Crusader Kings III

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 3k 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... Hang on, this might be the most interesting character to roleplay as yet. A 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, most of it given to me by the Pope despite my lunacy due to my renowned piety (thank you, Your Holiness!) 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.

Put bannerlord and total war into this game and I'll never even need another game.

Absolutely one of the best autistic revisionist history time sinks to ever exist. One massive suggestion would include the renaming of cities captured by one culture in said culture's name for said city. I think this would allow for more comprehension and understanding of how cultures view one another and the possible claim fabrication could become that much more justified.

This is the best video game I've ever played. Gamers who love medieval history and storytelling - this is it. I've played countless games over years and I remember every single one vividly. Perfect blend of character-driven roleplaying and grand strategy. THE game.

I never used to like strategy games, but then I bought this and played it until 4 AM every day for nearly a week.
A couple days in and every night I was dreaming of the map table. MY map table. I could SEE the lines connecting my vassals to me and thus connecting my realm together, and in far more vivid detail than my usual dreams. I built the great Empire of Brittania using strategies revealed to me in my dreams, and near all of them worked. My first campaign ended a rousing success as I had gloriously achieved everything I set out to do, and even more that I hadn't.
When the dust settled I had put in hundreds of hours, 5x my usual overall playtime in many games, all in the matter of a mere few weeks. And it felt as if no time had passed. For a time, the map table was the whole of my world, and for that time I myself was whole.

Game's great. You play not as the country, but as the ruler of the country's family. No other game does it as well, not even close. Ignore the haters. the game rocks.

As someone in my mid-30s with three decades of video game experience, I write these overviews with a focus on how games fit into an adult life full of responsibilities. The criteria are deliberately subjective - check out my other reviews to see what resonates with you. These ratings are practical descriptions, not meant to be converted into numbers.
━━Resonance Score━━
⬜ Left a lasting mark
☑️ Will definitely revisit
⬜ One and done
⬜ Didn't finish
⬜ Wouldn't purchase again
━━Breakdown━━
Initial Feel
⬜ Instantly hooked
☑️ Grew on me
⬜ Took time to appreciate
⬜ Never quite clicked
Mechanical Flow
⬜ Perfectly polished
⬜ Satisfyingly smooth
☑️ Takes getting used to
⬜ Never feels quite right
⬜ Actively frustrating
Schedule Flexibility
⬜ Perfect for micro-sessions
⬜ Easy to pause and resume
☑️ Needs dedicated time blocks
⬜ Requires long uninterrupted sessions
Hook Level
☑️ "Where did my evening go?"
⬜ Regularly loses track of time
⬜ Balanced engagement
⬜ Natural stopping points
⬜ Easy to walk away
Mental Engagement Required
⬜ Podcast Game
☑️ Split Focus Friendly
⬜ Active Focus
⬜ Full Concentration needed
Learning Curve
⬜ Intuitive flow
⬜ Rewarding challenge
☑️ Steep but fair
⬜ Frustratingly complex
Break-Friendly Design
⬜ Easy to remember mechanics
☑️ Needs refresher time
⬜ Steep re-learning curve
⬜ Like starting from scratch
Aesthetic Impact
⬜ Sensory Masterpiece
☑️ Artistically Cohesive
⬜ Distinctively Styled
⬜ Mismatched Elements
⬜ Notably Lacking