After 3 263 hours I finally decided to submit my review. I waited until the latest unnecessary DLC dropped (Trial of Allegiance) to see if the developers care more about milking the money off the broken game or rather caring, fixing core mechanics and putting some logic into the game. The current policy of the company is to add more stuff which will bring more bugs and issues to the game rather than making sure whether the game works as intended.

First of all, I wouldn't have 3 000+ hours in the game if it was that bad. The game is very enjoyable and fun, as long as you don't care about historical immersion, realism, and how the game logic works. Want to see starved naked soldiers survive at -50°C for eternity while only equipment goes to the stratosphere? Play Hearts of Iron IV! Want to build an airport for the enemy at your cost? No problem, it's possible and really stupid! Want to see your soldiers shooting down the enemy planes? Well, for some reason they can't with their multiple machine guns despite the history taught us they did so. You need the very specific equipment that shoots only some types of planes! Want to build a fighter plane and see it assisting your divisions in ground combat, or harassing enemy logistics? Well, it can't, but some other types of planes can, despite having the same equipment and ability as a fighter plane. Generals are immortal and abstract. I could go on for long.

Where was I going with this? You see, for the sake of 'balance' the game is very binary and limited. The game requires the player to research/build one thing, for example, researching anti-air weapons in order to proceed to shoot down only some types of planes. To destroy other types of planes, the game requires the player to build anti-air buildings that destroy the rest, but those that destroy the rest can't destroy those mentioned first and vice versa. In both cases we deal with air defense, but their abilities can't be provided more dynamic. WW2 did not work this way, and the battlefield situation was way more dynamic and universal.

Out of 8 reported bugs on the forum during the past two years, not one has been fixed; some would take 2 minutes to fix. I am not the only one who blindly reports issues on the Paradox forum which will fall into oblivion. AI is weak and incompetent in some parts of the game. It does not even use some functions made by the developers. Forget about AI sending a military attaché, asking for licenses, or critically needed equipment, AI doesn't do it.

Nowadays the game has always been popular only due to mods, and I believe there isn't a better game similar to Hearts of Iron IV currently. Unmodded vanilla game for veteran players is extremely boring, plain and only for those who care about achievements. If it weren't for mods, this game wouldn't stay popular for so long.

If you like strategic sandbox games, inspired by WW2 events, and don't care about the logic that much, go for it. If you are a detailist, a historical enthusiast, a fan of logic and realism you will find this game painful to understand.

After 3 263 hours I finally decided to submit my review. I waited until the latest unnecessary DLC dropped (Trial of Allegiance) to see if the developers care more about milking the money off the broken game or rather caring, fixing core mechanics and putting some logic into the game. The current policy of the company is to add more stuff which will bring more bugs and issues to the game rather than making sure whether the game works as intended. First of all, I wouldn't have 3 000+ hours in the game if it was that bad. The game is very enjoyable and fun, as long as you don't care about historical immersion, realism, and how the game logic works. Want to see starved naked soldiers survive at -50°C for eternity while only equipment goes to the stratosphere? Play Hearts of Iron IV! Want to build an airport for the enemy at your cost? No problem, it's possible and really stupid! Want to see your soldiers shooting down the enemy planes? Well, for some reason they can't with their multiple machine guns despite the history taught us they did so. You need the very specific equipment that shoots only some types of planes! Want to build a fighter plane and see it assisting your divisions in ground combat, or harassing enemy logistics? Well, it can't, but some other types of planes can, despite having the same equipment and ability as a fighter plane. Generals are immortal and abstract. I could go on for long. Where was I going with this? You see, for the sake of 'balance' the game is very binary and limited. The game requires the player to research/build one thing, for example, researching anti-air weapons in order to proceed to shoot down only some types of planes. To destroy other types of planes, the game requires the player to build anti-air buildings that destroy the rest, but those that destroy the rest can't destroy those mentioned first and vice versa. In both cases we deal with air defense, but their abilities can't be provided more dynamic. WW2 did not work this way, and the battlefield situation was way more dynamic and universal. Out of 8 reported bugs on the forum during the past two years, not one has been fixed; some would take 2 minutes to fix. I am not the only one who blindly reports issues on the Paradox forum which will fall into oblivion. AI is weak and incompetent in some parts of the game. It does not even use some functions made by the developers. Forget about AI sending a military attaché, asking for licenses, or critically needed equipment, AI doesn't do it. Nowadays the game has always been popular only due to mods, and I believe there isn't a better game similar to Hearts of Iron IV currently. Unmodded vanilla game for veteran players is extremely boring, plain and only for those who care about achievements. If it weren't for mods, this game wouldn't stay popular for so long. If you like strategic sandbox games, inspired by WW2 events, and don't care about the logic that much, go for it. If you are a detailist, a historical enthusiast, a fan of logic and realism you will find this game painful to understand.