Merchant Prince II

Reception

Merchant Prince II earned a "mixed" score on Metacritic. Most critics felt the gameplay additions were so minimal that the title was more of a rerelease than a true sequel. The updated graphics were widely considered worse, featuring a zoomed-in view and a less intuitive interface; the "End turn" button, for example, was a wine glass with no label. The game received heavy criticism. Even IGN's positive review described it as a "cheap reissue," excusing it only because the original DOS games were hard to find. Computer Gaming World began its review by saying the game gave strategy gaming a bad name and ended by warning that mainstream consumers would feel ripped off, confused, dumb, and jaded toward turn-based strategy. Kent Conrad called the research tree "half-baked" and advised readers to buy Machiavelli: The Prince instead. Kevin Rice of NextGen offered a contrasting view, noting that while the game was virtually identical to its eight-year-old predecessor—merely updated to run on Windows—it remained an entertaining and unique turn-based strategy title.