I played some CK2 several years ago and really enjoyed it, and was reminded of it recently so I picked up CK3 on both PS5 and PC.

The only other series from the 4X genre that I've played extensively is the Civilization series, so that's my only basis for comparison. Crusader Kings feels VERY unique - to the point that it feels halfway between a grand strategy game and an RPG. Since you control a ruler (and their heirs in their dynasty across the centuries), a digital representation of a person with their own personality traits, strengths, and weaknesses, the game appeals much more to my "right brain" creativity than pure strategy games.

And boy does CK3 have a lot of options for your creativity, especially if you buy the DLC. I know some players criticize it for not having quite as much content as CK2 did at it's EOL, but as a newcomer it feels like more than enough to keep me occupied for years of gameplay. The game's systems are incredibly deep. They are exploitable in some ways ("betrothal-scumming" for alliances...), if that's up your alley, but I mostly stick to playing my rulers semi-realistically.

I love that you can choose your level of difficulty simply by which ruler you start with, and many of the achievements feel substantial - difficult, sometimes punishingly so, but achievable none-the-less. The RNG can be both delightful and frustrating at times, but doesn't seem as unfair as some of the ways CK2's was.

Graphics and audio are serviceable, with two standouts. First, how beautifully dynamic the maps can be, and how they change to suit your level of zoom on the default mode. Second, the generated character models are excellent, with a huge range of features which will be modified by age, disease, personality traits, etc. =

My only criticism, if I have any, is just how high the learning curve is. The tutorial and in-game tooltips and documentation are *excellent*, but there are just SO many systems that it's easy to feel blindsided by events and situations you didn't know to expect. The game does try to help you with this, but I think it could do even more.

---{ Graphics }---
☐ You forget what reality is
☐ Beautiful
☑ Good
☐ Decent
☐ Bad
☐ Don‘t look too long at it
☐ MS-DOS

---{ Gameplay }---
☑ Very good
☐ Good
☐ It's just gameplay
☐ Mehh
☐ Watch paint dry instead
☐ Just don't

---{ Audio }---
☐ Eargasm
☐ Very good
☑ Good
☐ Not too bad
☐ Bad
☐ I'm now deaf

---{ Audience }---
☐ Kids
☐ Teens
☑ Adults
☐ Grandma

---{ PC Requirements }---
☐ Check if you can run paint
☐ Potato
☐ Decent
☑ Fast
☐ Rich boi
☐ Ask NASA if they have a spare computer

---{ Game Size }---
☐ Floppy Disk
☐ Old Fashioned
☑ Workable
☐ Big
☐ Will eat 10% of your 1TB hard drive
☐ You will want an entire hard drive to hold it
☐ You will need to invest in a black hole to hold all the data

---{ Difficulty }---
☐ Just press 'W'
☐ Easy
☐ Easy to learn / Hard to master
☐ Significant brain usage
☑ Difficult
☐ Dark Souls

---{ Grind }---
☑ Nothing to grind
☐ Only if u care about leaderboards/ranks
☐ Isn't necessary to progress
☐ Average grind level
☐ Too much grind
☐ You'll need a second life for grinding

---{ Story }---
☐ No Story
☐ Some lore
☐ Average
☑ Good
☐ Lovely
☐ It'll replace your life

---{ Game Time }---
☐ Long enough for a cup of coffee
☐ Short
☐ Average
☐ Long
☑ To infinity and beyond

---{ Price }---
☐ It's free!
☑ Worth the price
☐ If it's on sale
☐ If u have some spare money left
☐ Not recommended
☐ You could also just burn your money

---{ Bugs }---
☐ Never heard of
☑ Minor bugs
☐ Can get annoying
☐ ARK: Survival Evolved
☐ The game itself is a big terrarium for bugs

