Finally ! Almost eight years after the release of Crusader Kings II, Paradox decides to offer it a real sequel. For or against the Swedish publisher's DLC policy, it must be recognized that this had offered an incredible lifespan to this must-have great strategy, but after eight years of more or less well-crafted patches and improvements, it was time to start again on a more solid basis.
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Read the conclusion Crusader Kings III
- Successful aesthetic overhaul all along the line
- Clearer, more readable, better organized
- Comprehensive tutorial and nested tooltips system
- Phishing and intrigue to perfect dirty tricks
- Mechanics that remain complex, sometimes obscure
- Crusader Kings II content has disappeared (republics, nomads)
- Battles and battle AI not always convincing
Indeed, Crusader Kings III does not propose to revolutionize the concept at the base of the franchise. It is above all a question for Henrik FĂĄhraeus and his team of freeing themselves from too heavy technical constraints to evolve. The principles of the previous opuses are found in this third episode which puts a little more emphasis on the roleplay aspect and brings some novelties to feel a little more "in the shoes of the character". But let's first get back to the very foundations of the grand strategy genre.
To play it with the flame… very medieval
Practically invented for Paradox-designed games, grand strategy is something of a grander-scale take on classic strategy. The idea is to give us the controls of a nation that we must evolve, generally make it prosper by hitting harder than our neighbors. Of course, economic and technological developments have their say and it is always interesting to have a minimum of diplomacy before playing the bulldozers. A grand strategy game is characterized by the immensity of its purpose, which is generally not limited to a small map of a few square kilometers.
In the case of Crusader Kings III, the map thus covers all of Europe, a large part of Asia – as far as China, but not including Japan – and a good half of the African continent. The chronological framework covers him – O surprise – the Middle Ages with the problems of succession, the weight of religion and the inevitable crusades. In this context, a little disappointment, we can't start at any time: it's 867 or 1066 and nothing else. The thing may be developed in a few patches. On the other hand, as in all other Paradox games, you can choose any people, any kingdom to start.
Note from the outset that things are finally simpler for neophytes. Paradox has always struggled to make its games accessible. It seems to be the case this time. Thus, multiple "recommended" starting points are proposed by the developers with, associated, an estimate of the difficulty encountered at the start of the game. Better, a real tutorial has been written to take newcomers by the hand. In the skin of the Little King of Munster, we first discover how to find our way in the game before addressing the main resources, the essential actions that we can do and, finally, some slightly more delicate concepts.
Obviously don't expect to go around Crusader Kings III with these few tens of minutes of explanations, but you will at least have a solid basis to start a game as long as the tutorial has the good taste not to close abruptly . At the end, he lets you continue with Murchad, our Little King, in order to continue your great work of reunifying the island of Ireland before, who knows, driving the Vikings out of the British Isles. All regulars of the franchise will tell you, there has never been a better start for a Crusader Kings and, more generally, for a great strategy signed Paradox.
Bloodthirst Seeks Bloodbath
The game's accessibility isn't limited to its tutorial, however, and isn't just for beginners. In reality, a considerable effort has been made by the developers to make each action, each mechanism easier to understand, whatever your level. To do this, nested tooltips have been put in place. By clicking on a character, you learn that it is your liege lord through a tooltip which itself has some key words in order to explain the concept of vassalage for example. Better, all the concepts of the game are recalled within a vast encyclopedia directly integrated into the game.
Don't believe, however, that this is enough to understand everything with a few clicks of the mouse. One of the weaknesses of Crusader Kings III is also its main strength: you have to invest several hours of your time to master its main mechanics... and much more to understand the majority of the principles governing here the succession to the throne, there the rules of election of the Holy Roman Empire. Nothing dramatic, however, because we have fun before we understand everything and, then, we congratulate ourselves on having understood how to thwart a plot against our person or send to the dungeon a grandson who is a little too enterprising.
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Be careful, however, not to slaughter a descent too degenerate as it is because, in Crusader Kings III even more than in the previous opuses, you must not become attached to a person or a kingdom. Things are thought of in an even more global way and rather than the fame of a single monarch, it is the prestige of his entire dynasty that matters. Before the XNUMXth or even the XNUMXth century, it was very difficult to ensure the unity of the estate at each succession: sharing between the sons, or even between all the children, was the rule. This isn't a problem, however, as Crusader Kings III grants more Dynasty Fame Points if family members are in positions of power.
Dynasty fame then unlocks what the developers have called legacies. The idea here is to choose a branch that will allow you to take advantage of greater bonuses when waging war, to put pressure on vassals or to transmit “traits”. This last point, the inheritance of blood, is undoubtedly one of our favorite little ones. Thanks to him, our descendants have a chance to benefit from the best traits of our current leader and, inevitably, it will make their start in life a little easier. We touch on the more particularly role-playing dimension of Crusader Kings III, the roleplay mentioned above.
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Our souls are twisted
Each character – thousands spread over the entire map – actually has a real character sheet with “classic” characteristics (martiality, stewardship, diplomacy, intrigue, etc.) but also “traits” that allow it to be better defined: greedy , calm, angry, erudite, beautiful, greedy… So many elements that influence the abilities of said character, but as nothing is too Manichaean in Crusader Kings III, an angry character is not necessarily a big handicap, for example: he can inspire fear, even fear, in his subjects who will think twice before fomenting a revolt.
