This might be the game that forces me to decide if I need a new computer. I left my gaming desktop behind when moving overseas. At this point I’m here until 2022 at least. Do I limp along with integrated graphics that make CK2 playable or do I look for an upgrade?
I liked CK2 more at launch then I did with the pile on the DLC mound it became later. I am still wholly interested in CK3 though. I don’t let Paradox pile on habits to dissuade me from their unique takes on various genres.
6 minutes of gameplay:
I am so psyched for this, it looks great.
The Imperator Rome map is more visually appealing, but this one still looks good in motion.
I think what I didn’t like at release was that it was too focused on finding matches for family and court members, and it was a tedious process to do so. If later additions / changes took some of the focus away from that than maybe I could get into it more.
Crusader Kings 3 features a toggleable option for full frontal nudity for adult characters including all relevant anatomy, by the way
https://www.ign.com/articles/crusader-kings-3-preview-get-medieval-with-it
CK3 joins Cyberpunk
It seems all these previews buried the lede…
A team member clarified on reddit that in the full build there will be leaves in front of the crotch area, but the upper half will be bare. I assume modders will be working on a day 1 patch for the rest of it though.
It gave you more to do, but the more then just sort of piled on the more it felt like a patchwork of parts sort of sewn together than a true vision. It’d be fine if you could actually pick and choose what you take and don’t, and some will claim you can but that’s only… partially true because while you get all these free updates alongside all these various paid DLCs, the fact is they change the very base game while they do it, so it’s not really a full choice.
What I like out of the gate, assuming it’s cleaner like CK2 than say Stellaris, is you get a full vision of what they want to release. After awhile, that just get’s buried by just “stuff to do” which is great if that’s what you want just more stuff to do any kind of stuff and just more crap piled on. Of course if you come in later into the game, you might notice the crap but it was overflowing from the minute you stepped in.
I’m sure we’ll be getting this shortly after release, per usual. I mean I survived CK1 which was just such as mess it was only matter of one it would collapse under it’s own weight, but there is something to do be said to a cohesive original experience as opposed to the ton of guides out there explaining every DLC and whether it’s… “worth it”.
I think these games still have a huge historical following too so sometimes the conversation turns to not even if it’s fun or cool or “worth it” so much as how realistic it is or if it’s too much fantasy to which i usually point to a certain horse and ask… are we still demanding realism here or can we get back to worshiping the devil or something.
The best part is though… they usually weed through that jungle of a mess they got from the last game and least start with some of the neater things found there in the next iteration.
I thought I was the only person like that, in that as they piled on more and more DLC the game lost it’s focus on what made is so great in the first place.
New dev diary on Culture and ‘Cultural Innovations’ which is linked with the tech system. It sounds like really fascinating stuff! They clearly took inspiration from the Institutions system in EU4, which I also really liked.
This is the first diary I’ve read that really got me thinking.
Does this mean I can take the Akan tribe of West Africa and make them medieval?
If so, I’m almost certain to buy this game.
I am now going to spend an hr or so reading all the dev diaries.
So, thank-you @Tim_N
For sure, Imperator’s map is significantly better. You can tell that CK3 started development quite a bit earlier than Imperator but hopefully that has other benefits (a boatload of more content at launch).
Sorry for responding to a 5-day old post, I’m just getting caught up on the thread. :)
I’m happy this is going to be on Gamepass because I can give it a go without buying it. I tend to buy a lot of Paradox games because they sound awesome, then end up not playing them because it takes sooo much energy to start one.
I’ve only got 80 hours in EU IV, which is like 2 games. I definitely enjoyed this more than any other Paradox game and want to actually play this one more, but then there is the getting up enough energy thing.
135 hours in Stellaris, where I probably really enjoyed 50 of those. I think I played a game at launch and another after the big redesign with a little extra futzing around.
59 hours in CK 2, where I never really understood what I should be doing.
24 hours in 1 game of Imperator, which was much easier to understand but didn’t really pull me in at launch.
And sadly I have never even fired up Heart of Iron 4 even though I enjoyed the little bit I played of HOI 2. I had HOI 3 and never played that either. I think I have some disease.
Man I can relate to that quite a bit. I bought CK2 and it’s just…dense. I haven’t spent a lot of time with it, because I had ABSOLUTELY no idea what I was doing. Keep meaning to go back, but if CK3 is coming…maybe I’ll just wait for it. It certainly looks cool! (I also have Stellaris, which I enjoy but have only played a few games of. Plus a few other Paradox games which aren’t coming to me right now.)
Meanwhile, guess which A–hole decided to go install Victoria 2 again.
I’m not sure how I am going to feel about CK3.
For reference, I have:
4,194 hours in EU4
1,864 hours in Stellaris
245 hours in HOI4
but only 110 hours in CK2 (not even installed anymore). I think the non-standing army part of the game (even though realistic of the time) did not appeal to me. I would always start well, then the whole thing would always unravel. I think that is supposed to be part of the game as well, but again, hard to give back gains for non-military reasons.
(I know those are big numbers, but most of the time the game is running, on pause and I am AFTK).
I’m similar in that the bulk of my time is with EU4. I also enjoy HOI4, Stellaris, and Imperator. Was never really able to get into CK2, though. That might have just been because I got whisked away by EU4 not long after it launched and that game sucked all the oxygen out of the room for me. Looking forward to taking another crack at the franchise with CK3.
I just hope they really sprinkle some love onto the core of what makes CK great… despite the often frustrating UI, and no, it’s not also everything plus the kitchen-sink add-ons. The fact they’re doing… anything with the character models gives me hope because that shows they are focusing on a core there, and it’s following that right there, those characters.
It’s not just any game that a single baby can be the results of a 100 years of work.
Hopefully, the stress mechanic forces me to roleplay more on this one, as I just end up playing too safe and metagame. I like keeping abreast of the fates of my family and that of “rivals” (not the characters marked as such, those in my way or that helped me or that were great in some way), but the game only helps so much with that.
I still have lots to try on CK2, though, so I don’t think I’m rushing to the new version.
It’s a tough balance for them to strike, as you can’t make the punishment for acting off-character too harsh as then players will feel like they don’t have the freedom to do what they want, but then if you have no penalty then what really happens is players who role-play end up punishing themselves (like in CK2).
It’d be nice if they added some things you could do as a regular person in your station in life. As usual in Paradox games, you’re dropped into a map of entities who have all lived either their historical lives or at least plausible lives, and then proceed to act like a freakin’ psycho, assassinating everyone and grabbing their land i.e. nothing like most historical entities. That’s the great dissonance of Paradox games. How about having the choice of living a normal life, going to balls and what not, and just taking care of your people in non-boring ways with mechanics?