So yeah, Brazil Imperial. It's pretty good but not the paradigm shift i was hoping for by any means. It's a journeyman game that does a lot well, but doesn't necessarily feel that fresh.
Brazillian gamer here (and a brazillian historian too). While I do think it is a reasonable game (good, but I don't play it because I like scythe way better), the implementation of the theme is very, very poor. The introductory text conveys a very colonial sensibility, the indegenous people figured in the artwork look like color-shifted germans, and the inclusion of famous figures that do not pertain to the brazillian imperial period (19th century) feels odd and generic. And that's not to say I didn't like the choice of theme. I was very pumped when I first heard about it! Heck, I am a historian of 18th and 19th Brazil centuries. So, even though I am quite happy that a game published by meeple br (a great company) is getting some buzz worldwide, i overall feel this game is a missed opportunity.
Cheers Lucas. I think its good to air these concerns as well. Colonialism and imperialism are such a raw thing for so many folk around the world. I know I'd have some reckons if the game was about Aotearoa/New Zealand. Overall, i'm fond of seeing new designs, from new designers from more places than just the USA and EU.
I think it is a very good game, and that is it. In Brazil it seems that most people thought it was "love it or hate it", but not because of the game, because of the theme. There is a surprisingly not so tiny number of brazilians that want monarchy back, all of them right-wing conservatives. Because of that, the imperial era theme was not well viewed by left-wing liberals. That way, if you are a conservative, you have to love this game; if you are a liberal, you have to hate this game. Most of the impressions I got from non-professional reviewers followed one of those two instances, totally forgetting about the game per se.
About the game creator, Zé Mendes, many people accused him of being a monarchist. I don't know him personally, but I saw some livestreams where he talked about the game. He seemed to me like a history nerd that loves the theme, not a monarchist.
Cheers Hugo. To say my knowledge of Brazilian history is limited is a dramatic understatement. But I can see why the monarchist thing would get attached to the project. Needing a monarch to build a city for example is a mechanical reinforcement of that ;) And overall, it is very much traditional in the classic Sid Meier model of "the best civilization = fancier buildings than your rivals". So, again, not being an expert here, but i can see where some of that ammunition to use against the designer would come from.
Im from Brazil and it's very wierd that people cannot just enjoy a cool well themed historical game with a flavor that portraits and actual historical period. Many countries had kings and queens, there are a lot of movies/books/games on that. But we have an original BR game and some people get mad because its not shitting on historical figures? Give me a break. And, Im very very happy to see this game featured here.
So if we play war which is set in the Napoleonic era, would it mean that we want Napoleon back? Spare me of b#%@$. No one in Brazil was thinking about politics when they saw this game.
This game looks beautiful! And it's a very nice video, btw. I guess it's quite interesting for people from other countries to see such complex and unknown history going on. And for me as a Brazilian it's cool to see for example Henrique Dias as a character; I cross Henrique Dias street everyday! xD They did a very good job making this an authentic, true game theme, and I'm sure people can feel it, even not knowing most names. I see a card showing a native South American hanging by the side of a horse, which was a clever stealth attack strategy they had in a specific region. It's a well done research! And I find Scythe overwhelming, I can barely keep track of my own game, let alone watch my opponents'. Brazil Imperial looks like a more suitable complexity.
Not precisely big on Brazilian history myself either (for the Brazilians in the audience, I'm Galician, not Brazillian or Portuguese :P) But when I saw this I got a bad feeling. No, not the whole discussion about Brazilian monarchism, that is interesting but I'm an spectator there too, trying to learn more. But, well, seems to me that the historical setting is there as, best case, one of those "educational" things. As in, the game is an abstract Euro/4X thing with a ton of flavor text that if you want you open that book and learn who was that guy and what did he do, but that has nothing to do with the game. Well, for starters, you have several "Brazils" competing out in an abstract map to be... what, the best Brazil? Not a problem with that approach, but is one I dont like much, I prefer games that have historical theme ingrained in the mechanics, not just hey, we put a card with this big historic figure in, go read about them.
This was on my wish listed since I heard about it when it didn't have NA distribution, but I keep looking at reviews when it did, and they were rather mixed so I decided to pass on it.
@@digocr One of them is Pedro I for the brazilians (or Pedro IV for the portuguese). The other one is Carl von Clausewitz, a military strategist and theorist.
Hugo is correct. Carl von clausewitz has been my online avatar for well over 20 years, dating back to when i did a masters in Defence and Strategic studies, when i read Vom Kriege, his seminal work.
So yeah, Brazil Imperial. It's pretty good but not the paradigm shift i was hoping for by any means. It's a journeyman game that does a lot well, but doesn't necessarily feel that fresh.
