Recent reviews by mskulkin

I've enjoyed this series for a long time, and each title has its positives. The original Crusader Kings was actually the first paradox GSG that clicked for me. Obviously the original CK is at this point extremely old, but there was definitely something about the hand drawn portraits. CKII came a long way from its origins, and remains a viable and content-rich game and mod platform. While in terms of pure content, CKII still holds the edge over CKIII, I actually find the pared down and streamlined systems to be a positive. A lot of CKII's DLC feels like unnecessary bloat that doesn't actually add much to the game, whereas the mechanics so far introduced in III (in particular the dynamic and player-directed culture and religion system, as well as the fully visible and detailed holdings on the map) honestly blows CKII's largely fantasy content out of the water. The variety of mods available for CKIII is pretty impressive too, from small tweaks to full scale overhauls and massive map expansions like the Rajas of Asia mod, extending the map all the way to Papua. I strongly recommend Crusader Kings III, it's an impressive and diverse sandbox story generator and one of the most impressive 'feudalism simulators' out there.

I have burned far too many hours on this game. Compared to just about any other Games Workshop-associated video game, it's astoundingly good. More than that, there has been frequent additional content (at steadily rising quality!) since release. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys strategy, tactical RPGs, or Warhammer fantasy lore. Almost all of the DLCs are well worth their price, though there are sales frequently enough that there's no reason you would need to pay full price on all of them.