You could call Crusader Kings 3 a big strategy game with role-playing bits, much like calling Dwarf Fortress a game where you build a little town. That’s not wrong, but it doesn’t quite capture what makes these games so special. They are huge playgrounds where you can create your own unique stories, from small personal tales to epic battles involving whole countries.
To keep with the idea of a playground, all these stories need room to grow, the right tools, and materials. Usually, these playgrounds get bigger piece by piece: a new toy here, some dirt there, and maybe a little pond. Well, Crusader Kings 3: All Under Heaven basically doubles the building space with fresh sand and gives you a whole bunch of new tools, all in one great package.
It’s hard to overstate just how big this new part of the game is. Before, the map stopped around the western edges of China’s influence. Now, ‘All Under Heaven’ pushes the edge of the world all the way to the Pacific Ocean. It adds all of China, the huge plains of Mongolia and Siberia, Korea, Japan, and all the islands in Southeast Asia.
They didn’t split the map into separate sections like in some other games. It’s all one giant world, and you can travel from one side to the other without any loading screens. This brings up a common worry: how well does the game run? I’m using a very powerful computer, and for the most part, the game ran fine on medium to fast speeds. Things got a bit shaky on the fastest speed, with the game sometimes freezing. Did I run into problems? Yes. Some of my saved games even became unplayable due to glitches that were fixed before the game was released. There were also small mistakes in the text and explanations for some game features. It felt like some of the new parts didn’t quite work right with older game abilities. This is pretty typical for new additions to Crusader Kings 3, but it wasn’t as bad as some people feared. Keep in mind, though, my computer is top-of-the-line, so your experience might be different.
The game makers clearly tried to make the new areas look different from the old ones. They used different colors, added rice fields, and put cherry blossom trees around towns. But it feels like they couldn’t go all the way with it. For example, a big festival in Japan doesn’t have its own special buildings, and you don’t see the tall, pointy mountains you might expect in China. So, while it looks nice, it could have had even more unique style. The music, however, is great.
If you were worried that the way Crusader Kings 3 plays wouldn’t fit well with East Asia, you can relax. In fact, if you enjoy clever planning and sneaky tricks, the two big empires in the area – China and Japan – might be even more interesting than what Europe has to offer.
In Japan, politics often revolves around groups of families with similar goals. During special events called Festivals, you’ll try to get families to join your side or turn them against their friends. But these groups can fall apart if the families start fighting or have different ideas, so you need to be good at talking and making deals.
Japan gives players interesting choices. You can try to gain power by working within the government system, or you can try to overthrow the current leaders and take control by force. Sometimes, this takeover can even happen without any fighting. In one case, when my group was strong enough to challenge the current leader, he gave up his position without a fight. The emperor in Japan is mostly just a figurehead, so he doesn’t have much real power.
Honestly, the leaders should have dealt with my family much earlier when I decided the land I was given was mine and started taking over my neighbors. But because I was always very nice to the leader, there were outside threats, and other families were working against the main government, they never dared to move against me. After I took over, my ruler, who was strangely nicknamed ‘the Kind’ even though she let one of her own children starve to death in a dungeon, was respected enough to declare herself Shogun. This was the ultimate success for her family’s efforts. And the emperor could still dress up as the emperor, which was fine.
Politics in China is a completely different matter. While Japan mixes old ways of ruling with newer ones, China’s government style is like the newer style but much more intense. Only the ruling family gets to pass down land. For everyone else, you have to go to school, pass tests, get favors from important people, and then you might get a job where you can work your way up, giving your children a better chance later. That is, unless they die in a flood, which can happen now.
Similar to the administrative government style, almost everyone in China is without land, except for the main ruling family’s estate. Land, like counties, duchies, and kingdoms, is given out only by appointment. You can even be appointed to lead an empire, but without owning land. These are like the main government departments, serving the Emperor. They have powerful abilities, like taking money from others, starting big building projects, or controlling the emperor like a puppet if you are the Grand Chancellor.
While money and influence help you get jobs and appointments in the Byzantine Empire, in China, the main thing you need is called ‘Merit.’ The more Merit you earn by doing a good job managing land, joining events, and so on, the higher your Merit Rank becomes. This unlocks better job opportunities. Whether you choose a path in the army or in government, this gives you a clear goal to work towards in what could otherwise be a very confusing system for players. Unlike in Japan, there’s not much room to go against the rules.
This is also very refreshing. In Europe, my games usually end with me trying to bring back the Roman Empire, so I end up fighting a lot. As I move up the ranks in China’s government, I’ve spent hours without fighting a single battle. It’s all about smart talk during exams, witty arguments in debates, and the occasional plot to get rid of someone. The most powerful person in China ended up being an old, frail scholar who was very wise… while also secretly planning with other officials to remove the emperor. But that’s a common story for a reason. This scholar even made me his top advisor, giving me extra money to work with, and he was one of my students.
China’s fate is closely tied to a system called the Dynastic Cycle, which shows how ruling families rise and fall over the centuries. Some times are peaceful and stable, making it easier for the main government to control its large territory. But every bad decision, every attempt to weaken a local leader for personal gain, every insult to the emperor slowly pushes the empire towards a new period – a time of confusion and rebellion… and a chance for trouble from both inside and outside. I’ve seen China break into smaller kingdoms, then come back together under a new ruling family, and repeat the cycle, but this time losing land to outside forces.
In my game where I became Shogun, I started taking over smaller areas on China’s coast. This brought me into the Dynastic Cycle system as an outsider. The next time China gets weak, I might be able to take over and claim the Emperor’s Mandate for myself. Keeping the parts of the empire I took is another challenge, though, because a united China is a very strong enemy.
The Dynastic Cycle is by far the best new system Paradox has added to Crusader Kings 3. There are clear goals to work towards depending on what you want to achieve. Even a leader who isn’t very powerful yet can start making changes and work their way up to lead one of the political movements within the cycle.
Imagine a lone Japanese warrior who becomes Shogun through skill and charm, or plotting the fall of a dynasty as China’s Grand Chancellor, or even becoming a god-like ruler in the jungles of Angkor. ‘All Under Heaven’ would be a great addition on its own, appealing to fans of games like Shogun and Three Kingdoms. But when added to Crusader Kings 3, it’s like a powerful boost. What if that lone warrior traveled west along the Silk Road? What if you wanted to be like Marco Polo? How about trying to take over the world as a nomad, starting by dealing with China? Could you defeat Genghis Khan by forming an alliance between the Holy Roman Empire and the Emperor of China?
When all the different parts of the game start to connect, you feel more than ever like you’re part of a real, living world. This world can create truly exciting stories where you can play any role you want.
