universalis is a historical real-time grand strategy game that includes all aspects of world history in the Early Modern Europe era, a period of time between the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. Due to the game's meticulous need to be accurate in its historical accounts (period monarchs, known military leaders, and technological advancements), the game can, in some way, be doubled as an educational game since you can learn quite a lot simply by playing it.That said, the gameplay in Europa Universalis is just incredible for its time. The game is played on a huge world map that is divided into around 1,500 provinces where you can literally govern your nation the way you like. You can get involved in your nation's colonization efforts, explore new lands, trade with neighboring countries, wage war when they renegade on that very trade deal, spread the religion you've adopted far and wide, and of course, navigate the tricky political waters of diplomacy.
Not to mention, instead of using a turn-based format, the game has opted for a pauseable real-time format, so you can pause the game, issues orders and plan out strategies, before unpausing the game and let the world events play out. There are even tons of historically-based missions and events which may affect the world based on your actions and decisions.
When it comes to grand strategy games, there are only a handful that truly embodies the genre, and obviously, Europa Universalis is one of them. However, being the original game in the franchise, the graphics might be a bit worn for wear, but if you don't really mind, you can definitely pick this game up from GoG.com.
Europa Universalis III
Europa Universalis III follows in the footsteps of its predecessors by offering players with one of the best grand strategy game they have ever experienced. The game dives deeply into each of its four major aspects - exploration, trade, warfare and diplomacy. Nation-building is as flexible and as in-depth as ever. Each country in the game's over 250 countries is also historically accurate, so as most of their global events and famous figures.However, the sequel has had some changes made to further improve the experience that it can offer. Some of these changes include a nicer 3D topological map of the world rather than the flat 2D version as well as the availability of a cooperative multiplayer mode where players get to work together - like an actual government - to govern a single nation. You can even start the gameplay whenever you like between the years 1453 and 1820, and freely customize your game.
That's good and all, but the best part about all of this is the thriving modding community that is constantly churning out new and exciting content for you to have fun with. Sounds awesome? Well, you simply must check out this amazing game.