Having played some more, I am even more sure that this is a really fantastic game. That rating of 9.6 might need to be even be higher . . . need to play more.
The balance is incredible, and the need to prosecute your war in an 18th century style is impeccable. This FEELS like 18th century warfare!
(note using 1.03 Beta 5 patch).
The music is fantastic. The graphics are perfect (note, not "amazing", but nonetheless perfect for this game = sensible simple but very attractive). The map is beautiful. Apart from a lack of a diplomatic relations page, the UI is surprisingly easy despite the complex nature of the game. The system for point accumulation (victory, Nm, money, EPs, conscripts, war supplies) and how it relates to actual conquest of territory is one of the best engines I've seen. This in itself is a huge advance on the engine I observe in BoA1.
The AI is challenging. The management is engrossing. With many strategy games, that cover hundreds of years of history, by the time you get into the late game, things have got tedious, and I don't think that this game is going to show that pattern at all. Need to play into late game to be sure but that is my bet. This is a reflection of the design team having chosen a really good subject, framed it appropriate relative to the game engine, and done a good job to adapt the engine to the subject. This form of genius is such a rarity in games today, I just cannot say enough good things about this accomplishment, and for the meager price of ~$35.
I'm not sure if I just adjusted my eyes, if the monitor cable was bit loose before or what, but even my early slight gripe about the map overlays I would say has gone away. The maps now look very sensible to me . . . maybe it was just that I had to sort of figure it out and get to understand what it all means before it looked 'good.'
With this game, I am now firmly an AGEOD fan. You guys did a great job with this game, and as evidenced by your committed flow of patches, you are going to make it even better and better!
