Crusader Kings 3 - Is CK3 a GREAT Game?

In this video I discuss the current state of Crusader Kings 3 and whether CK3 is a great game. The upcoming Tours & Tournaments DLC is bringing many amazing new features for CK3.

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All music is courtesy of Paradox Interactive.

[attrage]

Started in May 2023. It's rocketed into my top ten games of all time. It certainly didn't start there though. I made a few rookie mistakes in my first couple playthroughs (starting as the king of France; raising crown authority too early causing every vassal to instantly rise up against me etc). Once I dived back into the game, it won me over big time. I love everything about it. I'm nine generations into a kingdom now and I've got so many role playing stories to tell. I've literally been brought to tears by some of the events in this game; I've been enraged into wars; saddened by the loss of friends; inspired by the loyalty of knights; maddened by the disloyalty of vassals; and so much more. Plus, I'm a history nerd, so any game that allows me to role play in the middle ages, I'm there. So for me, yes, it's great.

[Hulliemam]

Imo it’s one of the greatest games ever made. I simply love it. The depth and layers of mechanics are just phenomenal and I really think this is Paradox’s masterpiece. After 3 years into the game I still find out new ways to play and how to tackle problems. As I said; I love it

[leavesinautumn]

Agreed, on basically all points. This game would go from good to great if only they gave it more depth. We as players end up treading the same paths, over and over again, because we're too restricted in our options. Expanding on the mechanics that are already available, as they did with Tours and Tournaments, is (in my opinion) the best way to address this. We have the foundations of certain systems and mechanics, trade for instance, why not expand on it? Iterate on what they've already built.

[ColbertandStewartpwn]

I’m brand new to the game. It just went on sale for 20 bucks and I picked it up. I’ve already put in 150 hours in vanilla with no mods or dlc. I’m year 950 of my first attempt to get to the end with my family line. Never played any of the games before . I’m listening to these videos when I have to be away from the computer. I’m trying to figure out which DLCs I should get. Tours and tournaments looks the best so far.

[borginburkes]

in my opinion, CK3 is "good" not "great". It definitely has potential to be "great" cuz it's got a good foundation, but it is still missing content. CK2 is still way better and more fun in my opinion.

[vonna]

I would love to see more specific and detailed pop up scenarios based on a character’s development. Sometimes it feels the scenarios do not relate to a player. I would also in reference to diplomacy like a better way to develop relationships (friendships) outside of just swaying. Like I’d like to see characters that are both military driven become war buddies or something and as a stress relief tell war stories. There’s a lot that can be expanded upon. I like the idea of getting new ways to create alliances and I think a way they could do that is add regional and time based economics for trade. You should be able to create deals to secure an alliance.. if a marriage is -10% and they won’t accept; what if you include metal supplies for 5 years! I will say that even tho I wish they would come out with expansions and extras faster but whenever I have gotten them they have integrated into the game perfectly with little to no bugs! So some are worth the wait!

[ericsplittgerber]

All I know is that you make great campaign series, hoping to get more in the future

[neogenesis]

One of the coolest experiences I have had with this game recently: I forged the Kingdom of Sicily. The King died extremely early, leaving his 6 y/o son to take the throne. He took on the Diplomatic learning style, and became a Grey Eminence. However, his Nobles HATED him (for some reason or another), and his Mother was an extremely arrogant and meddlesome Regent. He comes of age, and Sicily is on the verge of collapse. Poor Knights, nobles ready to revolt, the Bishop wanting me dead...literally. So...using his diplomatic skills he learned, he relieves his mother of the Regency, and takes that power back. Then, he holds a feast, with the Bishop as the honored guest. Finally, he marries the daughter of King of Italy and hosts a Grand Wedding. Within months, his popularity skyrocketed, his alliance with Italy protected him for nearly a decade, the Sicilian Culture spread and flourished, and he was one of the most successful rulers I have ever played with. I was actually sad when he passed away from old age. That was one of the greatest experiences I have had while playing this game.

Having said that...I agree with you that the game still seems flat. I can't exactly put my finger on it...but I feel like the interactions you can perform are limited, and, after a while, it feels "lifeless" or generic. At least, that's the only way I can explain it.

I really enjoy your videos, and thank you for your content.

