I’m still very early into my obsession with this incredible game. The gameplay is so simple, it’s not the prettiest game to look at, and it’s a huge time commitment, so why has this game from Paradox Interactive just completely take over my life? This led me down a long road of trying to understand this, and I think I’ve finally come to a conclusion.

Crusader Kings 3 is a game by storytellers to storytellers. Now, what exactly do I mean by this? The game isn’t designed to be a war game, a monarch simulator, or 4x game where your goal is to paint the map your color. No, this game is about creating and telling stories set within the courts of Kings and Emperors, Dukes and Duchesses, and Counts and Barons. It’s almost like the developers decided to combine a sandbox medieval world and the best mechanics of what makes a RPG so great.

Your story starts out with a unique created character that could rival any RPG you could think of on the market. You then choose which realms you want to rule, from a tiny county, all the way up to the Kingdoms we’ve all read about in history class. Then, as soon as you press unpause, your story begins and is influenced by every single decision you make.

My first playthrough

In my first run (which I’m still playing through athe the time of this release) I created a humble Earl in the County of Dorest in service to the King of England. Well, silly me, I started in the year 1066 in southern England, and any lover of history knows what a terrible time this was to be in England for anybody. Yeah, the normans invaded and completely slaughtered the King’s forces. In no time William the Conquerer was on the English throne, threatening me with war if I didn’t declare my allegiance to him.

Oh, I totally did.

His reign didn’t last too long before he was usurped, and a line of kings came and went. While they were playing Game of Thrones, I was slowly building up the economy of my home county, becoming an economic powerhouse. Little by little I pressed my claims for the surrounding regions, quickly acquiring several counties and eventually consolidated my territory under a new Duke title putting me amongst the elite in England. Shortly after that the English throne was passed to a child and I was selected to become his regent. Somehow during this time the succession laws were changed to where the throne is past based on an election, but before those elections would take place, my starting character passed away from a successful life.

My starting character’s son then inherited all of his titles and took his rightful place as an English elite after learning everything from his father. This is the crazy part of his life, very shortly after taking his father’s titles, he was elected freaking King of England at the age of 23. I was so surprised by this, because taking the throne at such a young age set him up to become one of the greatest monarchs in English history. And I was right. Not only did he have a long, prosperous reign, but he also established the Kingdom of Wales under the banner of England making himself King of England and Wales. After a long successful life he passed away peacefully, dividing the realm amongst his three sons as in accordance to English law. This is where things get hectic.

When his son (the grandson of my starting character) took the throne, the realm immediately fractured. His brother took the title of King of Wales, making it an independent realm outside of English influence. On top of that, many of his father’s vassals weren’t too happy with the transfer of power, and created various factions to claim the English throne for themselves. Wanting to show strength, he declared war on his brother to bring the two crowns back together to legitimize his authority as rightful ruler. It was a long and bloody war with his rebellious vassals siding with the King of Wales, and eventually led to him being captured and forced to step down from the throne. The title of King of England then past to his younger brother, and the remainder of his titles were stripped away, leaving him only his home county of Dorset. A King was reduced to a mere minor lord. Unable to live any longer, he ended his life leaving a tarnished legacy.

His son took the title of Earl of Dorset, and has since worked his way back to his family’s former prosperous position in England. He served the King from a distance, but never opposed him too often. Then, the unthinkable happened. An invasion from the Kingdom of Scotland sent the realm into a frenzy, leading to several rebellious factions in England to turn their backs on the King and join the Scots to dispose of him. The King loses and in imprisoned by the leader of the rebellion who now sits on the throne, however, it’s not as bleak for my character’s family as it would seem. While the rebellion was focused in England, the Scots were also waging far separately in the Kingdom of Wales, and since it was his uncle who sat on the Welsh throne, my character had a prime claim to it. This was a very rare opportunity, and my character took it. He joined the Scots in Wales, and defeated his uncle to become the new King of Wales.

See, this story is something straight out of the pages of a Game of Thrones novel. All of these events are chronicled in the game’s lore for the entire playthrough, building on a family’s triumphs and tragedies. My current character’s father died in disgrace, but he wouldn’t accept the same fate and ultimately restored honor to his family’s name by claiming the Crown of Wales.

Crusader Kings 3 is nothing short of a masterpiece of sandbox storytelling, and I know this is a game that will NEVER be uninstalled from my PS5.

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