Guess what? There’s a big sale on Steam right now. For those of you who are not familiar, Steam is an online marketplace for DRM-free games, and it has some unbelievable sales right around this time of the year. So I feel compelled to do some more mini-reviews of PC games, to better guide friends and canny bargain-hunters this holiday season. In particular, I’ll be focusing on two of my all-time favorite strategy games, Crusader Kings II, and Europa Universalis IV. These games are some of the flagship titles of Paradox Interactive, a Swedish group of developers and publishers who are devoted to making deep, complex, interesting games, the kind that you can devote hours and hours to playing. But I realized something as I looked over the Steam page for both of them: there’s so much downloadable content, that even on sale at 75% off, they’re a bit pricey. So not only will I be addressing the worth of the base games, but I’ll touch on each DLC, and let you know which ones really enhance the experience.
Crusader Kings 2
Crusader Kings II is a grand strategy game set in the Early to Late Middle Ages (the base game covers 1066 to 1453). Unlike most strategy games, you play the head of a dynasty with medieval holdings, anywhere from a small county to a huge empire. You play out your initial characters remaining lifespan, and then move on to their descendants. I picked up CK2 a few years ago around this time, because I was intrigued by the mix of strategy and role-playing elements. My first attempts at learning the game were… frustrating. It seemed really slow and the mechanics were totally obtuse. But I stuck with it, and once I adapted to the pacing and learned the rules, I was completely addicted. Here are some general tips for those who are thinking of trying this game out –
- Accept the pacing– Sometimes you have to wait for things to play out: your kids won’t come of age until their 16th birthdays, that peace treaty won’t expire for another 5 years, my character just won’t die, etc. Play the game on the fastest setting, and familiarize yourself with the different characters and countries who live around you, and it’ll feel a lot faster.
- Start with Ireland – That little island where my ancestors came from is a good place for beginners. It’s isolated, safe, and sort of its own little microcosm with almost every county being ruled independently. If you only have one county to start with, the game might feel even more slow, but just save up your resources for mercenaries, and things will start happening quickly. Good goals for an Irish game are to create the a-historical Kingdom of Ireland, and maybe even dominate the British Isles.
- Accept and Enjoy Failures – This game has a tendency to generate wonderfully random and ridiculous stories, and a lot of these rise out of failure. I don’t mean the kind of failure where you lose a battle, and thus your entire kingdom (I find that kind of failure stressful). More the failure to grasp the subtler points of mechanics. My first game took place in Ireland. By the end I had really screwed Ireland up, and I didn’t really understand how or why, but it was awesome. My ruling dynasty was Norwegian-East African, half the island had converted to Greek Orthodoxy, and as a result I had a dozen factions forming that were divided on ethnic and religious lines. I also inherited about half of Spain at one point, don’t remember why, but I gave it up to my vassals.
So it’s a crazy game, and if you give it a chance, you’ll love it like no other. Now I’ll go over the DLC, because unless you have cash to burn, you don’t really need all of it. I’ll give each expansion a rating based on one-to-three stars. One (*)means skip it, two (**) means buy it if you don’t mind spending the money, and three (***) means it’s necessary for full enjoyment of the game.
- Sword of Islam (**) – This is the Muslim expansion for the game. It opens up more than half the map for choosing characters, and it adds a ton of options for playing Muslims. It’s a good expansion, but it doesn’t really affect the game outside of the Muslim sphere, so if you’re not interested in playing those characters, skip it.
- Legacy of Rome (***) – The Byzantine Empire expansion. This one wins three stars because of all the great features that enhance the base game. Retinues are a standing army that you can build up over the course of the game, very useful. The Faction System makes for more intrigue and plotting, always fun for everyone. Also, the Byzantine features are pretty sweet.
- The Republic (*) – Play or create merchant republics, a la Venice or Pisa. This one just isn’t that great, the mechanics for a republic are not as much fun, and there isn’t really anything added outside of the republican play-through.
- Sunset Invasion (*) – Adds a big event in which the east coast of Europe gets invaded by the Aztecs. I would skip this one, it’s pretty lame, and it makes playing Ireland a lot more frustrating (guess where the Aztecs land first).
- The Old Gods (***) – A huge expansion that extends the timeline back to 867 AD, adding nearly another 200 years to a play-through. This is the best DLC, hands-down, and the reason that a lot of my friends have gotten hooked on the game. It’s the vikings, they’re too much fun. You can raid, get wrapped up in tribal feuds, and sacrifice enemies to Odin (including the Pope, if you’re lucky). It also opens up other pagan groups for play, and the remnants of the Zoroastrian faith hiding out in Central Asia. Don’t miss this one.
- Sons of Abraham (**) – Adds a bunch of options for the Abrahamic religions, and introduces Jewish characters to the game. I really liked this one for the opportunity to play the Jewish Khazars, and the chance to create a medieval Kingdom of Israel (this was my favorite play-through). Still, it’s not essential by any means.
- Rajas of India (**) – This one is kind of like Sword of Islam, but bigger. It opens up the Indian subcontinent, and allows you to play Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain dynasties. I didn’t find it to be mind-blowing, and is very India-focused.
- Charlemagne (**) – Another giant DLC in the fashion of the Old Gods. It pushes the start date back roughly another 100 years to 769. It’s not quite as good as Old Gods, the time period is less interesting, and there aren’t as many new mechanics overall. An extra 100 years of gameplay might seem tempting, but trust me, the basic 400 years is plenty.
- Way of Life (***) – This one gets 3 stars because it’s cheap, and fun. It adds some new lifestyle mechanics where you can have a “focus,” which means your character can pursue personal projects, seduce people, fight duels, and so on. It makes the slower parts of the game less slow, so that can only be a good thing.
- The Horse Lords – I haven’t tried it yet! This one is about steppe nomads (the mongols for example). It adds a lot of new mechanics, expands the map, and you can try to control the Silk Road! It’s gotten great reviews, but it’s also not on sale, due to its recent release date.
Okay! I guess EUIV will have to wait for another post. In summary for CK2, the only expansions you really need, if you’re buying any at all, are Legacy of Rome, the Old Gods, and Way of Life. The Horse Lords looks good, but I plan to wait until the Spring when it will likely be on sale.
Image by Carlos ZGZ, no known copyright restrictions
Castle Mordrigault 