Crusader Kings III
Main game
3.99 average rating based on 347 ratings
- Developers
- Paradox Development Studio
- Publishers
- Paradox Interactive
- Series
- Crusader Kings
- Platforms
- Linux, Mac, PC (Microsoft Windows), PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S
- Genres
- Role-playing (RPG), Simulator, Strategy
- Themes
- Historical, Sandbox, Warfare
- Steam
- View on Steam
Release Dates
User Stats
How Long Is Crusader Kings III?
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An empty game
It's been 3 years since the game was released and it still feels boring and shallow to me. There's still not enough depth to the role-playing system and the random events we can interact with in the game still get repetitive very quickly and our choices don't mean enough in our character development. The added banquet, tournament and hunt interactions, once you've done them once or twice, you don't even need to do them again because they have no depth. As far as strategy is concerned, there is still no challenge. As we approach the 100th year of the game, the save file gets bloated due to characters being born and dying, causing FPS drops, stuttering and crashes. Even though I have a good computer, it makes no difference. I don't get it, the developers seem to be interested and keep adding things, but the third game still doesn't seem to have reached even half of the content of CK2. What's going to change if another three years pass, there's no point anymore. The process has taken too long and they should have integrated all the content from CK2 and more in those three years. The AI in the game …
Read MoreIt's been 3 years since the game was released and it still feels boring and shallow to me. There's still not enough depth to the role-playing system and the random events we can interact with in the game still get repetitive very quickly and our choices don't mean enough in our character development. The added banquet, tournament and hunt interactions, once you've done them once or twice, you don't even need to do them again because they have no depth. As far as strategy is concerned, there is still no challenge. As we approach the 100th year of the game, the save file gets bloated due to characters being born and dying, causing FPS drops, stuttering and crashes. Even though I have a good computer, it makes no difference. I don't get it, the developers seem to be interested and keep adding things, but the third game still doesn't seem to have reached even half of the content of CK2. What's going to change if another three years pass, there's no point anymore. The process has taken too long and they should have integrated all the content from CK2 and more in those three years. The AI in the game is incredibly bad. You're the only one who's really trying to do something with a plan, but the rest of the game's map, where the AI rules, has no purpose. The emptiness of the game's content almost rivals Bannerlord. Paradox unfortunately sees their player base as a cow to be milked. The milk analogy here is of course money. Release a supposedly complete game in early access, then sell the features that should already be in the game separately in the form of additional packs to make the game what it should be. That's the way it's always been and always will be, Paradox one of the worst companies in this industry. This company has never been about making good games, they only care about making as much money as they can. They're interested in games as long as they're selling and then they abandon them when that stops, or they release a sequel in early access as if it's a full game and the only difference from the previous game is the graphics, but in every other way it feels like a downgrade.
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Koukuttavaa sivilaation hallintaa yhdistettynä roolipelaamiseen
This review is for the PC (Microsoft Windows) version
Olin kuullut tästä pelistä ja myös sen edeltäjästä paljon hyvää. Rakastan Civilization ja GalCiv-pelisarjoja, mutta tämä ns. Grand Strategia vaikutti ensin alkuun hieman pelottavalta. Onneksi sain pelistä hyviä ennakkotietoja Pelaajacastin erikoisjaksosta ja siitä innostuneena laitoin pelin vihdoin Game Passistä testaukseen. Voi pojat, olin koukussa.
Crusader Kings ei ole aivan yhtä suoraviivainen kuin aiemmin mainitsemani Civ tai Galciv pelit, mutta sen takia peli jää kokemuksena ehkä jopa vahvemmin mieleen. Pelistä saa oikeastaan eniten irti kun siihen asennoituu kokemuksena, kunhan katsoo vaan mitä tapahtuu ja eikä niinkään lähde tavoittelemaan maailmanvalloitusta tai muita suuria tavoitteita. Tästä syystä useita kymmeniä tunteja myöhemminkään en tiedä pelin kaikista toiminnoista, mutta ei sillä ole oikeastaan väliä.
Pelissä pelataan aina yhtä valitun sukudynastian päämiestä. Pelattavan hahmon kuoltua peli jatkuu perillisen saappaissa ja tätä jatketaan useiden ja useiden sukupolvien ajan. Hahmojen kehittäminen ja roolipelielementit tuovat sivilisaatiopeliin oman syvällisyytensä. On myös hyvin koukuttavaa yrittää löytää sopivaa kumppania perijälleen, jotta sitten taas seuraava sukupolvi saisi hyviä ominaisuuksia tai miettiä erilaisiin eteen tuleviin tapahtumiin oikeanlaisia ratkaisuja.
