Crusader Kings 3

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Could the third part of “Kings” become an exemplary sequel? Yes and no. It didn’t work out perfectly, but it’s a great continuation of the series. Crusader Kings 3 will make you forget about food, sleep and your neighbor, generating great stories based only on the actions of the player.

The Crusader Kings series of global strategies from Paradox Interactive is best known for the second part. An insane number of additions expanding and deepening the original game, as well as the highest threshold for entry – that’s what the uninitiated have heard about it. Fans call Crusader Kings 2 a “story generator”. Well, in what other game can you put a squirrel as a military adviser?

The drunken and naked Pope of Rome, shouting “Deus Vult!”, Surrounded by a dozen mistresses or lovers goes to storm Jerusalem – just one of the thousand stories that the inquisitive player Crusader Kings 3 can offer. alarm clock – a common situation during the game.

Friendliness is the main virtue
The most important problem of previous games, like other Paradox series, is the high barrier to entry. Dozens of different windows, multi-colored maps, thousands of icons and shortcuts – this is what the Crusader Kings 2 player met with. Calling the training anything informative doesn’t make sense even after the basics became clear.

Crusader Kings 3 tried to be friendly to the new player by completely redesigning the look, approach to tutorials and hints. Each message about a particular action is sometimes provided with a dozen pop-up windows, so that the player always has an idea of ​​what is being said. This helps a lot, as it allows you to store less useless information in your mind – now you can always read it if the need arises.

Alas, the interface is not perfect. A person who plays global strategies from Paradox will figure it out right away, and things that are incomprehensible to him will remain at a minimum. However, finding some opportunities can be difficult even for a veteran. To find the dungeon where all the king’s prisoners are kept, we had to involve a more attentive and diligent wife and reveal this secret together (the prison is located in the “Yard” tab, don’t thank). In 80 percent of cases, everything is logical, but something went wrong.

The complete translation of the entire text into Russian should be noted separately. The localization is done well, it is replete with many references, and there are almost no questions about what was written. The only problem is that declensions and variables containing calls to the player sometimes break, but this almost does not affect anything.

If the clutter of windows, tabs and shortcuts has always been frightening, now you can safely try to join Crusader Kings 3 – an intuitive interface and thoughtful tips with hundreds of pop-up summaries will accompany the player throughout the path that his dynasty will travel.

The king desires a feast!
Crusader Kings 2 is loved by veterans for the fact that the life of the ruler under control could change at any moment. A happy state, good relations with vassals and respect for the church could go down the drain because of an unfortunate coincidence of circumstances, and the once great state could collapse and come under the control of a stupid heir, who will be killed tomorrow in some tavern – and that’s it, the game is over.

The developers in everything adhered to the only path – not in breadth, but in depth, and the role-playing component only benefited from this. The roots of the global strategy in Crusader Kings 3 are not visible at first. The player observes the life of the character, plays it out, makes decisions and puts up with the bitterness of loss after his death. It is on this basis that Paradox Interactive has built an array of global strategy. It turned out just great.

You can take control of absolutely any person from any country or county that the player can find. Want to start from the bottom and build your dynasty to the skies? You are welcome. A drop of Rurik’s blood flows in your veins? Take control of the Grand Duke and conquer Europe! Or lose all controlled territories and bring the genus to extinction. Everything is in the hands of the player.

Each action and decision directly affects the personality of the ruler and his environment. If he was a shy sadist from birth, then inspiring crowd speech and respectful vassals will drive him into stress, which is now a mechanic of its own. It is divided into three levels. Upon reaching the second or third division, the stress of the first level can turn into a nervous breakdown or depression, respectively. This will not end well for the character.

You can remove this state in various ways, depending on the character traits of your character – for example, just doing what he loves most. Or accept one of the options offered by the game: to get drunk, go for women of easy virtue or fall into faith – and this is just one of many decisions. All this will entail the development of new character traits that can both cause inconvenience and make friends with vassals or neighbors.

The characteristics of military affairs, diplomacy, scholarship, government and intrigue are no longer static numbers that affect the success of a decision. The “life path” of a character is focusing on one path and its development. In fact, these are three trees for pumping, which provide both a passive increase in some abilities and open active opportunities. An intriguer will be able to kidnap people or seek leverage over them, a military leader will have more ways to start and wage a war, and a diplomat will be able to form alliances and expand his influence to other continents.

All this creates billions of all kinds of situations, and you won’t be able to see them all even after a thousand hours. Each character can be developed in a dozen different ways, and every little thing has an impact on him – right down to the dogmas of his confession. Is it interesting to follow the life of the ruler? Indisputably. But it is even more interesting to observe the life of his descendants.

