Reviews by João Costa

Hearts of Iron IV: Trial of Allegiance
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A cool idea but hard to recommend

The new national focus for South America is a good idea.
The main problem of this DLC is the content/price ratio.
With 3 main national focus but more expensive than other DLC.
I think buying on sale is recommended unless you really want to playa s these countries.

by João Costa, Portugal - Mar 15th 2024

Europa Universalis IV: King of Kings
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Interesting DLC for Middle East

This DLC revamps Persia and the surrounding factions. I personally like what it adds.
If you aren't playing in this area feel free to skip it.
If you like to play in this area I think you will find the DLC fun and a good way to explore the area.

by João Costa, Portugal - Mar 2nd 2024

Hearts of Iron IV: Arms Against Tyranny
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Excellent DLC

This DLC heavily expands Nordic countries. If you want to play with those i highly recommend it. They are a load of fun.
Alongside the above the new co-op trees also make for some cool co-op gameplay.

by João Costa, Portugal - Nov 1st 2023

Stellaris: Galactic Paragons
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Highly recomended with a catch

This DLC adds more abilites as well as renown leaders to recruit to your empire.
If you want to give more personality to your leaders this DLC adds in spades!
THe thing is that it is very shallow in the sense that most of these leaders add relatively small modifiers to your empire. Not having the DLC won't matter much if you don't roleplay
Also the new origin is ok but nothing special.

by João Costa, Portugal - Jun 17th 2023

Hearts of Iron IV: By Blood Alone
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Low ammount of content for the price

I'll start by saying the DLC isn't bad per se. It just feels low on content when compared to other DLCs. So lets get into what it brings:
- Aircraft designer -> cool feature to customize your planes. you can also use auto if you don't want to bother.
- Ethiopia and Swiss national focus -> ethiopa is a very hard start and swiss is a weird one. ALl this said IMO they don't influence the war like most other national focus:
- expanded italy national focus -> they are cool alternatives paths for italy BUT IMO the historic one is a lot harder
- better peace conferences -> personally this is the best feature. it allows for example to claim the enemy fleet or just resources. I like it a lot. My only Problem with it is the extreme border gore that the AI does. Hopefully PDS improves.
- lots of models -> this is good for mroe variety BUT maybe if it was removed fromt he DLC PDS could have sold the DLC for less?
- Medals for your troops -> this is my favorite feature. Youc an reward the troops that did somethign special like Hold the line in dificult situation, conquered the enemy capital,etc. It makes divisions a lot more interesting.

As you see the above the features are good but for 20€, IMO, are very small changed to the game. I recommend the DLC on sale.

by João Costa, Portugal - Mar 8th 2023

Victoria 3 Grand Edition
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Victoria 3 is a great economy simulator

I highly recommend buying vitoria 3 if you are interested in a strategy game where economy is king.
The visual flair is fantastic, it has relatively good UI and it gives enough information so you can get the basics down easily.
My only problem is war that is not only too costly but really hard to get "right". Do note that Paradox is working on updating it and it has gotten better but, IMO, it still doesn't feel right.
If you are wondering between the base edition or the expensive edition with the DLC depends on your experience with PDS games. I recommend going the base game and buying the DLc if they interest you.

by João Costa, Portugal - Mar 7th 2023

Europa Universalis IV: Guns, Drums and Steel Volume 3 Music Pack
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More Metal music

THis EU IV DLC adds 12 more metal music to the game.
If you want more music this DLC is worth its price.
If you want more content just skip it! this is a very optional DLC

by João Costa, Portugal - Mar 5th 2023

Crusader Kings III: Friends & Foes
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Good for roleplay but low ammount of content

This DLC has quite alot of events specially around friendship and rivalry.
It is great for roleplay becuase it creates a lot more interesting stories between your char and your court.
THe dlc also adds some new music
If you enjoy roleplaying with char i think you will like the DLC but that is it. I feel like at undiscounted price might not be worth for most people.

by João Costa, Portugal - Mar 5th 2023

Prison Architect - Gangs
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Excellent DLC for prison architecht

This DLC adds much needed new mechanics to gangs.
Yes gangs are still a difficult problem to handle BUT now you have more tools to handle.
From being able to "convert" gang members to normal prisoners to the gangs having more tools to wreck havoc this DLC is a lot of fun!
I highly recommend it if you want a deeper (slightly harder) experience of PA.

by João Costa, Portugal - Mar 5th 2023

Stellaris: Toxoids Species Pack
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Interesting story pack

Alongside great toxic theme cosmetics (portrais new 3d fleets,etc) where this DLC shines are the new origins.
The knights of toxic god is almost like a contextual story inside the game. Without spoiling i found great fun in following the storyline and each event was exciting and interesting. The payout at the end is also fun.
Highly recomend this pack

by João Costa, Portugal - Mar 2nd 2023

Prison Architect - Perfect Storm
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Has great ideas BUT poor tutorial.

This DLC is a great option to increase the challenge of your prison. Not only will you have to take a lot of new things into account such as pipes freezing during winter but also new tools/mechanics to deal with problems.
Personally the main issue of the DLC is the lack of a tutorial or information check.
For example if your cleaning isn't too god you can get rats. You can call the pest control to eliminate them. What the game doesn't tell you is that you can have traps to capture the skaven. But for the traps to work you need to get a staff training going on.