Pelin pohjalta tälläinen huonompikin tarinankertoja saisi matskua vaikka kirjaksi asti. Joukossa on ollut mukana mm. kulkutauteja, jotka ovat vieneet sekä pääasiallisen perillisen että itse kuninkaan, kuninkaitten salamurhaamisyrityksiä skorpionilla, jossa "ase" meinasi vahingossa kääntyä salamurhaajaa vastaan ja …
Olin kuullut tästä pelistä ja myös sen edeltäjästä paljon hyvää. Rakastan Civilization ja GalCiv-pelisarjoja, mutta tämä ns. Grand Strategia vaikutti ensin alkuun hieman pelottavalta. Onneksi sain pelistä hyviä ennakkotietoja Pelaajacastin erikoisjaksosta ja siitä innostuneena laitoin pelin vihdoin Game Passistä testaukseen. Voi pojat, olin koukussa.
Crusader Kings ei ole aivan yhtä suoraviivainen kuin aiemmin mainitsemani Civ tai Galciv pelit, mutta sen takia peli jää kokemuksena ehkä jopa vahvemmin mieleen. Pelistä saa oikeastaan eniten irti kun siihen asennoituu kokemuksena, kunhan katsoo vaan mitä tapahtuu ja eikä niinkään lähde tavoittelemaan maailmanvalloitusta tai muita suuria tavoitteita. Tästä syystä useita kymmeniä tunteja myöhemminkään en tiedä pelin kaikista toiminnoista, mutta ei sillä ole oikeastaan väliä.
Pelissä pelataan aina yhtä valitun sukudynastian päämiestä. Pelattavan hahmon kuoltua peli jatkuu perillisen saappaissa ja tätä jatketaan useiden ja useiden sukupolvien ajan. Hahmojen kehittäminen ja roolipelielementit tuovat sivilisaatiopeliin oman syvällisyytensä. On myös hyvin koukuttavaa yrittää löytää sopivaa kumppania perijälleen, jotta sitten taas seuraava sukupolvi saisi hyviä ominaisuuksia tai miettiä erilaisiin eteen tuleviin tapahtumiin oikeanlaisia ratkaisuja.
Pelin pohjalta tälläinen huonompikin tarinankertoja saisi matskua vaikka kirjaksi asti. Joukossa on ollut mukana mm. kulkutauteja, jotka ovat vieneet sekä pääasiallisen perillisen että itse kuninkaan, kuninkaitten salamurhaamisyrityksiä skorpionilla, jossa "ase" meinasi vahingossa kääntyä salamurhaajaa vastaan ja veljen arvonimien anastamista ja vangitsemista.
Koukuttava ja mielenkiintoinen peli, mutta itselleni selkeän tavoitteen puute lopulta aiheutti sen, ettei paikalleen junnaamaan jäänyttä peliä sitten jaksanutkaan jatkaa. Silti kokeilemisen arvoinen, ja tulen melko varmasti jossain kohtaa palaamaan pelin pariin.
3/5 Hyvä
Can't stop playing...
Crusader Kings III is an engrossing dynasty role-playing experience that demystified the complex "grand strategy" genre for me and delivers near-endless system-driven gameplay that's hard to master but even harder to put down while you try.
The first thing to notice about the game is its presentation and interface, with beautiful faux-historical paintings on the loading screens giving way to a very clear and useful map and menu system. Front and center is a regularly-updating list of suggested actions for the player to take, which takes much of the guesswork out for a new player. Important events pause the passing of days until you address them, allowing you to juggle multiple things at once without letting a war or other conflict get out of control. There's an occasional lack of convenient links from a popup message to the actual part of the menu you're supposed to look at, but generally it's very smooth and easy to navigate.
My instinct at first was to play the game as a conquest simulator, which takes some understanding to really do effectively. I avoided these mechanics as much as possible after repeat failures, but now that I'm more comfortable, it's really fun to use …
Crusader Kings III is an engrossing dynasty role-playing experience that demystified the complex "grand strategy" genre for me and delivers near-endless system-driven gameplay that's hard to master but even harder to put down while you try.
The first thing to notice about the game is its presentation and interface, with beautiful faux-historical paintings on the loading screens giving way to a very clear and useful map and menu system. Front and center is a regularly-updating list of suggested actions for the player to take, which takes much of the guesswork out for a new player. Important events pause the passing of days until you address them, allowing you to juggle multiple things at once without letting a war or other conflict get out of control. There's an occasional lack of convenient links from a popup message to the actual part of the menu you're supposed to look at, but generally it's very smooth and easy to navigate.
My instinct at first was to play the game as a conquest simulator, which takes some understanding to really do effectively. I avoided these mechanics as much as possible after repeat failures, but now that I'm more comfortable, it's really fun to use the intertwined systems of title claims, inheritance, murder, blackmail, forgery, imprisonment, and straight-up war to expand your territory and eventually create kingdoms and empires. Each AI character also makes use of all these systems which can lead to some exciting and devastating random moments.
Besides managing territory, CK3 also works very well as an interpersonal role-playing experience. Although after a few days, you've seen all of the different events that can really happen between characters, making it a little shallow on the micro-story level, managing character relationships at more of a macro level, across your dynasty and between nations, is still a really fun way to play. The developers have encouraged this Sims neighborhood-like playstyle, and with all of the systems in place for marriage, religion, seduction, friendship, rivalry, secrets, succession, alliances, and more, it's not hard to see how they came to that conclusion.
