Played Rizia through as a status que ultradiplomatic dealmaker. Got both disputed territories integrated peacefully and wasn't couped at the 10-year mark when the game ends. Didn't have to touch war mechanics at all. The overall modus operandi of Suzerain seems to be to pick a path and then commit to it completely, so going for the conciliatory options resulted in a generally consistent and satisfying playthrough. I haven't played the original game after the 2.0 patch, but I'm primed to do so again after this.
Overall thoughts:
+ Excellent reactivity from start to beginning. The game branches on thousands of little spots, some are enormously impactful, some are just for pure flavor. I get the impression that it's possible to (attempt to) drive Rizia towards ultraprogressive multiculti utopia, nudist wrestling theocracy, a local diplomatic superpower heading a new coalition, militaristic ethnostate, parliamentary democracy, absolutist divine right monarchy, or any combination of the above.
+ The game makes a genuine attempt to portray all available paths sympathetically and favorably. The devs are probably your run-of-the-mill young cosmopolitan progressives but they give a fair shake to nationalist, traditionalist & ecclesiastical views too. Granted, the main two rightist characters aren't particularly likeable but they're far from hate sink caricatures too.
+ There's a well-balanced tension throughout the game. The resources are always too limited to accomplish everything you'd want. The foreign powers are tangled in a mess of alliances where making deals with one nation risks your standing in the eyes of another. The religion of Nurism has been expanded into at least 3 different sects that present their own tightropes to walk domestically and in international relations.
+ The flavor text retains a high quality throughout the game.
+ A throng of distinct, charismatic characters. Some are more adversarial, some more cooperative. Some are more predictable, some more erratic. Each has their own duties and interests in mind:
++ The best of the bunch is probably the Wehzek Saddam who haggles with the intensity of a bazaar merchant, squeezes every inch of leverage he's got, alternates between joviality and ruthlessness minute by minute, and has a number of memorable lines. When you dismiss his initial draft of an agreement, he retorts with "Perhaps you are new to negotiating, your Majesty? We start high and arrive in the middle.". When you propose his country start mediating their disputes with their next door neighbor Not-Iran by a ritualistic single-combat duel, he's totally pumped for it and wants to fight his Ayatollah counterpart. A delightfully frustrating guy to interact with.
++ Queen Beatrice is your main patron and sister-in-law this time around, and she behaves in an appropriately regal manner, straddling the line between family relations and the responsibilities of being a head-of-state. The mutual loathing between your commoner-by-birth mother and "Aunt Bea", and the barbs they fling at each other are especially wonderful.
++ There's no Monica this time around. By Monica I mean an ever-present unpleasant character that you can't really ignore or dismiss. I liked her character for the drama she brings to the plot in the original game, but the interactions were so damn draining and there was very little you could do about it most of the time, which again reflects the reality of domestic conflict quite well. Still, I really don't want to spend my time playing Slow Motion Divorce Simulator.
++ The council members are generally competent, give truthful input on things, and are not above throwing a joke here or there. There's probably more here considering the slightly suspicious circumstances of the previous King's death and the occasional slightly odd behavior by some of the councilors but that just adds more depth to the story.
++ Apart from the political opposition, the main pressure towards liberalism comes from your heir and daughter, who's unmarried at the beginning of the game. Your and her political leanings will probably conflict during the game but it's possible to maintain a good relationship with her, and in the end she is a sensible young woman who is not neglectful of her duties as the Princess of the realm, and can be persuaded to accept a royal marriage with her not-quite-first-choice suitor.
- The game starts to show more cracks towards the end. which isn't surprising considering all the permutations the story can possibly have gone through by then. There are more spelling errors, and incongruencies where a character might still be present in a scene after he's left the country.
- The economic systems' legibility also takes a hit near the end. It's not clear which military divisions trigger an increase in upkeep. One degree seemed to include a Budget / turn cost that wasn't listed in its description. I'm not sure if my energy export economy caused global energy prices to fall, tanking my own economy near the end. At least the economic advisor never warned about that being a possibility.
- I'm not sure the game state is still quite properly tracked in the few 'state-of-the-kingdom' recaps you get throughout the game with your advisors. They might claim one thing but it soon turns out the situation is slightly different. Maybe they're supposed to be misinformed, maybe they're lying, maybe it's a minor bug. I don't know.
- Some events do not get the proper buildup. There was a major protest against my reign in the capital near the end of the game that seemed to appear close to nowhere. Sure, there were some minor protests throughout the game but no one in the near circle made any note of the popular discontent before that.
- The pro-king local newspaper doesn't quite hit the right tabloid-style tone and instead comes off like a teenager is writing it.
Overall, excellent experience for the first 80% of the game, optimistic that the devs will iron out the odds and ends in the later chapters. Highly recommended even in its current state. (also not an RPG)