[samthomas]

What map mod are you using? I like the blue look of the paper water.

[iRiDiKi]

Put 1000 hours into CK2, especially with the game of thrones mod. CK3 I cannot get over 100 - it just feels bland. It needs so much more depth added to steer away from just painting the map. We are just so used to everything from the previous game. CK2 just has so much more in it. Random world, republics, etc The best way I found to continue to play either game (which I haven't for years now tbh) was achievement chasing.

[RhmnLego]

My time playing Crusader Kings 2 and 3 together surpasses all of my other games together, and I have and love Skyrym and AoE 2. So I love those games and I tend to come back when I have a bit of time. But I think that Ck3, especially with Royal Court, has become annoying, I hate that almost all the pop-ups from holding court are bad and repetitive, and I fear that hunts and feast are going to feel the same after awhile even though there are some benefits. I think, of course, the things you mentioned are frustrating, like the Ally armies and battles need some work, and also I think that the government needs flavour in different regions.

[Ultrajamz]

Been meaning to get back into ck3, looking for mechanism reviews and guides that are more recent since most are launch date era

[attrage]

As an "anecdote generator", CK3 rivals any open world rpg in existence. Just one eg: as the king of Ireland, my daughter was executed by her husband, a prince of the HRE. This one incident set off a chain of events leading to a love/hate relationship between Ireland and the HRE which has lasted for a century - tit for tat murders; alliances made and broken; weird little slivers of land changing hands through inheritance; even one of the king of Ireland's sons becoming the king of Italy. And that's just one of many stories I could share. Are there things about the game I'd change? Of course. But I enjoy it immensely just as it is.

[crassustheelder]

I use the taxation tour pretty regularly during my Byzantium runs. I use it to bludgeon the doux that oppose me and use the funds to keep building my own economy and sending a little over to the doux that back me.

[InspireRise]

One of the best games I've ever played

[SlXSlX]

So im a mod developer for bannerlord, but my focus is shifting to ck3. I still havent bought the game but when i do perhaps ill look into revamping the ai. I looked a little into some of the mods that have been created and it seems like no one has tackled the ai problem yet. HOWEVER, i see something with conditions. Now im not too sure how the coding of the game is set up but conditions and restrictions would be one way of “improving” the ai mechanics.

SPOILER ALERT
For example, in the angevin series, the king of castile and the king of france engage the queen of aragon in war around the same time. When u call in your allies to fight france, they show up. But when u call ur french allies to fight the forces of castile, ur allies end up fighting each other. A simple fix would be a location restriction. If u call them against castile, they go to castile or aragon and either siege or defend against the castile forces.

Tldr: condition and restrictions on the location of deployment or engagement for ai would solve an issue seen in episode 34 of the angevin dynasty

[TheAurgelmir]

Judging by the number of hours I have in CK3, I sort of have to say I think it's a Great game. Why else would I keep returning to it? Is it perfect? No. But what game is?

I do agree though, more trade options would be cool.

[calibur]

Why do you prefer local flavor packs? I'm a newer player, but the way I see it things like the struggle and varangian adventures would add much more to the game if they could be applied to other parts of the map.

[Jon-tdpv]

It is a great game, but only if you play it like a roleplay game. And go with the thraits. If you just want to beat the game. It is a easy game.. but you loose all the fun. In the end, play It like you are in the shoes of the character. That is what roleplay is.

[corentinboxho]

Well, even though I love this game for the amazing historical flavor, in all honesty how could a game literally based on pop-ups ever be great, right? I mean, you're either out of things to do for a little moment and waiting for time to pass and the next pop-up to appear, or you're in the middle of something important, like a war, and suddenly you have an annoying nonsensical event appearing, with the risk of accidentally clicking the wrong option because you were about to click on something else before the pop-up appeared! 😆 But since it's the main mechanic the game is built on, I guess it will never change and therefore will never reach some level of greatness only accessible to games with a better basis...
Don't forget there's already more possibility for alliance than just marriage though, it's simply locked behind a diplomacy perk... 😉 But I agree we should have more choices for interaction with other rulers. What frustrated me the most personally, is the fact that you should be able to trade for land, especially de jure land, you should be able to propose a county in exchange for another one of similar value, just like you can propose vassalisation is some cases...