Brazillian gamer here (and a brazillian historian too). While I do think it is a reasonable game (good, but I don't play it because I like scythe way better), the implementation of the theme is very, very poor. The introductory text conveys a very colonial sensibility, the indegenous people figured in the artwork look like color-shifted germans, and the inclusion of famous figures that do not pertain to the brazillian imperial period (19th century) feels odd and generic. And that's not to say I didn't like the choice of theme. I was very pumped when I first heard about it! Heck, I am a historian of 18th and 19th Brazil centuries. So, even though I am quite happy that a game published by meeple br (a great company) is getting some buzz worldwide, i overall feel this game is a missed opportunity.
Cheers Lucas. I think its good to air these concerns as well. Colonialism and imperialism are such a raw thing for so many folk around the world. I know I'd have some reckons if the game was about Aotearoa/New Zealand. Overall, i'm fond of seeing new designs, from new designers from more places than just the USA and EU.
I think it is a very good game, and that is it. In Brazil it seems that most people thought it was "love it or hate it", but not because of the game, because of the theme. There is a surprisingly not so tiny number of brazilians that want monarchy back, all of them right-wing conservatives. Because of that, the imperial era theme was not well viewed by left-wing liberals. That way, if you are a conservative, you have to love this game; if you are a liberal, you have to hate this game. Most of the impressions I got from non-professional reviewers followed one of those two instances, totally forgetting about the game per se.
About the game creator, Zé Mendes, many people accused him of being a monarchist. I don't know him personally, but I saw some livestreams where he talked about the game. He seemed to me like a history nerd that loves the theme, not a monarchist.
Cheers Hugo. To say my knowledge of Brazilian history is limited is a dramatic understatement. But I can see why the monarchist thing would get attached to the project. Needing a monarch to build a city for example is a mechanical reinforcement of that ;) And overall, it is very much traditional in the classic Sid Meier model of "the best civilization = fancier buildings than your rivals". So, again, not being an expert here, but i can see where some of that ammunition to use against the designer would come from.
Im from Brazil and it's very wierd that people cannot just enjoy a cool well themed historical game with a flavor that portraits and actual historical period.
Many countries had kings and queens, there are a lot of movies/books/games on that. But we have an original BR game and some people get mad because its not shitting on historical figures? Give me a break.
And, Im very very happy to see this game featured here.
So if we play war which is set in the Napoleonic era, would it mean that we want Napoleon back? Spare me of b#%@$. No one in Brazil was thinking about politics when they saw this game.
This game looks beautiful! And it's a very nice video, btw. I guess it's quite interesting for people from other countries to see such complex and unknown history going on. And for me as a Brazilian it's cool to see for example Henrique Dias as a character; I cross Henrique Dias street everyday! xD They did a very good job making this an authentic, true game theme, and I'm sure people can feel it, even not knowing most names.
I see a card showing a native South American hanging by the side of a horse, which was a clever stealth attack strategy they had in a specific region. It's a well done research!
And I find Scythe overwhelming, I can barely keep track of my own game, let alone watch my opponents'. Brazil Imperial looks like a more suitable complexity.
Hopefully the dedicated solo mode comes out in the USA soon
Looks like they fixed Scythe
A lot of scythe energy in there for sure, with the action selection and very non-core combat
Getting some Concordia vibes, as far as layout and design.
Beautiful game!❤ 🇧🇷
I was about to joke another day that your avatar is a shaved version of Peter The 1st of Brazil/The 4th of Portugal, but no need anymore.
Not precisely big on Brazilian history myself either (for the Brazilians in the audience, I'm Galician, not Brazillian or Portuguese :P) But when I saw this I got a bad feeling. No, not the whole discussion about Brazilian monarchism, that is interesting but I'm an spectator there too, trying to learn more. But, well, seems to me that the historical setting is there as, best case, one of those "educational" things. As in, the game is an abstract Euro/4X thing with a ton of flavor text that if you want you open that book and learn who was that guy and what did he do, but that has nothing to do with the game. Well, for starters, you have several "Brazils" competing out in an abstract map to be... what, the best Brazil?
Not a problem with that approach, but is one I dont like much, I prefer games that have historical theme ingrained in the mechanics, not just hey, we put a card with this big historic figure in, go read about them.
I totally get what you are saying here, it certainly doesn't feel particularly educational and it is very much a euro game/civ game hybrid.
This was on my wish listed since I heard about it when it didn't have NA distribution, but I keep looking at reviews when it did, and they were rather mixed so I decided to pass on it.
Nice outro. 😂
Yeah, this is something that I always wondered in this channel. Who is this guy? (I know who the other guy is because I am from Brazil)
@@albertolopes829 Yes! Who is that guy?
@@digocr One of them is Pedro I for the brazilians (or Pedro IV for the portuguese). The other one is Carl von Clausewitz, a military strategist and theorist.
Hugo is correct. Carl von clausewitz has been my online avatar for well over 20 years, dating back to when i did a masters in Defence and Strategic studies, when i read Vom Kriege, his seminal work.