A great Sequel to the classic that is Crusader Kings II.

Combining unique elements of a grand-strategy game and a character driven RPG, Crusader Kings III offers a an experience like no other game on the market. Taking up the mantle of Crusader Kings II is no easy task of course, and currently, Crusader Kings II is arguably lacking in features compared to it's predecessor, however, to anyone familiar with the way Paradox develops their games, this is understandable. CK2 had almost 10 Years of DLC, building upon the game, while CK3 has yet to see the release of it's first fully fledged DLC. Many of the old DLC features that were introduced in CK2 are already in the Basegame of CK3, however given time, i have no doubt CK3 will eclipse CK2 in the sheer size of it's content.

Some of my favourite improvements over the last game are the new presentation, specifically the 3D character-models, that breathe new life into the roleplay aspect of this game. While you had 2D portraits in the last game, the new 3D models allow for more variety in characters and can show a variety of traits like sickness or disfigurement, but also beauty and strength, right there on the model.
The Map is more beautiful than ever before and managing a realm has been streamlined to be easier, but not to the degree where it becomes boring.
The new religion system is awesome, allowing for more variety in the religions you follow, as well as the completely new option to found your own religion, heresy or teaching and form it however you desire.

A big issue for a lot of paradox games is the initial 5-10 hours of simply trying to understand a game. CK3 does a great job introducing players to the varied things they have to manage, arguably a better job than any previous Paradox game. This is also thanks to the reworked UI and the improved gameplay, which makes diving into the game for a first-timer easier, but does not detract from the complexity the game can ultimately achieve.

All in all, we're looking at possibly the best new Paradox game of the past 10 years, which, considering the just how fleshed out and fun it already is at launch, no doubt will have a great future and will propably become the best Paradox grand-strategy game ever.

To boil down my verdict to completely arbitrary numbers, like every irrelevant video game news outlet does, i'll give CK3 a 9/10 in it's current state, with future DLC easily having the possiblity of raising this verdict to a 10/10.
A fun game that can provide hundreds of hours of entertainment and never get boring.

A great Sequel to the classic that is Crusader Kings II. Combining unique elements of a grand-strategy game and a character driven RPG, Crusader Kings III offers a an experience like no other game on the market. Taking up the mantle of Crusader Kings II is no easy task of course, and currently, Crusader Kings II is arguably lacking in features compared to it's predecessor, however, to anyone familiar with the way Paradox develops their games, this is understandable. CK2 had almost 10 Years of DLC, building upon the game, while CK3 has yet to see the release of it's first fully fledged DLC. Many of the old DLC features that were introduced in CK2 are already in the Basegame of CK3, however given time, i have no doubt CK3 will eclipse CK2 in the sheer size of it's content. Some of my favourite improvements over the last game are the new presentation, specifically the 3D character-models, that breathe new life into the roleplay aspect of this game. While you had 2D portraits in the last game, the new 3D models allow for more variety in characters and can show a variety of traits like sickness or disfigurement, but also beauty and strength, right there on the model. The Map is more beautiful than ever before and managing a realm has been streamlined to be easier, but not to the degree where it becomes boring. The new religion system is awesome, allowing for more variety in the religions you follow, as well as the completely new option to found your own religion, heresy or teaching and form it however you desire. A big issue for a lot of paradox games is the initial 5-10 hours of simply trying to understand a game. CK3 does a great job introducing players to the varied things they have to manage, arguably a better job than any previous Paradox game. This is also thanks to the reworked UI and the improved gameplay, which makes diving into the game for a first-timer easier, but does not detract from the complexity the game can ultimately achieve. All in all, we're looking at possibly the best new Paradox game of the past 10 years, which, considering the just how fleshed out and fun it already is at launch, no doubt will have a great future and will propably become the best Paradox grand-strategy game ever. To boil down my verdict to completely arbitrary numbers, like every irrelevant video game news outlet does, i'll give CK3 a 9/10 in it's current state, with future DLC easily having the possiblity of raising this verdict to a 10/10. A fun game that can provide hundreds of hours of entertainment and never get boring.