I came to the Tropico franchise with the fourth iteration, and I loved it, and I'm really looking forward to look into the earlier games. The fifth was the first I bought at premiere and at full price, and it was a let down. The era system doesn't really add much. In 4 you go through similar stages, as you cannot afford all the newer stuff in the beginning, only the transitions are smoother (like in real life). The dynasty consists of same gender born as adults with whom you cannot do that much, beside leveling them and have them work some where for a mild bonus. I haven't tried multiplayer yet, but many say it is not really working that well. But it substracts a lot. You cannot place many things that are purely decorative anymore beside two sizes of gardens without varity whereas in four you had all kinds of decorative items like trees, wells and statues, the buildings are always the same, where 4 had a varities of the same building, tourism is more diverse in 5 when it comes to the locations those can stay, but is reduced somewhat in what you can do to make them an environment worth of vacationing to.
This all leads to feeling that developing that island in five is more like a chore simply to make in game money and staying in power, instead of four where you really get a sense of ownership and pride over a well developed island.
Tropico 5 is a let down.
I came to the Tropico franchise with the fourth iteration, and I loved it, and I'm really looking forward to look into the earlier games. The fifth was the first I bought at premiere and at full price, and it was a let down. The era system doesn't really add much. In 4 you go through similar stages, as you cannot afford all the newer stuff in the beginning, only the transitions are smoother (like in real life). The dynasty consists of same gender born as adults with whom you cannot do that much, beside leveling them and have them work some where for a mild bonus. I haven't tried multiplayer yet, but many say it is not really working that well. But it substracts a lot. You cannot place many things that are purely decorative anymore beside two sizes of gardens without varity whereas in four you had all kinds of decorative items like trees, wells and statues, the buildings are always the same, where 4 had a varities of the same building, tourism is more diverse in 5 when it comes to the locations those can stay, but is reduced somewhat in what you can do to make them an environment worth of vacationing to.
This all leads to feeling that developing that island in five is more like a chore simply to make in game money and staying in power, instead of four where you really get a sense of ownership and pride over a well developed island.