Crusader Kings 2
by Mikhail
Feb 3, 2020 |
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Genres:
StrategyGraphics:
3DLabels:
Sandbox Game , Medieval AgePlatforms:
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Paradox Interactive Crusader Kings 2 is a European dynasty simulator where you play as a king, lord, baron, count, or their lady counterparts in the middle ages. Now free-to-play, you’ll be able to enter the messy politics of medieval Europe and engage in wars and courtly intrigue. Manage your holdings, fight enemies and rebels, and strengthen your family’s holdings. Play Now Similar Games Played
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Summary
The developers in Paradox entertainment are masters when it comes to creating grand strategy titles. With Crusader Kings 3 looming on the horizon and coming this year, they’ve decided to make the base game of Crusader Kings 2 free-to-play. Released in 2012, this deep and immersive strategy title isn’t exactly a walk in the park to play: it’s intense with numerous detailed mechanics and aspects to consider. This makes it one of the most complex games to play yet the most satisfying once you grasp its many mechanics.
In a nutshell, it’s a medieval kingdom family simulator set in the late 900s up to the middle of the 14th century. You’ll have the option to play as whatever family or character you choose, whether a king, count, or a lowly baron of a backwater town in the middle of Germany. You’ll manage your land and holdings, decide who you, your family, and courtiers should marry, and even wage war against your enemies and rebel against your lord.
With that in mind, is it something you’d want to dive into? Let’s check out what it has to offer first:
Plotline
Crusader Kings 2 is like a grand strategy merged with a sandbox world where you can do whatever you want, and the AI will do so. You’ll decide the fate of your character and dynasty. Will you be a venerable and exalted leader among men, or will you head into the ranks of infamy and become remembered for your misdeeds?
With that in mind, though, it’s important to note that the game’s backdrop is the Medieval Age, and there are a lot of historical figures you can play as. Unfortunately, you can only dive into the fray as European and Christian countries, considering that you need to have the DLC if you want to play as Muslim, Jewish, Zoroastrian, and other nations with different religions and cultures.
Gameplay
You'll get to manage and customize everything from courtly intrigue to the battlefield to your family’s holdings. The gameplay has many nooks and crannies; it feels more like managing and calculating your taxes than playing. However, it’s entertaining due to the sheer amount of freedom Crusader Kings 2 gives you. The gameplay centers around pointing and clicking, choosing specific paths, and hoping you’ve made the right choice.
You'll get to play as a family in every playthrough, which can last from 30 hours or more (assuming your dynasty gets to live up to the 1300s). You’ll have the choice of either being a king or emperor straight away or claw your way to the top from being a lowly Baron. With that in mind, there’s only one goal: survival on the battlefields and the various courts. You’ll play as the faction leader of your particular family, and when they die, you’ll then play as the heir. Parents pass stats and their attributes to their kids, so it would be wise to find spouses with positive traits and stats.
The Medieval Ages was a difficult time: thousands of people died because of plagues, lords conspired to kill kings, and the kings themselves tried to stay in power and wage wars. Plus, they’ll secure alliances by marrying into powerful families to secure their support. Note that it’s not just about war: you’ll have to plot with your peers to assassinate certain people or to help usurp someone in power. You’ll vie for positions in court, which will give you and your family prestige. There’s also a great deal of romance involved: you have the option to stay chaste or become unfaithful.
Unfortunately, Crusader Kings 2 isn’t the most straightforward game to play. You have to navigate the endless menus and read numerous Wikipedia articles to understand the terms like “Ultimogeniture” and “levies” being thrown around. You have to be open to learning more about the era’s history and its many gameplay mechanics. Fortunately, the game makes it easy by enabling you to go through the long tutorial, which orients you about how it works.
Community
Crusader Kings 2 has a strong and dynamic community on Steam and Reddit. The game has numerous mods you can download, vastly improving and adding to the overall experience. Meanwhile, you can use many videos and guides on YouTube as a reference regardless if you want to learn about the game or if you’re trying to decide which DLCs to buy.
Graphics/Sound
In terms of presentation, Crusader Kings 2 looks outstanding today, even if it’s essentially an eight-year-old game. The music is fantastic, while the graphics and overall art style stand out, especially the maps. Moreover, the character portraits and models look accurate for the time, and the user interface is intuitive and easy to look at, even if it initially feels overwhelming.
Conclusion
Overall, Crusader Kings 2 is a must-play for grand strategy nuts and anyone who loves history. Though its many concepts and intricacies are rather hard to grasp and it has a high learning curve, you’ll learn as you play. Plus, the freedom it gives you enables you to do whatever you want and, in a way, change the history of the world as you see fit at your fingertips.
Crusader Kings 2 Blog
New Game Added: Crusader Kings 2
by Mikhail
Feb 3, 2020
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