izigame.me

After playing Hearts of Iron IV for many years, I feel it's time to finally put into words the many frustrations this game has left me with. What could have been a masterpiece in the grand strategy genre has turned into a cash grab filled with bad design choices, glaring imbalances, and sheer laziness from the developers. Let me explain why this game is simply NOT WORTH YOUR time or MONEY anymore.
1. A Forest of Paid DLC – And None of It is Balanced
By now, Hearts of Iron IV has so many paid DLCs that it feels impossible to keep up. Each new DLC brings a set of unbalanced focus trees for countries that were never tested properly. Take any new focus tree added – it will be absurdly overpowered for no reason. The irony here is that despite the overwhelming number of DLCs, the base game feels incomplete without them. You need these DLCs to play the game in a normal, balanced way – except the DLCs are anything but balanced. Meanwhile, mods like Road to 56 or Kaiserreich offer a better experience for free! Community mods have outpaced Paradox, offering superior content while the developers continue to churn out paid expansions.
2. The Broken Peace Conferences
One of the most frustrating aspects of the game is the way peace conferences are handled. The AI seems to have no idea what it’s doing. Democratic nations release and puppet every country they touch, while totalitarian countries (and the neutral ones) carve out illogical borders that make no sense. There's no consistency, no logic – just random land grabs that leave the post-war world looking terrible. And guess what? The community once again came to the rescue that with the Player Leads Peace Conferences mod, which fixes this mess, as long as the player/players don't overuse it.
3. Cosmetic Neglect – Lazy Attention to Detail
When you play as a victorious White Russia after winning the civil war, do you really want your soldiers to still be wearing Soviet uniforms? It’s baffling to me how after years of development, Paradox still hasn’t addressed such basic cosmetic issues. Spain, for example, has like over 10 different uniform models for its soldiers, while countries like Russia get left in the dust. Never did a research myself, but I'm more than sure that this can be fixed by community mods too.
4. Achievement System Lacks Logic and Fun
Achievements should feel rewarding, right? They should inspire players to try new strategies and appreciate the depth of the game. But Hearts of Iron IV's achievements are bizarre and often nonsensical. Instead of such achievements like "conquer Moscow as Napoleonic France" or "Restore the Roman Empire as Italy", you get such crap like “occupy all French mainland with 20 bicycle regiments” or “drop a nuke on Sweden as Denmark.” There’s no historical context, nothing that would actually satisfy players, just random, gimmicky tasks. Sure, a few achievements make sense, but the majority feel like a joke.
5. Plagiarizing the Community
Paradox have been stealing ideas from the very community that makes the game bearable. They’ve blatantly lifted concepts from popular mods and then charged players for them. Take a close look at some of the focus trees introduced in DLCs – they’re suspiciously similar to content that was first created by the modding community. It’s disheartening to see a lack of originality, especially when the community has already shown how to innovate.
6. Neglecting the Older Nations
If you're unlucky enough to play one of the older, untouched nations, good luck. Countries like India have outdated focus trees that make them almost unplayable compared to the newer, flashy nations added with the DLCs. For example, India takes a painful 70 days (with their old focus tree) to build a single factory, while Poland can build four in the same amount of time (with their newer focus tree). The imbalance is staggering, and the developers have done nothing to address this, leaving older nations in the dust.
7. The Game's Insane Price Tag
Let’s talk about price. Hearts of Iron IV is prohibitively expensive if you want the full experience. The base game alone might be somewhat affordable during a sale, but if you want all the DLCs (and you basically need them), be prepared to drop a small fortune. For a game that is this buggy, unbalanced, and dependent on mods to be playable, the price is absurd. I can't, in good conscience, recommend buying this game at full price, or even half-price, without warning people to avoid the DLCs and stick to the free mods.
8. The Game Falls Apart Post-1945
Finally, my favourite; the game is nearly unplayable after 1945. Once you hit the late game, performance tanks. The game slows to a crawl, making it almost impossible to enjoy. Most technologies and research trees also end in 1945, meaning there’s little to do once the main world war wraps up. Instead of offering a meaningful post-war experience, the game essentially nudges you to start over. If that’s not a sign of lazy game design, I don’t know what is.
In summary, Hearts of Iron IV could have been great. But thanks to the developers laziness, poor AI, 'unusual' achievements, and an eye-watering price tag, it’s become a mess. If you’re thinking of buying this game, DON'T. At least, not without getting good community mods – they’re the only thing keeping this game remotely playable. Avoid the DLCs, avoid the headache, and consider yourself warned.