Is Crusader Kings III Worth All Of The Hype?

Crusader Kings III was first announced at PDXCon in October 2019. It was met with a fantastic response, mainly from those who are loyal fans of Paradox and their abundance of highly in-depth strategy games. However, Paradox spread their net of interest wider when they stated that the game would also have a focus of helping newer players to the franchise understand the game and get to grasps with each individual system and how it works.

During the development of the game, Paradox did a fantastic job of providing a constant stream of monthly update videos explaining the development of the game, certain systems in the game and how it has been improved upon Crusader Kings II. 

All-in-all this goes to show a great level of passion put into a game that soon becomes one of Paradox Interactive’s most highly critically acclaimed games with an average OpenCritic score of 91% with 97% of critics recommending the game.

Jump forward to September 1st where I was personally closing and re-opening my Xbox app on PC anxiously, to download Crusader Kings III via the Game Pass and I must say, the game certainly lived up to expectations and provided more than I imagined it would.

Firstly, upon opening the game you’re met with one of the most beautiful menu screens I have ever seen. This screen actively changes depending on your most recently played game, and the dynasty you’ve decided to create during that particular campaign.

Immediately, you are informed about the tutorial mode Paradox has implemented upon starting a new game. Starting off as Petty King Murchad in Ireland, the tutorial gives you a complete rundown on how the UI (user interface) works, and how to use it to provide you with specific important information. UI was one of the most frustrating parts of Crusader Kings II for many people, due to the fact that the game doesn’t do a very good job at explaining how to best use it, or what the information actually means.

One of the fantastic parts about Crusader Kings III UI is the implementation of the encyclopedia, and how you can activate this by simply hovering over text in the game.

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You can use the encyclopedia at the bottom of the page to search specific terms, and you can also further delve into the meanings of certain words whilst reading the in-game text by hovering over the blue text provided in the game.

In addition to the helpful UI explanation, the game also helps you understand mechanics such as how to run your council, maintain the different resources at your disposal, build structures, how to wage war, how to win a war, and how to find the perfect spouse for yourself and heirs, which sometimes come with traits such as lunacy or cannibalism, but we’ll let that slide for the sake of alliances. Plus a bunch of other mechanics that you may face during your own campaign.

With the help of the heavily informative UI and the tutorial, new players are finding it much easier to get to grips with the game and have an enjoyable campaign with their friends. This doesn’t guarantee that backstabbing won’t occur, so keep an eye on your heir disappearing all of a sudden.

Grand strategy games, especially those created by Paradox, have a habit of being seen as quite daunting and rightfully so, the depth in Paradox games goes unmatched, but it has always come at a cost of being less accessible to most gamers. We believe with Crusader Kings III, Paradox has turned a new leaf and have begun the process of encouraging people to get excited in strategy games once again, providing a helping hand and less overwhelming experience to let everyone experience what it’s like to be a King or Queen.

So should you get the game and create the greatest dynasty the world has ever seen, or perhaps play as a person of interest from history such as Bjorn ‘Ironside’ or Ivar ‘The Boneless’, and live out your dream of becoming a true Viking? 

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We'd say yes, a resounding yes! The historical accuracy of the game is amazing, the map is incredibly large and detailed, but is currently missing the far east, most likely due to future expansion in the works. Plus the beautiful thing about grand strategy games is you can get a group of friends together, host a lobby and boot up the game from your last save when you all have time to continue from where you left off. The perfect multiplayer experience, coupled with the incredibly relaxing gameplay style that comes from ruling your empire.

If you’re still not convinced, you can watch this stunning trailer crafted by the wonderful people of Paradox Interactive which shows the true beauty of grand strategy.

Or the release trailer for the game which is also masterfully crafted.

Images via Paradox Interactive/Amazon/History Channel