Suzerain

Really enjoyable narrative with interesting characters and impactful decisions. I didn't do so well on my first playthrough, but the one more turn feeling was great, basically played it all day.

Looking forward to booting up the next playthrough.

Simply the best politic-related game I ever played.
The world they crafted, the intricacies of every situations, the realism in characters reactions and the very good writing are all exemplary.
You must definitely have a taste for politics, although your prior knowledge can be somewhat basic (the game does a good job at explaining how things work).
As for the gameplay itself, see it as an interactive book where your decisions (and you will make a ton) really has an impact on the story, so while the options are laid out to you, you still feel that YOU made that decision.

The story has emotion. The depth of politics feels like history book. Sometimes it felt too slow but maybe it was because I was very sucked into the story. Very good game.

I was surprised how much I enjoyed Suzerain having never played a game like this before. It was a nice change of pace not having to micromanage a bunch of systems but still being able to make strategic decisions and drive a compelling narrative. I went into my first playthrough blind and didn't feel punished for that which is rare these days.

Suzerain is an interesting experience; a (mostly text-based) mix of a RPG and a political simulation where you step into the shoes of the newly elected president of a democratic country on the verge of crisis. You must face challenges such as economic recession, political intrigue both foreign and domestic, as well as scandals and plots.

This is a game which I find myself returning to every now and then to see where my different decisions will take me. I give it a 5/5 rating!

A Captivating Game with Immersive Storytelling.
This game delivers an engaging experience with its compelling narrative and a wide range of gameplay styles. Will you steer the nation toward democracy, or tighten your grip to establish a dictatorship? The choice is yours, and the journey is both challenging and rewarding.

The DLC is also a fantastic addition, offering even more depth and exciting new content. It enhances the core experience and keeps you invested in the story.

While the game excels in many areas, I’d love to see more detailed statistics and additional optional tooltips for crucial decisions. These features would help players make more informed choices and enhance the overall strategic depth.

A deceptively enjoyable political visual novel at its base with flavorful writing!

the creators have made a truly amazing game with a gripping story. in my opinion, the economic and military system in Rizia expansion is definitely worth the purchase for a once through play.

that being said, I was highly disappointed that I was only permitted to play for 8 turns. this limitation definitely did not make me want to play again.

for the 8 turns however, I was thoroughly entertained!

Delightfully engaging, throughly stressful.
Its one of those very few and rare games where writing and world building is so good You might as well played it in the command line and it wouldnt loose much of its charm. Every decision counts, very imaginative consequences and compromises to strike. Feels as if You were really leading a nation.

Honestly a great political game that is very underrated. This is a very text heavy game (it is basically all text). But the writing is incredible. Feels very realistic. I got heavily invested in the story and genuinely trying to help this imaginary country out of a recession and into a bright future. This game truly lets you take and explore whatever political ideologies/beliefs you want, and it will present challenges and consequences in an imperfect world. I saw in myself that the longer I played, the more "professional" as a politician I became: making speeches that said a whole lot of nothing intentionally, reading into the intentions of my advisors and other politicians (i.e. what's your angle), being cold-hearted and backstabbing allies "for the good of the country," and more. I cannot recommend this game more for those who think they might be interested in this type of game. I think I got this game on sale, but I'd recommend it full price as well. It won't be everyone's cup of tea; but if you enjoy intrigue and ever think "I could do it better" around election season, this game is for you.

I adore this game, took a little bit of time to fully wrap my head around it and actually not destroy the economy but the narrative for both the Main game and DLC are excellent and there's really nothing else like it in terms of a story driven political simulator.

A beautiful game, with lovely writing. The first 5-10 hours of this game can easily hold my near continuous undivided attention. The world and characters are rich and interesting, and the dialogue is sharp. Even the hundreds of reports and articles presented in the game are worth taking the time to read.

