Paradox Interactive published Europa Universalis IV back in August 2013. It’s a historical grand strategy game that puts in the pilot’s seat of a developing nation, guiding it’s growth through ages of warfare and diplomacy. Starting from the 1440s and journeying onward until the 1820s, the sandbox style world is full of surprises. Now, The Rights of Man expansion that was recently released hopes to explore the psychological aspect of diplomacy and changing the tides of war that way.
Your strength as a nation is rewarded with new abilities to flex your strength over your inferior neighbors. Be a puppetmaster of their relationships by rewarding them for obeying you, and ordering them to break alliances with other factions as you see fit. Monarchs have personality traits that define the course of their leadership, and military leaders have them too, giving them bonus abilities in combat scenarios. You can now abdicate the throne, or cut off any problematic heirs that appear problematic to your legacy. African Fetishists and Coptic Christians now have more intricate systems as faith groups, with the latter needing to preserving their faith through controlling holy sites, and the former having to deal with cult alliances in order to ensure security. Lastly, ruling Revolutionary Republicans, Prussia, or the Ottomans will never be the same – as these places have gotten a revamp with new mechanics.
But regardless of whether or not you get this paid DLC, everyone in the Europa Universalis player base is getting an additional free update alongside this expansion. Patch 1.18 (The Prussia Patch) has it’s own array of changes, all of which you can read about on their forums here.
Europa Universalis IV: The Rights of Man is available now for PC (Mac/Linux). To learn more about the game, check out the developer’s website, Twitter, and Facebook.