100% Agree. I liked those scenarios the least, but when 5 came out, I think I was just itching for some city building… still kind of am. Anno is promising and maybe this too.
Yep, seems like typical Tropico to me… Take the base of the older games and expand upon it in both a good and a bad way.
The additions and changes they are making with 6 look like they should be worth the price of admission for me, I always enjoy some Tropico. Not sure how I feel about some of the aspects of the game they are trying to play up and emphasize, they’re doubling down on the megalomania and El Presidente grandiosity a bit too much for my liking but I’ll roll with it. Personally, I play Tropico less for the now rather hammed-up El Presidente personality plus humour and more for the Caribbean-like setting, aesthetic and the unique blend of city-building/political gameplay it offers.
Though Tropico 5 was a bit one step forwards and two steps back with some of the changes they made, since they couldn’t just wholesale take 4’s content and build on it like 4 did with 3. While the concept of the eras and tech tree was a fun idea, realistically I felt that the game needed more content\variety in each era to execute it better. The building variety was certainly blander for it compared to 3\4 where some buildings like Tenements could have variety in their models and paint palettes. Meaning cities in 5 could look a lot more copy and paste then they might do in 3 & 4.
Despite the fact that Tropico 4 was in a lot of ways Tropico 3 but even grander/better, I think I love Tropico 3 the most out of the new Tropico games. Part of the reason for that would be that they changed some stuff in Tropico 4 which I liked about 3, such as El Presidente having negative traits (like alcoholic or compulsive gambler) that added some flavour your character. Felt like they really cut back on the actual character, in a thematic and RPG sense, by 5 where everything seemed like it was bland minor gameplay-related stats boost.
This might be blasphemous, but to me, the third Tropico felt like the best game. Tropico 4 felt much the same as Tropico 3, except for the cabinet. Completely in line with Nesrie’s apt comment earlier about more of the same and not enough new. Another thumbs down with Tropico 4 is it also included the modern times expansion and that killed the vibe of building a tropical dystopia. The modern buildings looked stupidly at odds with everything I had built in my tropical city to that point. I don’t know if I can describe it well, the city stopped looking good as a result of modern times buildings.
Tropico 5 on the other hand. Yeah, that was enough for me to now wait and see how 6 ends up. I didn’t really care for the dynasty stuff. The managers sucked too, though having the buildings that could have extra things unlocked was nice to a minute point. There was really no reason not to spend the money getting the upgrade. I tried to play 5 the other day and it grated on my nerves more than it should.
They really need to add Trump as a dictator choice.
I did not pre-order, so no feedback from me.
Yeah, I am gonna wait and see. I may do this one.
It’s funny, the part of the Tropico series I tend not to like is the part that makes it different - the factions and political stuff. Sometimes I find it too ambiguous. I do think the rest of it is some of the best for games of this type.
Saw someone on Twitch playing the beta. He concluded it was too buggy/incomplete in its current state to enjoy, so he went back to playing Tropico 4.
As much as I look forward to some games, I generally prefer to not take part in betas. In fact, the more excited I am about a game, the less I want to be in the beta. I really would prefer to experience a game for the first time in its complete state. While all games, even at release, have bugs, I can at least be fairly confident that there will be fewer than in beta (after all, that’s what a beta is for, right?).
I just don’t want my very first experience with a game I’m looking forward to to be marred.
Of course, “early access” blurs that line quite a lot, but I try to do my research to find out what state an EA game is in before I take part.
I don’t recall the recent version of Tropico releasing with particularly nasty bugs. I think I am more concerned with whether they accomplish their new features and if the game is different enough from the past ones to warrant their asking price.
Delayed a few months…
If one of those improvements is “unfuck the ruinous military aspect of Tropico 5,” I’m for it.
Thanks!
All right. So I just played this for 3 hours in coop. We had one crash, and the host, not me, made a mistake with victory conditions the first time, but it did let me try 3 maps. My initial, limited opinion is it’s so familiar, so the same that no tutorial is needed. For me though, the fun is still there. There’s a bit more to do, some building scaling has been addressed (the roads are kind of messed up, technically), and I generally like it. They’re probably going to take some hits from some for it being too much the same though which has been a common complaint for the series from 2 on.
I think my favorite aspect of the Tropico series is the logistics of ensuring the roads aren’t clogged with traffic so goods and workers can flow efficiently. I can’t think of a city builder that does that one aspect better. I’m not sure I’m going to get the chance to play this before time runs out.
I’m pretty tired of the dictator shtick at this point, but the basic city building was good through Tropico 5.
I played a bit of the beta last night. Won a scenario and started another.
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Yes, this is Tropico with all the normal associated bits and bobs. I feel I am playing the same game again with the same type of ages, same buildings, same road structure, etc. I like the series but was hoping for something a bit different.
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The different islands are a bit underwhelming. In Anno you had to build a whole infrastructure to exploit a different island but not so here. Just build a dock and get access to the resources you need but inevitably your main island does not contain. It could be a fun thing occasionally, for instance by having one island dedicated to nothing but tourism, but it feels more like a gimmick.
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I do not like the art style quite as much as the previous game because the I am having a harder time distinguishing the buildings. It is not bad, just a small personal preference.
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There are a lot of buildings. It appears most everything that was in 5 is here and a few others as well. At least they did not pare down the main game in an effort to sell more DLC. I am sure there will be DLC of course.
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The challenges come fast and furious and there was never a time that I did not have at least one goal/task/challenge in front of me. However, after being asked to build a tavern for the revolutionaries for the 4th time in just the colonial age the excitement of getting one wears off quickly. Either they need some new ones or to slow the pace a bit.
Thanks for the impressions, @Nesrie and @Granath! Did either of you (or anyone else messing with the beta) get a chance to check out the military aspect? It completely ruined T5 for me with the unbearable pathfinding/AI and how engaging with it was required to get through scenarios.
I have not yet. I thought I would at the end of the first scenario but the transition from colonial to independent power was peaceful. I will let you know how it works if it comes up.
I had to deal with that same lousy pathfinding in T5 and it was a pain. I just would build all my military buildings close to the palace. That way any major invasion, which always was against the palace, would meet heavy resistance. If there were very valuable installations in remote areas (say, like a nuclear power plant) I would plop down a guard tower or two in that area simply to slow down any rebels to give my troops a chance to get there before they destroyed the valuable building. The other destruction of farms and such I just treated as a cost of doing business.
They could do a Permafrost spinoff and focus on running a former Soviet republic.