However, despite this I cannot recommend this game. I have attempted to finish it no fewer than three times over the past three years and each time I have found myself burnt out by the revelation that the narrative is far less adaptive and reactive than the well crafted world and characters initially imply.

This is a trial and error game. Not in the sense of achieving success or failure, but in the more critical sense of experiencing a narratively satisfying story - or not. This may be excusable on its own if the problem wasn’t compounded by the “Ironman” style save system, and the inconsistent decision making system.

There are three primary ways of making major consequential political decisions in Suzerain. I will list them in order from most to least satisfying.

1. Discussing the options in detail with other characters in a scene, hearing each character’s opinions on each option, before concretely stating that you’ve made up your mind. Followed by stating your intentions through dialogue.
   
2. Being presented a menu outside of dialogue that clearly states you are locking in a decision. The menu will feature buttons or sliders allowing you to select your intentions before locking them in with a confirm button.
   
[*]Making a single comment in a dialogue with no indication that it is a conclusive statement that will lock in a policy position you cannot return from. This is especially frustrating when it can seem like one of the discussion questions from ‘type 1’ in this list.

One of the most immersive games. The political rammifications are on point. Full of surprises, tension and hard choices. Great game!

Firstly it must be made clear that this is NOT a political simulation game. Rather this is more of a chose your own adventure visual novel.

You take "control" as president of a poor(ish) country struggling to overcome the history of a long serving president(possible dictator). You make choices that you may believe are right but are ultimately wrong. What many of the negative comments seem to fail to understand is that in real life you dont know what the results of your decisions will be. Many seem to think the game should function similar to a Paradox game like HOI4, EU4, Stallaris, etc. where every decision hand feeds you the stat changes. In this game you set a goal for yourself and try and achieve those goals as best as you can. The game does seem to rail road you a little bit in terms of direction and whether or not you can win reelection but this actually adds to the world as trying to make a country a left wing paradise despite being controlled by a conservative ruling class is extremely difficult and very unlikely. That being said your choices can totally change the events in the game as there are events that I never experienced due to my decisions preventing them from coming up.

If you like political intrigue, hard choices, and a character driven story, and a flushed out world then I cannot recommend this game enough

Great story, great tension and writing. Great to see devs have the confidence to develop this type of game.

overall, this seems to be a good game, but due to several disabilities i struggle to read for extended periods of time, and this game doest have any read-aloud options, and my usual text reader doesnt work with it. of course, this is very much a me problem, and if you're able to play games which rely almost entirely on long passages of text, i suspect you'll have a great time with it :)

that being said, i also had some issues with the UI, which might be unclear delibertaly to be more realistic, it makes it hard to play as a strategy game, and makes it feel un-interactive, and at times drawling. simple progress bars, or a more clear techincal intro, or the economic growth bar showing a full history insted of momentary growth or decline would help.

i want to see how my actions impact the world without having to sift through paragraphs or seek it out, and without a simple way to see it, the game ends up feeling quite stale.

Test-based story-driven game. As expected your choices can have large impacts on the economic, military, diplomatic, and political landscape of the country you run, even your family and personal relations are affected. What is more impressive is the amount of lore available in fleshing out the universe of the game, from characters to the groups they represent, from foreign nations to the power blocs and international organizations they are a part of. Playing this game you are heavily immersed and invested in the story.

This game is honestly not bad, it just has a serious flaw to it: The game doesn't want you to play politics. Finding yourself struggling to push for a certain thing and so decide to make a compromise? wrong answer according to this game. The solution to everything is to be uncompromising, don't even think of negotiating. Anytime you try to strattle a line or make a deal or try to play both sides, the game registers this as "inconsistent policy" determines your answers as "wrong" and punishes you. That is not how politics works though. Let's say for example, you are wanting to turn the nation communist. Then you have to be unapologetically communist in your run, not even secretive just flat out extremist. You won't face any troubles for that decision either, the opposite in fact, you'll be rewarded.