To encourage us to play roleplay, the developers have imagined a carrot and a stick. For the carrot, it's the lifestyle system: fifteen skill trees divided into five categories that correspond to the classic characteristics mentioned in the previous paragraph. For example, the martial way of life allows us to accentuate our leader's talent as a general, while the intrigue way of life will favor the blows on the sly. The whole trick lies of course in the fact that a character who is already rather gifted in martial arts will have bonuses which will allow him to progress more quickly in this way of life and to unlock interesting skills.
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We talked about stick because at no time does Crusader Kings III impose anything on you. To encourage players to adopt a style of play related to the personality of their leader, the studio has however imagined the stress that is associated with the system of events. During the game, many events do not fail to occur. Imagine a hunting party that does not turn out well. An angry character will tend to send everything flying, but the game gives you the choice and it is still possible to opt for a "calm" response to the situation. Problem, as you go against the very nature of your character, he takes stress.
At first, nothing serious, but from a certain level of stress, your character suffers a "mental collapse" and takes a rather harmful trait to signal that he becomes even more violent, that he sinks into depression or that he takes refuge in drink. A new trait that will give new options in future events and so on…until your leader goes crazy. That said, even there things aren't necessarily bad: a violent and unpredictable tyrant is less likely to be the expiatory victim of a few glory-seeking vassals.
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A Bourbon drunk with mass wine
So many very roleplaying elements that reinforce the tools available to the player to tell incredible stories. However, we have not mentioned all the tools and we still have to talk about the hooks. The idea here is to allow lovers of intrigue to find their little ones more easily. Capturing an enemy or chatting by the fire can be an opportunity to learn some great things. If, for example, we have wind of the homosexuality of our liege lord or the illegitimate child of a vassal, we have a way of using this information. No, there is no question of blackmail, we will rather say that it is an "incitement"?
We have so far only talked about additions or improvements compared to Crusader Kings II. However, there are “grey areas” in this third opus. Thus, the treatment of epidemics is less complete than on the previous opus and certain mechanics are not implemented: impossible to control a republic like Venice or nomadic tribes. Colonization is absent and the management of battles could have been more innovative. Finally, the artificial intelligence of the allies is not a model of its kind: we can see them wandering the campaign map with their armies without ever coming to lend a hand.
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Flaws that do not weigh very heavily, however, and for the artificial intelligence, we especially appreciate that it is able to use – and rather not too badly – ​​the plot / hook system. In addition, we have not yet spoken of the work done to make the whole game prettier, more readable. It's obviously not perfect yet as Crusader Kings III is a rich game, but the whole remains much more flattering than Crusader Kings II. Some might find the interface a little too cumbersome: it's not wrong, but we prefer to point out that it is also and above all more comfortable, more accessible for the neophyte. Finally, without being at the level of what Total War can offer, the campaign map is very aesthetic.
Since we are talking about realization, let's finish on the finish. Some players experienced launch issues, but nothing too bad and overall Crusader Kings III is "clean". It runs well, it does not row and it charges quickly. Crashes are rare and even after more than a hundred hours of play, we hardly encountered any bugs. The rare problems should be corrected by quick patches and let's take this opportunity to remind you that Paradox has reviewed its DLC policy. There will always be some to enrich the basic game, but they will be fewer and more complete than on Crusader Kings II. They will also be more expensive and will therefore look more like the classic extensions of yesteryear.
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Crusader Kings III : l'avis de Clubic
As a huge fan of previous games in the franchise, it's an understatement to say that we were waiting for Crusader Kings III at the turn. Our hopes were not disappointed. Not at all. Inevitably, there will always be some disgruntled souls to criticize the absence of certain content that arrived in the 4th or 5th DLC of Crusader Kings II. We prefer to underline the remarkable coherence and richness of an episode which already guarantees several hundred hours of play. ally. Still, in the state, Crusader Kings III is the most formidable machine to tell stories, to build Machiavellian plans that have nothing to envy to the tortuous machinations of Game of Thrones. Paradox Interactive has pulled out all the stops to make its game clearer, more accessible and more complete than any other great strategy ever released by its studios. We go back !
Test carried out using code provided by the publisher.
Crusader kings iii9
If there is no question of revolutionizing the franchise, Crusader Kings III manages to sublimate it. More beautiful, more readable and more pleasant to play, it refines the majority of the concepts previously implemented so that we can, more than ever, tell incredible stories of alliances, betrayals and improbable reversals. .Most
- Successful aesthetic overhaul all along the line
- Clearer, more readable, better organized
- Comprehensive tutorial and nested tooltips system
- Phishing and intrigue to perfect dirty tricks
- More roleplay than ever (3D characters, lifestyles...)
- Countless hours of gameplay ahead
The lessers
- Mechanics that remain complex, sometimes obscure
- Crusader Kings II content has disappeared (republics, nomads)
- Battles and battle AI not always convincing
