This review was written by Blistered Thumbs user Hmuda. Check out other posts from this user in the BT community blogs right here.

I have a decision to make. How do I go about acquiring the County of Leinister? Do I send my chancellor to the place and see if he can fabricate some fake claims for my family that says we have an ancient right to that land? No, these kinds of things might take years and bribing officials is not cheap, not to mention that the rest of Christendom would not look kindly upon such obvious fraud. Do I make some strategic marriage proposals and hope that somewhere down the line my dynasty can lay claim to the county on the grounds of succession? No, that would take decades. I want that land now… I know! There is a well known pretender to the title in the Duke of Connacht’s court. I just send him a small gift and an invitation to my duchy. If he joins my court, I can back up his claim as legitimate. The Earl of Leinister will surely object, but what can he do against my vastly superior army? Not much. That land will serve my family well in the centuries ahead.

Paradox Interactive is well known for their grand strategy games like Hearts of Iron, Victoria, Europa Universalis, just to name a few. They are most popular for their complexity, and the newest member of this tradition is the second installment of the Crusader Kings games.

While other Paradox strategy games tend to focus on the bigger picture–managing whole nations down to the smallest details–in Crusader Kings II, the focus is on a single noble dynasty. Of course, there are still economical considerations to contend with (what to build and where), there are still nations to manage (how severely you want to enforce certain laws), but since we have to focus on one family, with the head of said family as the “main character,” losing a kingdom does not necessarily mean Game Over. Even in the most dire situations, if you play your cards right you can still get out of the conflict with at least a few lands you can call your own. Sure, you lost the title to the throne of England, but you still control the Duchy of York. You may not be king any more, but you are still a duke. You can still rise to power despite being knocked down a step on the feudal ladder.

Bulgaria? Dammit, Google Maps, I just wanted to go to WalMart.

This brings us to the focus of the game: medieval feudal politics. There are 4 main titles a single character can hold. The lowest is the title of Count, who can claim a single county for himself (there are two other variations of this title, Lord Mayor or Prince-Bishop, that depends on the type of settlement the county has as its capital). The only vassals this kind of noble can have are barons (those responsible for managing individual settlements, they are not playable). Then comes the Duke, who oversees a collection of counties, with counts as his vassals if he wishes to delegate portions of his land to those bellow him in the hierarchy. Next in line is the King, who oversees entire kingdoms and has dukes, counts, and all kinds of other nobles under him as vassals. On top of the food chain is the title of Emperor. Initially there are only two people in Europe who can hold this title, the rulers of the Holy Roman Empire and the Byzantine Empire. Later, if you are very successful, you might be able to create your own empire.

In order to gain these titles, you will need to employ the expertise of your brightest subjects as court advisers, the might of your armies, and carefully planned political machinations all over Europe. There are no formal diplomatic agreements like alliances or non-aggression pacts, it’s all about building up close ties with other families in order to ensure their allegiance. You can send your daughter to marry the prince of Hungary in order to secure their allegiance, for example. Of course, this also carries the risk that somewhere down the line a pretender might come out of the web of the feudal system, claiming they have the right to certain lands in your kingdom. They may even lay claim to your throne and convince a powerful ruler to back them. Every decision has a consequence, and all this, coupled with the random events that happen regularly makes for a very entertaining game that throws surprises at the player like there’s no tomorrow.

Since the goal of the game is to guide a dynasty through the dark times of the Middle Ages, it is inevitable that the head of the family will eventually die. This is where building your family comes in. Depending on the succession laws in your realm, you might be in trouble if you leave no suitable heir behind. It is also worth keeping in mind that a lot of kids might not be the best idea either. The tykes are a treacherous bunch. If you rule over a land that is governed by the succession law where only the oldest son inherits (Primogeniture), your first born might prematurely end up decorating the pond of the castle garden. Or if you have the so called gavelkind inheritance, all kids take their share equally from your owned lands, fracturing the kingdom and plunging it into a decade long civil war between brothers. Not to mention pretenders….

Plan your inbreeding carefully, or you might end up with webbed feet.

Since the game is so based around individual characters, there has to be ways to make them unique. And in this respect, CK2 also shines. First of all, there is a rudimentary gene system in place that will ensure that kids resemble their parents. Your son might have inherited your hooknose, but at least he has his mother’s eyes. Besides this, there is also a very detailed trait system in place that will give a complete picture about an individual’s personality. There is always a main trait that basically determines the “class” or education of the person. There are 5 of these, soldier, diplomat, spy, steward or theologian. Each of these have 4 levels, which determines the base competence in the field. A soldier can range from a ‘Misguided Warrior’ to ‘Brilliant Strategist’, or a spy can be an ‘Amateurish Plotter’ on the low end and an ‘Elusive Shadow’ at best. These are determined by the formal education the character receives as a child and by the teacher’s competence in the field. So, if you want to make sure your daughter becomes a masterful negotiator, you might want to consider sending her to her aunt who happens to be quite an accomplished diplomat herself.