Pious drunkards and diplomatic sadists
The death of the hero will come in any case. From old age, from a knife in the back or a severed head in a fair fight. This is not the end of Crusader Kings 3, at least if there is an heir after the ruler. It is he who starts to control the player, and all the external and internal problems of the state fall on his young (or not so) shoulders.

It is worth saying about the characters inhabiting the game separately. They are individuals, with their own characters, with their own court, with their own lives. Unlike the second part, now these are animated people who can show their mood or reaction to the events with facial expressions or gestures.

It is necessary to maintain relationships with characters, arrange marriages between children of different dynasties, and unite in unions. Or, on the contrary, to intrigue them, destroying their heirs or finding out their terrible secrets. At one point, I managed to find out that one of the largest rulers has a lover – an adviser, with whom they were “close friends” for everyone else.

This made it possible to take him “on the hook” – a new mechanic that, depending on the severity of the secret, allows you to persuade the character to your side. To impose a marriage that is beneficial for us, not for him, support in the war – whatever the soul desires. If the secret is trifling, blackmail can get out of control and he confesses everything to his own family and environment, for which he will be severely censured, and the player will lose influence on him.

Now imagine the situation. As you know, nature rests on the children of geniuses, and after the reign of the great king, who united dozens of vassals under his wing, control over the state passes to his heir – a terrible adulterer, intriguer and tyrant, who will keep all his charges in terror. And the main goal is to at least preserve what his ancestor built and, if possible, expand the spheres of influence, while at the same time bringing up a normal replacement for him.

Through the years of the life of different kings and emperors, the development of the state system takes place. If a player owns the largest number of territories in his culture, his king becomes the hegemon and chooses with his own hands what heights his tribe will reach, for example, learn how to build siege weapons or erect flags of the state.

This is where interest in the game rekindles. The constant change of power and characters forces you to adapt to a new style of play on the go, and most importantly, to change your strategy!

No global complexity needed
Paradox Interactive took the path of least resistance and tried to lure as many players as possible into their networks. Another hard-to-understand mechanic, strategic actions on the map, has become much easier and more understandable for beginners.

No more puzzling over how to transport allies by sea and at what point to gather troops in case of war. All armies available to the ruler are gathered at one gathering point, by default in the capital, and the fleet is absent as a class. Now it is enough just to click on the water surface, choosing a unit of troops, and for a certain fee they themselves “conjure” the ship from the air.

In Crusader Kings 2, the army was represented by the militia from all vassals, personally created by the guards and mercenaries. In the third part of “Kings”, a new type of troops was added – knights, who in the previous game were called commanders and they could be appointed managers of the troops. True, most of them still statically hung in the menu, not helping in any way to fight. Now they all participate in battles and give an advantage depending on their own skills.

The battles on the global map have changed for the better. Knights, general preparedness of armies and terrain have a direct impact on the outcome of the battle. Even a small squad can win if it is filled with trained and diverse warriors, and not beggars in the form of militia.

Allied states during wars began to act on their own. In Crusader Kings 2, it was possible to tell a friendly squad exactly where to go and which city to capture, and send your soldiers to a completely different place. In the third part, there is either no such possibility, or it is hidden behind seven seals, somewhere deep.

The global mini-map also went under the knife, which in the second part helped to quickly navigate the terrain and move in the blink of an eye between several continents. Why it was cut is unclear. Perhaps it will be returned later after user reviews.

Abolished or cut features have a negative effect on replayability, but, on the other hand, do not distract from the history of the ruler of the state. Should the king think about where to send the troops of his vassals and allies? No, specially trained people, who are represented here in the form of advisers on state affairs, external and internal, should do it for him.

Diplomats, spies, marshals, treasurers, and clergymen perform a variety of tasks in a passive or active manner. After capturing any territories, you can order the military adviser to strengthen control there, and if he has a high level of military affairs, he will do it quickly, efficiently, and the people of the new king will kiss a big kiss in the ass from love. Needless to say, a bad advisor will ruin all plans and only make things worse?

Diagnosis
Crusader Kings 3 is the best thing that could happen to the series after such a long development of the second part. The developers have expanded the role-playing component, going into the depths and not building anything superfluous on top. Living the life of a ruler is fascinating, and the strategic side of the project, although it has lost some of its opportunities, still makes you wiggle.

They added new things, like reformation of their own religion, managing the development of culture and personal perks of the dynasty, but removed religious cults and secret societies. As Paradox said – temporarily, because the additions of the third part of “Kings” will be supported for a very long time.

The game will appeal to both fans of global strategies and beginners – normal training, a lot of tips and a user-friendly interface will stop scaring off neophytes and, therefore, expand the player base. Crusader Kings 3 already has a record of 100 thousand concurrent users 2 hours after release, which is the best indicator of success.