14 DAY TRIAL // Hearts of Iron IV might have been delayed for a few months, but it still represents one of the most important strategy releases of the year and the team at Paradox Development Studio is continuing to offer information about the features that will be part of the experience.
A new forum update explains that for all the major nations in the game, which include the United States of America, Great Britain, the Soviet Union, France, Germany, Japan and Italy, a set of unique historical national focus trees will be introduced.
All smaller nations will have to share a smaller generic one, but all of them are designed to give players a series of objectives they can work towards as they explore Hearts of Iron IV.
The team explains that "During peacetime, you can expect to do about five national focuses in a year, with about third of that during wartime. Each tree has about 50 different focuses you can take, but with a war breaking out in 1940, you may end up with about 28-30 at the end if war ends in 46."
When a player manages to finish one of the focuses, they will get a reward that's linked to the historical moment, like the inheritance of Austria or solid research boosts.
For each major country in Hearts of Iron IV, the system will offer paths and their branching nature means that in one campaign gamers will be unable to get access to all the bonuses and objectives.
The Nation Focus replaces the goal system, which lacked a clear progression and was not easy to understand for the player.
Hearts of Iron IV will deliver more accessible grand strategy mechanics
The new title from Paradox Development Studios will allow players to experience World War II from the perspective of any country in the world, but it's pretty clear that the seven major ones will be the most interesting to play as.
Some fans might be disappointed that second-tier nations do not have their own focuses, but modders will probably be able to add some after launch.
Gamers will be in charge of research, political decisions, production, and of course, the actual movement of troops, and the studio has promised that all the mechanics will be more accessible than for previous installments.