You see that is the major problem of this DLC. every new cool mechanic has a small text explaining half of what it has, it puts the player on the spot to learn them.

by João Costa, Portugal - Sep 15th 2022

Stellaris: Overlord
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Subjugate the galaxy

Stellaris overlord heavily changes vassals in stellaris. This expansion makes it fun to have vassals and not just an afterthought. the ability to negotiate the contract you have with vassals as well as the ability to steal disgruntled vassals from other empires makes for fun dynamic.
This also makes that being a vassal isn't game over and instead are able to growth under the wing of your overlord whom you can help or maybe get a better contract with a powerful neighboring empire
It also brings a mercenary system, 5 new origins, new megastructures, etc.

by João Costa, Portugal - May 20th 2022

Hearts of Iron IV: No Step Back
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Excellent review if you want to play in USSR sphere

This DLC expands the USSR, the small baltics and Poland national focus. It is great if you enjoy those countries.
Alongside this it adds train artillery and a tank designer. IMO these additions are all rather fun; although the train artilelry with only be possible to build as a major.
IMO tank designer is great for small countries as you can make 2 designs, with one heavy armor/tank destroyer while a small nimble one to stop enemy infantry.

I highly recommend this DLC if you want to further expand HOI IV

by João Costa, Portugal - May 8th 2022

Hearts of Iron IV: Eastern Front Planes Pack
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A good cosmetic DLC

This DLC brings quite a few new airplane models for several countries. Having USSR and the Nazis with new planes make for a much more interesting eastern front.
The new hypothetic models are well done too and fit right in.
I am only giving it 3 stars because of 2 reasons:
1) i feel like Nazi germany and the USSR should have been free to the base game
2) I think the price for a few airplane models is a bit too expensive. Specially when you consider that you will barely see the models in game.

IMO this is a good DLC if you want more planes to look at but otherwise feel free to skip it

by João Costa, Portugal - Apr 17th 2022

Stellaris: Aquatics Species Pack
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Aquatic cuties join the Galaxy!

I highly recomend this DLC. Without spoilering too much i enjoyed:
- the portraits are gorgeous! the 3D models are beautiful!
- the new origin ands its events are worth the price of admission
- the new colossos and aquatic events are fun

This DLC feels closer to a minor content pack that a cosmetic pack. Yes the cosmetics are a big part however combined with the new content it makes for a 1 or 2 novel campaigns.

by João Costa, Portugal - Apr 17th 2022

Surviving Mars: Below and Beyond
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Worth buying if you want to expand the mid game.

Personally i really like this DLC because it makes the mid game less monotonous. Usually the mid game is basically just expanding what you already built in the early game; until you have enough resources and tech to terraform.

This DLC adds underground mars in a special map. The transition is made in certain points on the map so it isn't accessible at the start. The underground has several precious resources that you can bring to the surface to help. It has different threats than usual. This DLC also requires to use rovers a lot which IMO is a plus because they are barely used in the normal map.

If you like surviving mars i think this DLC will add enough content for a new run.
If you didn't like surviving mars i don't think this DLC will change your opinion

by João Costa, Portugal - Nov 7th 2021

Stellaris: Nemesis
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Expands the end game in interesting ways

This DLC has 3 fun mechanics at its core
1) you are able to become a "crisis" . The cool part is navigating the thin line between having the whole galaxy wipe you out to slowly grow. It is fun to slowly become a galatic threat and seeing the galaxy reacting to that
2) You can be a protector of the galaxy, similar to how turians were the military of the council.
3) Once you are the protector of the galaxy yo ucan usurp the powers and form a new galatic empire, similar to how Palpatine star wars rouse to power.

Alongside the mechanics above you also get spying and a new ship model set.

All in all it is a very cool DLC that expands the end game to stop it becoming stale.

by João Costa, Portugal - Oct 16th 2021

Surviving Mars: Mars Lifestyle Radio
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Good music

A few new music tracks for the game. I'd recommend you listen to the samples to see if they are your cup of tea.

by João Costa, Portugal - Sep 18th 2021

HUMANKIND™ Digital Deluxe Edition
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A good 4X game!

IF you like 4X chances are you will enjoy this game.
if you want a CIV Clone this isn't it and you should give it pass.

The strenght of this title is twofold. Has a big map and the military is interlined with the economy part of the empire. This means that unlike CIV by focusing on military you lose acess to some economic power (because each unit requires pop; although you can get the pop back if you disband the unit).

The weakness of the game is faith and polutions , both of which feel very underwhelming and "useless"

Knowing that amplitude usually supports their games I think with 1 or 2 expansions this game can really shine.

by João Costa, Portugal - Aug 19th 2021

Hearts of Iron IV: Eastern Front Music Pack
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New musics for the game

I don't really have much to say. It is a few new musics to HOI IV. I'd recomend you give youtube/spotify a jump and hear them before buying.
I like them.

by João Costa, Portugal - Jun 25th 2021

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