Crusader Kings 3 review
Crusader Kings 3 makes a fine execution of a daunting brief. I think I’ll need another year of playing it to work out exactly how good it is, but that’s another way of saying I want to play it for a year, so it must be pretty good.
- Developer: Paradox Development Studio
- Publisher: Paradox Interactive
- Release: September 1st 2020
- On: Windows
- From: Steam
- Price: £42/€50/$50
The way I’d summarise Crusader Kings 3 depends heavily on where you’re coming at the game from. If you never played Crusader Kings 2, but were always interested, then I heartily recommend this extremely long, in-depth strategy/RPG hybrid about managing the successive lives of a dynasty of medieval problem people. It’s very complex, but it does a better job than its predecessor of explaining itself, and offers more rewards along the learning curve. Similarly, if you tried CK2 but bounced off, now would be your cue to come back for another bite of the turkey leg.
If you have played CK2, however, then I honestly don’t know what to say to you. You might find that CK3 preserves the best of CK2, while losing some of the irritations. Or you might find that it has preserved the general structure, while losing the magic. Which end of that spectrum you skew towards will depend on what details of CK2 your particular devils resided in.