Crusader Kings III Reviews
The stuff that made Crusader Kings 2 so enduring has been pushed to the front even more, while some of the bloat that accumulated over the better part of a decade has been chipped away. It's a very sensible sequel.
Crusader King 3 takes the throne as the new king of historical strategy by expanding on and deepening the best parts of what made its predecessor memorable and unique.
Unleashing the full, terrifying complexity of a PC-based grand strategy game on console is a Herculean task, which Crusader Kings 3 manages with deftness and aplomb.
I’m looking forward to the dozens, if not hundreds, of more hours yet to come.
Crusader Kings 3 is an intricate story-telling device weaving countless threads as long as you have the will to keep it spinning.
Crusader Kings III may begin in what we used to call the Dark Ages, but it’s a Renaissance for strategy gaming in 2020.
Crusader Kings 3 takes the massively-popular formula of its predecessor and distills it into a much more accessible and attractive package. The drama is even better, the plots sneakier, and it’s a game you can play for hundreds of hours without getting tired of it.
Crusader Kings III offers us an exciting vision of medieval strategy, with an RPG component and a multitude of parallel stories. But it's a game that requires dedication and has a sober style that can hold back less skilled players. The time spent will return it to us in spades for its depth and fun.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Get used to the slightly cumbersome controls, menu heavy play and perhaps choose for a slower pace, and Crusader Kings 3's innate charms can still shine through on console. This is still a game that's all about dynasty, family and roleplaying your way through the ages, and it's still just as compelling as ever.
The best way to think of Crusader Kings 3 as a sequel is in terms of its own dynastic gameplay. Sure, Paradox have started from scratch with a new game, but it's still full of scheming, warring amidst an impressive breadth of cultures and religions. Crusader Kings 3 is an heir that has been born from Crusader Kings 2 and its many expansions, including and improving on so much of what made that game great, but it can still grow and improve in its own right.
All things considered, Crusader Kings 3 is perhaps one of the most immersive and flexible strategy games ever put together.
Crusader Kings III is the new noble management's king. Every little piece matters on the board, impressive and huge, but merciless with the newbie.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Graphically beautiful, fun to play, intelligently designed, Crusader Kings III is one of the best entries in the long list of Paradox's grand strategy games.
Review in Italian | Read full review
All in, Crusader Kings 3 is my Game of the Year so far. If you’re looking for a new strategy title with some RPG flair that will suck you in for 500 hours or more during this endless lockdown, then it should be on your wishlist already.
Crusader Kings III's near perfect marriage of robust grand strategy with compelling roleplaying means both fans of wargames and storytelling aficionados will find something to love in its medieval world of politics and intrigue, whether that's crunching numbers to efficiently conquer the known world, or rolling with the punches as they scheme their way into the annals of history.
Crusader Kings III is an excellent kingdom management game, more intimate but no less intricate than the likes of Civilisation VI, it's as unforgiving a simulation as you're going to find while still being more fun than you'd expect it to be.
In my review-in-progress, I said if I were to score it now, I’d give it a 5/5. More than a month later, I’m ready to do so. This is the best Crusader Kings release yet — and it’s Paradox’s best game release ever.
I think I’ll need another year of playing it to work out exactly what I think of it. But that’s another way of saying I want to play it for a year, so it must be pretty good.
Bringing this game to consoles turned it into the most beginner-friendly and fastest-loading version of Crusader Kings yet. It falls only slightly short of the PC version’s greatness simply through the game being built from the ground up for desktop gameplay. As it stands, Crusader Kings 3: Console Edition is the platonic ideal for console ports when it comes to strategy games.
In summary, Crusader Kings 3 is so complex that even after hours of playing, you can still discover new features or uncover intricate systems you've not needed before. For those who want full control of a domain and dynasty, you won't be disappointed. Just be prepared to put a chunk of time into learning the ropes.