---{ ? / 10 }---
☐ 1
☐ 2
☐ 3
☐ 4
☐ 5
☐ 6
☐ 7
☐ 8
☑ 9
☐ 10

I played some CK2 several years ago and really enjoyed it, and was reminded of it recently so I picked up CK3 on both PS5 and PC. The only other series from the 4X genre that I've played extensively is the Civilization series, so that's my only basis for comparison. Crusader Kings feels VERY unique - to the point that it feels halfway between a grand strategy game and an RPG. Since you control a ruler (and their heirs in their dynasty across the centuries), a digital representation of a person with their own personality traits, strengths, and weaknesses, the game appeals much more to my "right brain" creativity than pure strategy games. And boy does CK3 have a lot of options for your creativity, especially if you buy the DLC. I know some players criticize it for not having quite as much content as CK2 did at it's EOL, but as a newcomer it feels like more than enough to keep me occupied for years of gameplay. The game's systems are incredibly deep. They are exploitable in some ways ("betrothal-scumming" for alliances...), if that's up your alley, but I mostly stick to playing my rulers semi-realistically. I love that you can choose your level of difficulty simply by which ruler you start with, and many of the achievements feel substantial - difficult, sometimes punishingly so, but achievable none-the-less. The RNG can be both delightful and frustrating at times, but doesn't seem as unfair as some of the ways CK2's was. Graphics and audio are serviceable, with two standouts. First, how beautifully dynamic the maps can be, and how they change to suit your level of zoom on the default mode. Second, the generated character models are excellent, with a huge range of features which will be modified by age, disease, personality traits, etc. = My only criticism, if I have any, is just how high the learning curve is. The tutorial and in-game tooltips and documentation are *excellent*, but there are just SO many systems that it's easy to feel blindsided by events and situations you didn't know to expect. The game does try to help you with this, but I think it could do even more. ---{ Graphics }--- ☐ You forget what reality is ☐ Beautiful ☑ Good ☐ Decent ☐ Bad ☐ Don‘t look too long at it ☐ MS-DOS ---{ Gameplay }--- ☑ Very good ☐ Good ☐ It's just gameplay ☐ Mehh ☐ Watch paint dry instead ☐ Just don't ---{ Audio }--- ☐ Eargasm ☐ Very good ☑ Good ☐ Not too bad ☐ Bad ☐ I'm now deaf ---{ Audience }--- ☐ Kids ☐ Teens ☑ Adults ☐ Grandma ---{ PC Requirements }--- ☐ Check if you can run paint ☐ Potato ☐ Decent ☑ Fast ☐ Rich boi ☐ Ask NASA if they have a spare computer ---{ Game Size }--- ☐ Floppy Disk ☐ Old Fashioned ☑ Workable ☐ Big ☐ Will eat 10% of your 1TB hard drive ☐ You will want an entire hard drive to hold it ☐ You will need to invest in a black hole to hold all the data ---{ Difficulty }--- ☐ Just press 'W' ☐ Easy ☐ Easy to learn / Hard to master ☐ Significant brain usage ☑ Difficult ☐ Dark Souls ---{ Grind }--- ☑ Nothing to grind ☐ Only if u care about leaderboards/ranks ☐ Isn't necessary to progress ☐ Average grind level ☐ Too much grind ☐ You'll need a second life for grinding ---{ Story }--- ☐ No Story ☐ Some lore ☐ Average ☑ Good ☐ Lovely ☐ It'll replace your life ---{ Game Time }--- ☐ Long enough for a cup of coffee ☐ Short ☐ Average ☐ Long ☑ To infinity and beyond ---{ Price }--- ☐ It's free! ☑ Worth the price ☐ If it's on sale ☐ If u have some spare money left ☐ Not recommended ☐ You could also just burn your money ---{ Bugs }--- ☐ Never heard of ☑ Minor bugs ☐ Can get annoying ☐ ARK: Survival Evolved ☐ The game itself is a big terrarium for bugs ---{ ? / 10 }--- ☐ 1 ☐ 2 ☐ 3 ☐ 4 ☐ 5 ☐ 6 ☐ 7 ☐ 8 ☑ 9 ☐ 10