Besides these “classes”, that give certain bonuses to skills as soon as the kid comes of age, there are a myriad of other traits that govern the personality of the individual. One may be a coward, receiving a penalty to the martial skill (prowess in battle situations). Or he may be Trusting, which evidently lowers his Intrigue skill, making him more vulnerable to assassinations, but also gives a bit of an edge in diplomacy. These traits not only give bonuses and penalties to certain skills, but also determine how other people regard the character. If one is ambitious, he will hate his direct liege for being a hindrance to his plans for greatness. Or if someone is a zealous believer, he will have a very negative opinion about others who see the world with a more cynical eye, and vice versa. There are also temporary illnesses, permanent wounds, or even debilitating injuries that will render a character unfit for ruling, thus requiring a regent to govern on his behalf.

The game features 3 basic resources you need to manage. The first is the obvious, Money. You will use this the most often, as you’ll need this to fund your armies, build extensions to your various settlements, send gifts to other characters, or pay for annual feasts, summer fairs, or one of the expensive grand tournaments that will surely give adequate distractions for your subjects. The next important resource is Prestige, which measures your overall success. You will spend this one less often (barely ever to be more precise) and thus can build up to great amounts over time. But that is a doubly good thing. Other rulers as well as your vassals will regard lot of prestige as an inspiration and will have a better opinion of you. The other positive aspect of it is the amount of score your dynasty will receive upon your death. The game measures how successful a dynasty is through this scoring system, and every ruler of your family will contribute towards this number. The last of the resources is Piety which shows how religious you are. This is a bit more often used than prestige, mainly for religious and cultural actions, like asking the pope to excommunicate one of your rivals, or requesting a divorce from your wife. Like with prestige, the more you have the better, as religious leaders will think better of you as a result. Also, just like the previous resource, the number you have upon your death will also contribute towards your dynasty score.

Is there an option to execute your court jesters?

But what about the game’s namesake, the infamous crusades? Besides Europe, we can also find the coast of North Africa and the Middle East on the map. These areas are the domain of the Muslim caliphates, sultanates, sheikdoms, and emirates. The pope in Rome will announce a crusade to claim certain areas for the church from time to time. During these periods, independent rulers in the Catholic world can declare a crusade-war on the owner of those lands and join the campaign. If you do so, and successfully ship your armies to lay siege to the lands in question, the pope will be most pleased (not to mention the Crusader trait the participants receive).

The combat follows the traditional Paradox formula. There is no tactical view of the battlefield and you cannot control each individual unit. All battles are determined by the number of soldiers on each side, the competence of the generals, the kind of land the battle is fought on, the distribution of the types of troops, how well fortified the enemy or friendly keep is, and of course a bit of luck. Besides the troops your own fiefdom and what your vassals provide you with, you can also call upon the aid of mercenary bands, and in the case of holy wars, certain warrior monk orders, like the Knights Templar, the Knights Hospitaller or the Teutonic Order. These powerful (and numerous) religious knights will happily defend your kingdom against the armies of other faiths, but will ask for a very hefty sum each month if you use them to attack, and will outright refuse to fight against other Christians.

As you can see, the gameplay is very complex. Thousands, or even tens of thousands of unique characters with all their ambitions, dozens of kingdoms, and other independent nations all maneuvering in the complex web of feudal intricacies, trying to get out on top. And most of them are doomed to obscurity, while a select few can build a lasting legacy.

To close out this review, I should also mention the other aspects that make a game. Without question, this is the best looking Paradox grand strategy to date. Of course, don’t expect a Total War level of detail, but the landscape is pleasant to look at, and the soldier models representing the armies all wear the coat of arms of their liege on their armor and shield.

Little known history fact: people were giants in the middle ages.

The user interface is as good as it can be, given the depth of the game and the amount of details you need to pay attention to. You get the most important news on the top of the screen in the form of small mosaic icons, letting you know if you need to find yourself a wife, if upon succession any of your lands would be passed on to someone who is not a member of your realm, or if you have someone you can imprison justly without becoming a tyrant in the eyes of your subjects (like if they plot to kill your son to get ahead in the chain or heredity). You can set what kind of messages you want to receive and about who, all the information windows contain the necessary information you need to know in order to plan your next move, etc. Of course the amount of data the game throws at you will seem overwhelming at first, but there is a surprisingly in-depth tutorial in the game that explains all the things you need to know to succeed.

Where the game also shines besides gameplay is the music. We already expect a grandiose soundtrack from Paradox, and they don’t disappoint. Orchestral scores, church choir, all mixed in with traditional medieval music, resulting in a pleasant listening experience. There’s even a song that features lute, flute, drums and a vocalist who I could best describe as a “minstrel”, singing In Taberna Quando Sumus.

In conclusion, I would recommend that fans of the genre should buy this absolute gem. I could go on for a while about stories that emerged from the gameplay over several generations. Even if you only had a passing relationship with these kinds of grand strategy games, I would still recommend trying out the demo at least to see if this is worth buying or not. If you never liked the Paradox strategies, this will most likely not change your mind, but the sufficiently different gameplay (compared to their other titles) just might be enough to have a few hours of enjoyment. It’s a niche game, but in that niche, it’s absolutely phenomenal.

Crusader Kings II Community Review

By BT Community

BT user Hmuda brings us a review of Paradox Interactive's historical strategy game.