Crusader Kings III

A lot of things have been streamlined for the better, it seems. A decent amount of content from CK2 DLC was put into this base game (but not all of it). I like how they were integrated so they didnt feel as bolted on. Thanks for reading my review, friend.

Coming into CK3 as a longtime CK2 and EUIV player, I was slightly concerned about the content and playability of CK3. After all, CK2 in its initial stage was very limited, and it was through the course of very many DLCs that fleshed out CK2 to what it is today. CK3, being brand new, and (rightfully) with no expansions, felt like it would be in danger of being a pale imitation of its predecessor.
However, now with over 40 hours in CK3, I can safely say this game lives up to everything that CK2 brought to the field and more! The UI is much, much more intuitive and new player-friendly. Furthermore, content that was added over a long period of time through expansions/DLCs like India and Tibet are in the game right off the bat and immediately playable! There are also many new, welcome mechanics, at least for people like me who like to roleplay their dynastic legacies or 'jump ship' so as to speak. Let me explain!
To start myself off in CK3, I decided to go with an old favourite, the Magyars. Leading the fore as Almos, I led the Magyars to migrate into the Carpathian Basin, snatching it from Bulgaria. Following this, I attempted to conquer enough lands to reform the Taltoist faith, but combined pressure from the Carolingian Kingdoms and the Byzantine Empire led to the death of Almos and poured cold water over my dreams of reformed Taltoism. As Almos's son, Arpad, I turned Catholic, and used 'holy war' as an excuse to conquer all my heathen neighbours despite being pagan just years ago. With Hungary formed and its borders secure, Arpad finally passes on. As the 3rd-generation King Szonuk, I noticed Bavaria was no longer in the hands of the Karlings, thereby breaking their tripartite alliance. I bide my time, building prestige, formed alliances with West Francia and the Byzantine Empire, and proceeded to invade and conquer Bavaria, creating the Austro-Hungarian Empire centuries before its supposed to exist.
As Szonuk dies and my 4th-generation Arpad II takes the throne, I notice I am, in fact, able to claim the West Francian throne for my mother. So I invade my former allies without further ado and put dear mum on the throne. As my mother passes on and the throne of West Francia comes to my greedy little hands, the Austro-Hungarian Empire has surpassed even Charlemagne, and stretches from France to Hungary. My son, Szonuk II, through careful eugenics, is a genius, and my grandson, Arpad III, a HERCULEAN genius! Nothing can stand in our way now!
But wait. A killer roams the castle. I am shocked and horrified to discover my herculean genius grandson dead. Dead before he even has a chance to fulfil his glorious legacy. I vow to find the killer myself. Clearly, it must be a Karling loyalist, or maybe even a Byzantine spy trying to undermine my power. As I investigate, I get ever closer to the truth... and then receive a letter, from none other than the killer! The killer says they have been living under my nose this whole time, and that the truth will only bring me pain. I push on nonetheless... I must know the truth! And when I confront the killer... its...
... My son, Szonuk II!
Why?! How?! it's your own son! My grandson!
I am aggrieved. I disinherit him and put him in jail immediately. My successor changes to one of my other, more virtuous, less kinslayer-inclined sons. As I ponder what to do with my insane genius kinslayer of a son, the Pope's messenger arrives. A crusade, he declares, is to be launched into Jerusalem. Being the pious Emperor that I am, I of course, agree. To my surprise, my son qualifies as a beneficiary of the crusade, due to being disinherited. Hm. So be it. I free him from jail, force my son to be in the frontlines as a knight, and send him off to lead the imperial armies and hopefully die a virtuous death despite living as a sinner.
The crusade against the Abbasids goes swimmingly. Too swimmingly. In a twist of fate, my sinful son becomes monarch of the holiest kingdom, Jerusalem itself. Well. So be it. He'll probably die defending the holy city once the Abbasids recover and launch their counter-assault. I have no inclination to help him. So, I click past the notifications, and...
... I accidentally click "I wonder what kind of King he'll be?"
And now all of a sudden I'm the kinslaying villain disinherited by the Emperor, and sent to be king of a forsaken holy kingdom that i have no chance of holding. With a single demesne, with all my vassals and everybody in my family hating me because I'm a kinslaying nutjob. FFFFF-
Just as I consider ragequitting, I figure... This is probably the best interesting character legacy, ever. The kinslaying, lunatic genius exiled from home and sent to die fighting for the cross to atone for himself.
So I lean into it. I become the most insanely fanatical holy king ever. My first order of business is to imprison and revoke the titles of all my vassals from the contributing houses of the crusade. Now my demesne is full and my coffers are slowly filling up. Then, I befriend the Byzantine Emperor, bribing him with huge amounts of gold (much of it from the Pope, thank you o' father) and swaying him with my evil charisma. I see that he has three sons. I marry my daughter (thank god I didn't kill YOU too) to the youngest matrilineally. Now we have an alliance. With the aid of the Byzantines I survive in the land of the infidels, and slowly expand by absorbing the smaller Islamic emirates around me, never lifting a finger and simply burning prestige to let the Byzantines do their thing and wipe out my enemies. Following this, I systematically kill off the very helpful Emperor's older sons. The first murder goes unnoticed. The second, unfortunately, is traced back to me. The Byzantine Emperor is very understandably heartbroken and furious with me. So I assassinate him too.
Now my son-in-law is Byzantine Emperor, and he hates me for killing off basically his entire direct family. Sure, understandable. I check my daughter and see she already has two sons born to our house. Cackling madly all the way and out of my mind with stress, I commit suicide.
Now I am my daughter. Over the years, I watch as my husband drinks himself to death, leaving the Byzantine Empire to my oldest son, who I groom into another herculean genius. By the time I pass on and play as my son, the Herculean Genius, Hungarian Catholic, Byzantine Emperor and King of Jerusalem Szonuk III, I look to the west and see our ancestral legacy, instead of imploding like I thought, has remained intact, and blossomed towards England and Scandinavia as well. As I look at the sea of Arpadys covering the map, I vaguely realize I've recreated the Western and Eastern Roman Empires.
What can I say except 10/10 game.