Beyond that, the story isn't bad, just don't expect an in depth politics simulator, it's more akin to a visual novel than anything else.

Finally, I've seen other people mention this, the developers do have a bias. Credit where it is due, they did a good job at keeping it in check, but it becomes increasingly difficult to ignore the bias once you notice that no matter what you do in your run, this settings version of the USSR always ends up as a perfect utopia while this worlds version of the USA always ends up as a corrupted hellhole relying heavily on mercenaries, oh and the USSR equivilant is a better aid, support, and ecenomic partner than the USA equivilant.
Again though, it's MOSTLY kept in check and limited to the dumb fluff text you learn to ignore.

Literally one of the bestest games on this earth. Torpor, hats off to you, CONTINUE THIS GEM OF A GAME
PS. base game slightly better than rizia dlc :3

It feels very different from other strictly narrative games. It did not take long for me to start caring about the characters. Many of the outcomes of players' decisions will bother them, though I find this quite refreshing.

I’ve had my eye on Suzerain since its initial announcement, but for reasons I can’t quite fully explain, I let it loiter in my wishlist for years while I dabbled in countless other strategy titles. I kept seeing stellar reviews roll in, yet I remained stubbornly oblivious to its appeal- until a recent 75% off sale finally broke my resolve. My only regret? Not taking the plunge sooner- I'd have happily paid full price for this gem!

At first glance, Suzerain seems simple. In many respects, it is- yet that’s where the brilliance lies. Torpor Games has masterfully balanced "less is more" with genuine player engagement. Don’t be fooled by the game’s text-based interactions; it’s not your average "Choose Your Own Adventure." It’s more like a high-stakes game of chess played with Machiavellian flair.

While many strategy games bombard you with cascading tooltips and an overwhelming deluge of data, Suzerain takes a different approach. Economic metrics and political machinations are abstracted, leaving you with a limited perspective—much like a real-world political operative navigating a maze of intrigue. This isn’t a “line go up” affair; it’s a delicate dance of character relationships set against a backdrop of weighty policy decisions. You’ll find yourself juggling allegiances and plotting your next move, all while mentally weaving together the details contained within the rich lore, narrative, and contextual clues.

And let’s talk about the world-building: it’s both innovative and familiar, taking inspiration from the Cold War, political science, pop culture, and history without feeling derivative. For the first time in a strategy game, I found myself genuinely invested in the characters, even forming attachments to the faceless citizens who populate the streets of this fictional realm. My first playthrough? I knew it was headed for abject failure, yet I couldn't stop myself from pressing on, eager to see how my many blunders would unfold- or if, by some undeserved miracle, I could navigate my way to success.

The story unfolds with unexpected twists, and the characters often prove to be more than they seem, making each decision feel weighty and significant. Plus, the replayability is astounding. It’s like rewatching a movie where you catch all the subtle nuances you missed the first time. With countless political options at your fingertips, you can take the narrative in a variety of directions, ensuring that no two playthroughs feel the same even if the game is not necessarily a sandbox title.

In short, Suzerain isn’t just a game; it’s a captivating political saga that hooks you from the start. If you’re a fan of strategy games or just looking for a narrative experience that challenges your wits, do yourself a favor and dive into this world. You won’t regret it.

Mandatory education piece for people who want to understand politics. Lessons upon lessons, never waivering, an exciting and illuminating piece of art. A journey I can never recover from - I will always cherish my time in Sordland. President Rayne will never be far from my thoughts.

I wish I could recommend Suzerain because it is a unique and complex title with a lot to offer. However, the lack of any option to skip seen text is frustrating in a Visual Novel-style, branching paths game like this where the intention is clearly to play it over and over. Suzerain is difficult, and one small mistake in the early game can make your entire administration go south later. This would be fine if it had a skip option like most games of this genre so it's easier to restart, but Suzerain has forgone this feature. When you need to start your run over again because you screwed it all up, you'll have to button-mash through all the explanations of your country's situation in those chapter 1 tutorial meetings. And you better hope you don't accidentally miss some new dialogue or select a response you didn't want because you were mashing too fast! Unless the developers change this, I will not be returning to Suzerain, despite its other good qualities.

