On February 8th, the folks at Paradox Interactive released the first expansion for Crusader Kings 3. As an already solid real-time grand-strategy game, ‘Royal Court’ gives players a slew of new features, decisions, events, and upgrades to complement the base game. Of course, at the forefront of this DLC is the Royal Court itself. A virtual throne room for the rulers of any Kingdom and Empire, the Royal Court is where you will hold court for your subjects, store all your new artifacts, see your courtiers and manage all your newfound grandeur. While this is all some exciting stuff, is the DLC actually worth picking up?

Gameplay

With the addition of the Royal Court, Paradox has knocked the game on its head. There are some rare moments where Crusader Kings 3 can feel like a ‘wait until an event happens’ sort of game. However, adding this new layer to realm management has had me too engrossed to notice any of those moments. In fact, I find myself pausing the game more to consider so many severe and consequential decisions. Do I go to war for the land of a petitioning noble, expanding my territory but destabilizing the peace? Should I accept a different culture into my empire? Which of my banners should I hang up? All of these decisions and a multitude more are now pressing on your character as they try to rule successfully and set their dynasty up for greatness.

Artifacts, items that can provide boosts or other benefits, must be placed throughout the court and on your character. In your court, you will find guests and courtiers with ‘inspirations' you can fund in exchange for artifacts of varying quality. Adventurers will travel to distant lands and report the progress of their search while craftspeople will bother you for new materials or inspiration. Whether a book, a spear, or an interesting rock from some random place, each of these artifacts will impress those who visit your court and bring up its rank. Having a lavish court with many artifacts is important to stay relevant in the middle ages!

That lavishness doesn’t end at the items you have on display. The type of court, number of servants, level of style, and even the language spoken in the court can increase its grandeur. The grandeur of your court will affect the quality of guests that visit, meaning you will have an influx of skilled people to be potential vassals and knights. Depending on the language you and your court speak, you will have different amounts of respect from people who speak it or not. In your court, you may assign roles to those courtiers who would otherwise just stand around. Each role will have different effects and costs. A court jester will relieve you of some stress, a food taster will protect you from poison, and a multitude of other court positions have different positives and prices. Yes, make sure you pay your food taster, they’re quite important.

However, the royal court itself is just the titular upgrade that is included in the DLC. A better dueling mechanic, a new coat of arms editor, and an inventory system also arrive as part of the free update that came for the base game. While these features are fun and add to the game, revamped cultures take the spotlight of the free portion of the DLC.

With the ability to completely redesign your cultures by merging them with others or diverging from their original ways, you will find so many more interesting and hilarious combinations to truly create your dream culture. For me, it was a tale of a Norse Viking in Burma that not only created a Kingdom but also melded Burmese and Norse's cultures into… Burmo-Norse. While keeping the longboats of my Viking youth, I adopted the temples and elephant soldiers of the Burmese. With the people of my kingdom at ease with the other cultures around us, it made it that much easier to conquer my little corner of the world.

The new gameplay blends directly into the tried and true formula of the Crusader Kings franchise, and playing without it at this point would feel much less immersive and enjoyable. Little did I know all I was missing my whole life was a throne room!

Audio and Visual

Crusader Kings 3 is the first game in the series to feature fully 3D characters, and this DLC highlights that splendidly. Being able to see your ruler on the throne with their partner next to them was a fantastic experience, and the rest of the court looked vibrant. Unfortunately, locked camera angles and a lack of certain graphical features did detract from that wonder. Only around 15 of your court will be on display at any time, and when you hold court and answer petitions it all looks the same, just with different people. While this isn’t necessarily a negative, it would be nice to have some more variety.

Replayability

This series is one that people spend thousands of hours playing. The medieval sandbox is organic and no two playthroughs are the same. There is plenty of replayability in the base game, and ‘Royal Court’ only increases the longevity. While there aren’t thousands of new events, the dozens that were added bring some more variety. If you have ever played one of Paradox’s titles, you’ll understand how open this game can be, and how it is really up to the player on how long they can be entertained by it.

What It Could Have Done Better

I really don’t have any issues with this DLC. For the first major expansion, it is surprisingly strong and I would argue it is one of my favorite Paradox DLCs for the last few years. There were quite a few upgrades to the base game that I believe are now ingrained in the game, and I wouldn’t be able to play it without those additions. It’s therefore unfortunate that the DLC is priced at $29.99, which is more than half the price of the full game. While I love the additions they made, and have very little negative to say about this DLC, that is quite a high price for any DLC.

Verdict

Crusader Kings 3: Royal Court is a truly great expansion and I think every player should have it. The depth of gameplay, the untold stories, and the excitement that is found throughout this new content will have me recommending it to anyone who enjoys the game. However, a few visual issues and an over-inflated price mar a perfect DLC. So definitely pick it up, but maybe wait for a sale.

Crusader Kings 3: Royal Court is out now on PC platforms Steam, Paradox Store, and Microsoft Store as well as available on Game Pass for members. It will release on console later this year.