after trying for years to get into PDX games, buying expansion packs i never played with the knowledge that i would LOVE these games if i could just figure them out, crusader kings III came along and kicked me down the rabbit hole with its intuitive user interface, extremely helpful tooltips, and actually functional tutorial. now i can't get enough!

This is game is great. Why? Because it will bring out the absolute worst in you, I promise!
I set out to be a wise, noble and just ruler. God knows I tried, but it ain't easy.
If your Liege is in a war he cannot win, who is likely to loose most?
If your Liege decides one of your titles better befits someone else, guess what happens.
If your spymaster is banging your wife, all the while plotting to kill you... something had to change!
The world in CK3 is a dirty, lying and vengeful place. Being nice, is not gonna cut it. You'll learn that quickly.
I lied, fucked, blackmailed and murdered my way to power.
And once I was in power, it did everything to keep it.
Murdering your wife? Check! (multiple times, kind of the norm really)
Whoring out your daughters like brood mares to foster the family line? Check! Highly recommended.
Sending your children on death missions to remove them from succession? Check! Necessary.
If your heir is not impregnating his wife fast enough, be so kind to have your own go at it? Check!
Killing said heir after you had a child with his wife, to setup the child for a longer rule?Check! ... and kinda smart.
Arbitrarily imprison a rival for the sole purpose of enjoying to toture him? Check!
Regular execution waves to keep your subjects in line? Check! Don't miss out.
And how did that work out for me?
I am the undisputet, sanctified Emperor over most of the known world. My Dynasty rules the rest. And there is peace.

In the year 931, my sister and lover was murdered by my friend and brother-in-law. He burnt her at the stake with my babe in her belly. He was a powerful man, my sister married well, his family spread far across Europe with many of his kin in the most influential houses of the developed world.
I spent the next 350 years erasing everyone who shared his blood, starting with my niece and nephews. By the time I was done, his family was erased from history, lost to obscurity and time. All my focus and hatred had left my own family nothing more than a poor Duke, so heavily consumed by a hate he didn't understand that by the time it was all over he took his own life before he fathered an heir. Thus, I lost my own family to obscurity and time.
After gaining nothing and losing everything I pondered for a moment whether or not it was all worth it...
The next day I started a new campaign this time I would play properly, I would get it right...
The year is now 932 and my wife (and sister) has given birth to an heir of pure blood, noble and strong. The world will tremble as 350 years of tyrannical darkness descends unto them,

They actually made it good. Imperator had me worried, but it's actually fucking good. Paradox finally did it.
- Everything is more meaningful/weighted
- Wars are more involved
- Battles are decisive
- Supply lines matter a lot
- Terrain matters
- Personality titles help keep track of personalities at a glance
- Tyranny is now a gameplay style to balance not a massive debuff
- Technology isn't fuck stupid anymore
- God tier UI and performance
- Multiple screens open at one time
- Actually unique character models that are generated based on mom/dad and stay consistent growing from childhood to adulthood
Everything that pissed me off about Crusader Kings II is gone.

It's a natural evolution to and a significant enhancement of Crusader Kings 2, in pretty much every way:
- Better roleplaying and story generation through a focus on key personality traits,
- the warfare aspect is much more in depth and allows for some spectacular specialization,
- the economy system actually makes you care about the lands your dynasty holds and you can actually play tall using it,
- the hooks, secrets and scheming system is simply outstanding and adds so many layers to the interactions, especially with friends in multiplayer,
- the Religion system with an ability to set tenets, doctrines, with faiths having interlocking interactions is the most complex implementation of religion in a Paradox game and allows for some truly unique playstyles (some things are not very realistic at game start, but they'll improve with patches)
- finally, the technology system is so incredibly improved over Crusader Kings 2, that it might be my favorite new feature in this game. The way it interacts with realm laws, warfare, economy, and with cultural / regional ideas, makes learning a viable path to specialize your family in through the midgame.
Game is excellent. From someone with over 2000 hours in CK2.