Only been playing for a little bit so far, but the game has so much detail. In the first act alone there is a massive amount of information that you can see when you're playing the game, with even minor characters often having relatively indepth information on them I've never seen anywhere else.

Suzerain is an incredible game that tackles the intricacies of governance and the complex relationships between persons, parties, ideologies, and the state. Highly recommend, especially for those with any basic interest in politics.

Es divertido si te gusta leer y te gusta la politica

Great game to show what it feels like to be president. Very immersive game with hard choices to make.

The political junkie in me is so thankful that such a game exists. Helps that it has a bespoke story and cast of characters you spend a long time working and socializing with while trying to keep fiscal, social, and foreign matters in tip-top shape.

Amazing game with amazing, writing, characters and storylines. Urge you to get if you like political thrillers!

If you're interested in politics and how a government is run, then this game is for you. Every decision you make, from the funding of ministries, economy, international relations, trade, will impact your ending. I've played many times and it never bores me.

Just give this game a try. It's more of a political story game and I really like it for it even more. Great story. Made me actually feel bad at the end and that's good. Cause I tried all I could to make Sordland a better place and yet met an ugly end. Now time to play the DLC, which I am looking forward to! Also awsome soundtrack!

Excellent political sim/novel where choices actually matter unlike in other games. While the main plot is basically the same each game, there are several different endings... which one happens is influenced throughout the game and no single decision determines it.
Great replayability to get them all.
Dialogues are good more often than not, characters have different agendas which they push for and they don't hesitate to inform player what they think of players decisions. Some chars are more annoying than others, just like people irl.

A lot of reading but amazing art style and music and intricate story line

Imagine the Paradox grand strategy game Victoria 2/3, but as a choose your own adventure book instead. The game is sufficiently long and detailed enough that your policy choices have logical consequences (at least for the paths I chose), and you feel like each action has an opposite reaction. Stick to your ideals, but don't forget that no man rules alone.

Text is cheap nowadays with AI, and I would love for the developers of this game to take their financial success and roll it into a Suzerain 2, as the world building so far has been rich and deep. This game, but twice as long and twice as in-depth, would be a cult classic along the lines of Disco Elysium. I might recommend we move the timeline forward to the early 1990s, and put you into control of the first democratically elected president of the Russia equivalent country after the collapse of the comintern pact. You can then try to reforge the pact, pursue the free market, reinstate the monarchy of old, ect.

Not many games have so much potential, but this is one of them.

I love this game, its a great combination of a narrative driven story and political simulator. My main problem is that im a perfectionist, and this game drives me crazy because of it, but i would absolutley recommend this and the DLC.

SUZERAIN is the best political simulation game and I am really looking forward to the new DLC, President of Wehlen!

This is one of the best games I have played in a long time. It has so many options and choices. It is difficult and frustrating and very fun. So far I have lost all 3 times I have played through. I have had 3 completely different endings and I haven't even started on Rizia DLC, yet. If you like reading and stories, this is the game. You will not like this game if you do not enjoy reading.

A senseless war killing over 2 million people, and shot to death in the chair of my Office. Not a great start to my Political debut. Loved this game, as a 56 year old it was perfect. Easy to get a hang of, plenty of background Lore, and made me rethink any desire to get into Government. Enjoyed.

It makes you feel the satisfaction of winning in politics, the frustrations of losing in politics, the compromise needed in politics and the sheer wish to smack someone when they upturn the cart while things are going well but having to remain calm and let other people talk themselves into making mistakes as is common in politics.

The game does not make it easy, and you always feel you're in suspense at the risk of losing control just as you think you have it.

My favourite thing about the game is how it shows you who, among politicians, are leaders, and who are merely self-interested ideologues.

