I know pirating is always an option, and I used to play EU4 completely pirated.
But I got some credit remaining on Steam and they’re on sale right now, so lads, which should I go for?
Background info being I only played EU4 before, and enjoyed the nation-building side more rather than the military strategy. Although I was able to do some WCs back in the day and I do like micromanaging and extending a 20hr campaign into a 100hr one.
I personally prefer Stellaris. Vic3 is optimized like shit, lacks a lot of basic features and has little replayability. And while there are interesting mods, none managed to really redeem the game in my eyes.
Ck3 is pretty good, I’m just not really into the dynasty and personal relationship stuff. That one is also better on steam, as there are many great mods on the steam workshop and the dlcs are few and unremarkable. You won’t miss much by only buying the base game.
Stellaris is better for nation building, with an economic system that’s somehow better than Vic3. The politic side of things is rather lacking however. Overall it’s a balanced game, with good economy, diplomacy and warfare. Like I said the only subpart department is politics, in which Vic3 is way better. The workshop is also very good for this game, but with the price of all dlcs piracy is also a good choice.
Note: Stellaris’ frequent hotfixes and such mean that you’re unlikely to be able to enjoy multiplayer if you have a pirated version. From personal experience.