I booted up Hearts of Iron IV and spent the first hour just staring at production queues and wondering why nothing felt like it was moving. Nearly closed it twice.

Then my infantry divisions crossed into Belgium and the front lines actually started to tell their own story on the map. Watching those units inch forward while the supply lines stretched behind them pulled me in deeper than I expected.

The national focus tree still lost me though, too many branches that never seemed to connect to what was happening on the ground. In the end it was the slow grind of keeping armies supplied that stuck with me more than any big victory.