Of course, you can play a crazy dictator, but sometimes fighting that battle for the fine line in the middle is more satisfying in the end.

Am Ende doch eine ziemliche Enttäuschung leider.
Die Idee ist was erfrischend neues, es ist mit viel Mühe gemacht und am Anfang fand ich es auch sehr interessant, aber umso weiter man kommt merkt man doch das viele Dinge unausweichlich sind.
Man hat nur oft pseudo Entscheidungen zu treffen, aber viele Dinge (alle ?) stehen so gut wie fest nur einige Textpassagen und Ereignisse sind vielleicht anders zwischen den Hauptevents.
Das zieht das Spiel am Ende doch total runter finde ich.
Viele Ereignisse sind auch schlicht nicht schlüssig, da erklärt einem Rumburg den Krieg obwohl man quasi nix gemacht hat, ist bestimmt Pflicht der Story. Und jede Entscheidung die man trifft, egal was, bringt immer irgendwen auf "die Palme" oder hat sonstige negative Auswirkungen.
Das fängt dann doch irgendwann an zu nerven und wird vorhersehbar.
Schade, Potential hat das Spiel, es müsste nur sehr viel freier umgesetzt sein.
So ist es im Grunde nur ein pseudo Katastrophen Manager egal was man tut.

10/10 Successfully established a police state, threatened the life of the only opposition who i hadn't arrested in the middle of the presidential debate, dropped out of the race in order to endorse Adolf Hitler as the next president, and retired as a football manager.

A very great political sim game if you want to control your nation with political sim this is your game. It has been update and polish and I assure you this game will make you like an addict and want more. But i hope they updated the GDP if you successfully bring back your economy or not.

Honestly it's one of the best games I've ever played. the Plot, OST, graphics is top-tier content. I recommend everyone to try the game at least once, it has so much replayability and so much to offer for a good price. DLC is on par with an original story, and should definitely cost more.
Anyway, it's a very good game

Great game, should buy even when not on sale.

It is an interactable novel about a president in a young and unstable democratic nation. The first time you play is the absolute best, storywise. But it has a lot of replayability.

Don't expect it to be easy, it won't cater to your wishes and desires. Every little decision you make matter for the endgame. You will break your head trying to find out what you need to do to win. But all the lore, flavor, and possible outcomes make this game amazing. I absolutely recommend it.

An absolute gem of a text-based role-playing game. The level of world building of the Suzerain universe is fascinating, which is way too rare for visual novels, and more importantly, the stories (Suzerain and Rizia) are very engaging. The replayability of the game is impressive, and while you can enjoy the game with one single run, many players run it two, three... Or fifteen times. If you like visual novels, political-themed games, text-based RPGs, do yourself a favour and play this one.

Despite being mostly text, this is one of the best games I've ever played. It took me 4 runs to finally complete it without getting killed or forced to leave the country, and actually finish my damn term. It's honestly amazing how many variables and how many ways you can gain an advantage, or fuck up and watch your country burn.

I give it 10 salads eaten out of 10.

Really in-depth experience, which really opens your eye's for the intricacy of politics.

Probably the best political simulator ever made. Fantastic game.

This was a really well done game. It was a random recommendation from a Youtuber and I was really surprised at how much I enjoyed it. The game has you running an eastern European style nation coming out of a civli war, marxist politics, in the middle of a recession and geopolitical tension. The story is gripping, like I was surprised how much I got into the story itself and even the fictional world and details they create. The game does a fantastic job of showing you how difficult it is being in power, and no matter how hard you try you are often forced to sacrifice morals and ethics in order to get things done and more then country forwards.

This is one of the best games ive played in my life, but after 11h, i literally cant play any more because of a game-breaking bug. The game wont save, i cant access my save files. I cant even start a new game because the new save files just wont save. From what ive read online, many people have similiar problems. This is unacceptable.