When you initially look at Crusader Kings 2 you will
think of the classics, such as Defender of the Crown or Lords of the Realm. And while these games were good at depicting the basic elements of running a kingdom for their day, Crusader Kings 2 takes it to a whole new level. Within the first fifteen minutes of game play, you’ll realize one of two things: You’re in over your head and you’ll need to spend some time reading the tutorials or it will be love at first sight. Vast is the only word that can adequately describe the tutorials and hints available to Crusader Kings 2 and I can easily see that even veterans of the original will be constantly turning to the encyclopedia of information available.
Paradox Interactive has gone to great lengths to make information in the game accessible. Some of the main characters in the game will even link back to Wiki pages when you examine their character profile! The game attempts to remain historically accurate in every way...right up to the point where you take hold of your mouse and start to rewrite history.
And make no mistake in that you are rewriting history in this game. I actually found writing this difficult because of the sheer size and scope of Crusader Kings 2. The game is absolutely huge in its presentation. The one thing you can expect to not do is to jump in and start invading other countries. There are a multitude of diplomatic “rules” that must be met before you can just walk in and start bashing your way to world domination. One of these is called casus belli, which in Latin is literally “case of war.” This means you have to have a reason for declaring war. If you do not have one, you can’t invade. Historically, I don’t remember any of the kings involved in this game ever really needing a reason to do anything, but it isn’t really that difficult to manipulate things into your favor to come up with one. The other rule, that I found to be quite well thought out, was that you cannot invade a country if you have a betrothal to that country. This makes a lot of sense since it is simply bad form to trash your in-law’s home!
