Crusader Kings 3’s new DLC is an essential strategy add-on
Greetings from Gawry, I, King Malcolm III of Scotland, have ruled over the Scone Stone for the past ten years. Of course we were constantly attacked by Norwegian raiders and I was fighting Karaldr Gudrosson and the best clothes on the whole island. Get yourself home, admire the tattered battle flags on the walls, and learn about the Royal Court, the new major expansion pack for the feudal grand strategy game Crusader Kings III.
This DLC has been around for a long time, and it’s not hard to see why. Not only does the Royal Court provide a nesting dollhouse for your medieval nobles and courtiers to stand in, though the new vibrant throne room is delightful. The expansion also overhauls Crusader Kings III’s culture system, offering a wealth of new considerations for how to settle or form alliances in new lands.
Starting with King Malcolm, I can see the new Royal Court screen right away – it locks down characters below the kingdom level. The Throne Room is where I can see the characters in my court, listen to petitioners, and perhaps most importantly, find new opportunities to manage my ruler’s stress levels.
The Royal Court – which you can buy here, coincidentally – brought culture to the fore, and I feel like I’ve only scratched the surface of how it refreshes the approach to the game here.
Crusader Kings 3: The Royal Court Crusader Kings 3: The Royal Court Fanatical $29.99 Buy Now Network N Earn affiliate commissions on qualifying sales.
In another beginning, I played the leader of a group of landless Normans who set up shop on the southern tip of the Italian peninsula. My success in building the Sicilian kingdom depends on me getting my people to embrace new language and cultural traditions – I want us to adopt a new Sicilian identity, and many of my decisions in court will affect how my people feel about the concept. Another option is to form a hybrid culture that draws linguistic and legal traditions from Norman and local Sicilian customs.
Then there’s the new artifact system. Banners, tapestries, weapons, furniture – these can all be displayed in your court, and some can also be given to characters as equipment. I brought out special heirloom toys for my kids during sieges that produced a surprising array of effects, and the prized family axes and swords made my commanders more lethal in battle. Replacing my Universal Throne with the Stone of Scone increases my monthly reputation and reputation gain, strengthens my domain limits, and increases my reputation with Scots and Gaelics in my domain.
The court screen is a lovely nexus of the Crusader Kings cosplay layer
If you don’t raze towns and loot monasteries often, you can always hire artisans or sponsored adventurers to craft artifacts for you. These have their own decision chains to navigate, and more than once I’ve been taken for a ride by a “inspired” guy who claims there’s a line on some priceless gadget that I can be in my lobby.
Some aspects of the course feel a little too obvious, like how spending extra gold on meal quality or court attire boosts your relative grandiosity score while offering marginal bonuses for your field. This makes it look less like a dynamic kingdom leadership hub and more like a video game currency exchange where I just trade one type of points for another.
However, I’m glad that each new level of grandeur comes with its own new events, like the courtiers chattering to each other as we serve them fresh quail. I brought Malcolm into the conversation and called for more food and drink – he needed some stress relief after mourning the death of his second son.
Some aspects of the pitch feel a little too obvious
That makes those video game sliders easily forgiven. The court screen is a lovely nexus of Crusader Kings III RPG layers, and I hardly mind some odd abstractions and sliders like the grand numbered “levels” of the court. The overall effect is that it provides a tangible sense of place and context for my royal drama. Watching characters I only see in menus and dialogue show up as you preside over the court, stand where I assign them or kneel as petitioners, in a new and very pleasing way for the Crusader King III Laying the groundwork.
Just having that place appear and represent it contributes to the narrative content that is already present in the core game. Now, when I meet two courtiers chatting in the garden, it feels like I know where that is—probably on the right, I think. When I was approached because someone had discovered a secret in the hallway, I felt like I was upstairs near the Royal Apartments. Just being able to watch my rulers sit on their thrones and tap their subjects’ fingers as they defend their cases makes them feel more real.
The way all of this is plugged into the rest of the game makes it feel like a major addition, and a bit odd as far as Paradox DLC goes. At $29.99/£23.79, it’s well above the more focused add-ons the company makes for Crusader Kings II. But unlike these combos, Royal Court isn’t aimed at a small group of players — it’ll enrich any playstyle.
After finishing our Crusader Kings III review, I almost put the game on hold to wait for the DLC to start appearing. In the end the wait was longer than I expected, but I’m excited to be back at the Royal Court. I’m eager to see how different cultures manifest in their thrones, and even go back to the beginnings I’ve played before, just to relive them on these lovely stages.
Crusader Kings III: Royal Court Crusader Kings III: Royal Court Fanatical $29.99 Buy Now Network N Earn affiliate commissions on qualifying sales.
Check more articles in our categories Gaming & News et Anime.
Thanks for visiting we hope our article Crusader Kings 3’s new DLC is an essential strategy add-on
, we invite you to share the article on Facebook, instagram and e-mail with the hashtag ☑️ #Crusader #Kings #DLC #essential #strategy #addon ☑️!
