Crusader Kings II, one of the greatest strategy (and family murder plot) games of all time is finally getting a sequel, publishers Paradox has announced.
I’ve gone on at length on this website about how special CKII is, but the fact is, despite getting a ton of important expansions as recently as earlier this year, the base game itself is over seven years old, and for all its depth and intrigue has started to look like arse.
Crusader Kings III, then, is obviously trying to keep everything that made CKII special, while at the same time making the whole experience not just prettier, but easier to use as well. Graphical improvements are obvious in these screenshots, with nice touches like including individual character designs in their own story development screens (above), but more importantly you’ll also notice that the menu system—taking cues from Imperator — has been pared right back, with a lot of the stuff previously out there, in your face and terrifying to new players now tucked away, to be accessed only when needed.
Most interesting, though, and I’m sure of most relief to curious onlookers previously put off by CKII’s density, is the promise of a new intro framed as “Guided advice to help newcomers navigate a rich medieval world. In-game suggestions tip you off to paths you might not have considered.”
Crusader Kings III is coming next year to Steam and Xbox Game Pass.
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