Victoria 3's next DLC embodies Paradox's obsession with historical detail

History boffins, your time is now. I'll happily admit that I don't count myself among you. I have a decent knowledge of history, but games like Victoria 3 show me new depths that never fail to astonish me. The brilliant thing about the game's published diaries from developers at Paradox is that you can see the sheer amount of research that's gone into making this game as authentic as possible. There's no difference for the next update, which comes alongside the National Awakening DLC.

National Awakening focuses on the fate of the Balkan states and the Austro-Hungarian Empire during the 19th century. Victoria, the narrative design lead for Victoria 3 and winner of the nominative determinism of the week award, can explain it much better than I. This DLC is about the "conflict between established dynastic states and aspiring nation-states," she says in the latest dev diary.

As well as diving deep into the real history of the region during this period, Victoria explains how each country's ambitions will be implemented into the strategy game. As usual, you'll get new journal entries depending on whether or not you've fulfilled the criteria for each, and can achieve victory by completing all the tasks therein.

Austria's Klemens von Metternich has emerged as the poster boy for the DLC, so I'll use him as an example. The Age of Metternich journal entry is available to Austria from the start, and contains ten sub-goals. You'll be rewarded with strength for each of those you complete. If you wish for Austria to remain at the heart of conservative Europe, that is.

The results of the Age of Metternich depend on your choices, of course. Will you follow in the footsteps of history and chase him out of Vienna with a baying mob at his heels? Or will you embrace his ideologies and propel Austria to frontiers unknown?

The dev diary details numerous other potential journal entries, each of which will present a new route through the DLC. It's worth noting that additional free content will also be included in update 1.10, including national awakening markers to show "the point at which a nation's literary culture reaches critical mass, and catalyses a rapid increase in national consciousness."

Mechanically speaking, these markers pop up when a culture reaches 30 cultural fervor. The update also adds the colonial slavery law, which is active for Spain, Portugal, Denmark, the Netherlands, and France at the start of the game. These are countries that banned slavery, but continue to maintain it in their overseas colonies.

That's a simplistic look at the changes ahead of the National Awakening DLC, but you can read Paradox's 5,000-word essay here for every juicy detail.

If you can't wait for the DLC to drop, check out some of the best grand strategy games in the meantime. Alternatively, the best 4X games will have you covered.

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