The summation of my feelings for this game is akin to the feelings that were felt when (spoilers) Frodo fails to throw the ring into Mount Doom, and the face Sam makes afterward. You go through this wonderful journey of playing one of the best city simulator games since Sim City 4, but the more you go, the more corrupt they get. Eventually, you realize you've lost them forever.

This game is honestly one of my favorites. I do not own any of the DLC that runs at about 15 bucks on average, and even then it's still a fairly competent game.
However, as you play the base game you realize that many of the quality of life features aren't available, and your options are limited greatly. A lack of proper infrastructure options or settings, the lack of public transport options, entertainment options besides a couple parks and a basketball court... It's all missing or very limited. That's due to the DLC that's been dropping. Transportation options are locked behind a 13 dollar paywall, and it doesn't even contain most of the transportation options that could be available. You have to buy three DLCs in order to get Trams, decent train architecture, Taxi's, and Ferries. Those are all under the umbrella of transportation, but nah. Separate DLC.

It wouldn't be a big deal, but the base game is 30 dollars, and the DLC that matters all cost over 10. That's about a hundred bucks for the whole game. While it goes on sale often, the DLC only generally drops 40%, which means it is still around 8 bucks to buy each one.
As a result, I cannot support the game, or Paradox in general. I love their games, and I even purchased their latest DLC of Crusaders II because it did add interesting features. However, the only time I recommend buying anything from them is if it's on sale for 50% or more.

As a whole, the game really is great. I just prefer having a complete puzzle set from the getgo, rather than buying each piece à la carte.

The summation of my feelings for this game is akin to the feelings that were felt when (spoilers) Frodo fails to throw the ring into Mount Doom, and the face Sam makes afterward. You go through this wonderful journey of playing one of the best city simulator games since Sim City 4, but the more you go, the more corrupt they get. Eventually, you realize you've lost them forever. This game is honestly one of my favorites. I do not own any of the DLC that runs at about 15 bucks on average, and even then it's still a fairly competent game. However, as you play the base game you realize that many of the quality of life features aren't available, and your options are limited greatly. A lack of proper infrastructure options or settings, the lack of public transport options, entertainment options besides a couple parks and a basketball court... It's all missing or very limited. That's due to the DLC that's been dropping. Transportation options are locked behind a 13 dollar paywall, and it doesn't even contain most of the transportation options that could be available. You have to buy three DLCs in order to get Trams, decent train architecture, Taxi's, and Ferries. Those are all under the umbrella of transportation, but nah. Separate DLC. It wouldn't be a big deal, but the base game is 30 dollars, and the DLC that matters all cost over 10. That's about a hundred bucks for the whole game. While it goes on sale often, the DLC only generally drops 40%, which means it is still around 8 bucks to buy each one. As a result, I cannot support the game, or Paradox in general. I love their games, and I even purchased their latest DLC of Crusaders II because it did add interesting features. However, the only time I recommend buying anything from them is if it's on sale for 50% or more. As a whole, the game really is great. I just prefer having a complete puzzle set from the getgo, rather than buying each piece à la carte.