Not only does this game have the kind of depth I've discussed above in terms of systems, but it has breadth too, with many different lifestyle focuses and seemingly thousands of characters to play as with different circumstances, cultures, conflicts, and goals. In an afternoon across different saves, I've united the counties of Ireland under my rule through forged title claims, formed the kingdom of Hungary through military conquest and religious conversion, gone on pilgrimages and formed my own religion, and created the biggest serial adulterer in Iberian history. It's so fun to pop between eras and regions and try different types of characters.
I think this game is really brilliant, one of the best recent PC-exclusive games and one that really makes great use of what PC gaming can offer. This is one of the crown jewels of Microsoft's growing Game Pass library and should not be missed by players with that subscription. If you're interested in history or anything I discussed above, give it an hour or so with the tutorial to get up to speed and you'll probably be just as drawn in as I am.
The depth of Crusader Kings 3 is staggering..
This review is for the Xbox Series X|S version
Crusader Kings III has an abysmal barrier to entry, but it's worth if for everyone willing to overcome it. It comes with improvements in navigation and graphics to make it as simple as possible and offers an extremely complex simulation due to its depth. Some options are missed that take us a little deeper and brings the game to the next level, but it lives up to expectations. And with a saga of such depth as this one, that's saying a lot.
god damn it I've been sucked into this game, it's truly eating up all of my free time
Crusader Kings III is a fantastic successor to the already highly acclaimed CKII. The game is absolutely gorgeous (especially when you compare it to CKII). It does everything well that the second iteration in the franchise did. If you have played CKII and enjoyed it, I would say go ahead and pick this game up ASAP. It does everything well that it's predecessor did and looks great at the same time. If you haven't played a Crusader Kings title yet and you're unsure whether you'd like it or not, I would wait until it's on sale. The learning curve is pretty steep, but once you get over the hump, there's potential for hundreds or even thousands of hours of enjoyment. It was of the most highly anticipated games of 2020 for me and has definitely lived up to the hype.
I left my first hour with this game feeling a little overwhelmed and thinking I wouldn't mess with it much more, but today on a fresh character, it really clicked and I couldn't stop playing all evening. I don't particularly enjoy the fighting / war aspect of the game, so I generally avoid and ignore it and worry about other stuff -- it's so fun to come up with interesting scenarios that I kept starting new campaigns and role-playing crazy stuff for hours. I am having a great time just going for achievements and screwing around. It's much more approachable than something like Europa Universalis, and at the moment I'm enjoying it even more than Civilization because for me, the interpersonal and intrigue aspect of the game is more fun than the civilization / war part. Definitely glad this is in PC Game Pass, I would have never bought it to try it if it hadn't been.
So I played Crusader Kings III, and I definitely appreciate that I feel like I can understand it enough to play it (unlike its predecessor), but as I played it, I felt like I couldn't do enough. War is fairly boring, and it's way too easy to get caught up in one where the odds are just insurmountable, and the events don't come fast enough and with enough variety to feel like my characters are seeing a great deal of development.
Not to mention, it feels lopsided that a character can only get real, deep character development while they're a ruler. I've read that Paradox wants you to play it more like a Life Sim/Strategy game where you play out stories, but I feel so disconnected from the other characters because it feels like they don't develop with me.
I honestly don't know how people feel like there's a deep story developing because everyone other than me just feels like a block of stats that I can barely be bothered to keep track of because I'd have to pause and check 20 minutes every 5 minutes to know if anything has actually happened with them. The game simultaneously feels …
So I played Crusader Kings III, and I definitely appreciate that I feel like I can understand it enough to play it (unlike its predecessor), but as I played it, I felt like I couldn't do enough. War is fairly boring, and it's way too easy to get caught up in one where the odds are just insurmountable, and the events don't come fast enough and with enough variety to feel like my characters are seeing a great deal of development.
Not to mention, it feels lopsided that a character can only get real, deep character development while they're a ruler. I've read that Paradox wants you to play it more like a Life Sim/Strategy game where you play out stories, but I feel so disconnected from the other characters because it feels like they don't develop with me.
I honestly don't know how people feel like there's a deep story developing because everyone other than me just feels like a block of stats that I can barely be bothered to keep track of because I'd have to pause and check 20 minutes every 5 minutes to know if anything has actually happened with them. The game simultaneously feels like there's too much going on behind things on a micro level, and not enough happening that I both, want to constantly check in, and also just want to fast forward until something meaningful happens. It's just frustrating.
I'd love to feel engrossed by the game, because a game that's The Sims but with strategy elements seems like a total knockout for me... But ultimately, I just can't find myself caring that much in this case. Maybe I'll come back when it has more expansions and a Song of Ice and Fire mod where I already care enough about the characters to want to follow what's going on in their world.