I love CK2 but I am two expansions behind on schedule. Not that impressed with this feature list though or am I missing something? Is this a 10€ dlc?
I highly recommend the last two expansions when you want to get back into it, it changed up and improved the game so much after it got stale around the time of Conclave. With Reaper's Due and Monks and Mystics you can see PDS really finding its new footing with the Crusader Kings series with where it wants to take it by combining RPG elements and grand strategy, I think we'll see this with a bigger focus in CK3. The RPG elements initially with CK2 came by as a result of the sandbox nature of CK2's grand strategy design, now they are trying to take a more conscious effort in design by adding more RPG elements in combination with grand strategy that suits CK franchise well.
For example the artifact system, now you as the ruler and your family can own things like a special weapon that can be passed down the generations (you can lose it) which gives bonuses, you can loot them from kings you are in a feud with in a war, there are religious ones too. It's things like that in terms of making conscious RPG design choices that is making the game refreshing.
Henrik Fåhraeus also at PDXCon this year said they are working on CK3 and Paradox only really does sequels to its grand strategies when they can come up with major new design warranting a new iteration and I think these last two expansions have given us a taste of where they will be improving the CK franchise with in the next installment.
I finally tried my first Paradox game - Stellaris with all the DLC - and quite enjoyed it.
It did come off a little... formulaic? I guess it seemed to hug the 4X vibes closely.
How is CK2 with that in mind? I always wanted to play it. Also, what DLC do you recommend?
I just sold a bunch of PUBG clothes & the game is on sale so I'm all in.
Even though I like Stellaris it is by far their weakest strategy game and yes it can be formulaic. In fact one of the reasons that their other games are difficult for many is because they're not formulaic, Stellaris is a 4x game for the most part just like Civilization which are formulaic, fun games, but just like Civilization there's too much of a pattern. Their other games are grand strategy, which involves tons of mechanics and planning and strategising for things long-term which is also why it has robust and in-depth diplomacy mechanics to assist, they are not just simple conquest games, and you can even conquer things in CK2 without going to war. Grand strategy is asymmetric, meaning if you play a game like Europa Universalis IV then yes the Ottomans are going to be incredibly powerful early on just like in history and yes maybe if you are playing the Mamluks you are not near as powerful as Ottomans, but this is where its deep diplomacy mechanics come into play so that you can with the aid of others deal with greater powers.
That's the case with CK2, the game is also completely asymmetric. It also has tons of diplomacy features that you don't find in 4x games, i.e you can't just declare war because you want war, you need to get a casus belli (a justification for war) and how you do this can be achieved in many ways, sometimes purposefully, sometimes arising accidentally that use as an opportunity. You can play as a count, duke, or king, meaning that if you play as something below king then it's much tougher since you are a vassal and have an allegiance to your king, but can be very interesting if you want to place yourself on the throne...
This means that there is tons of internal conflict in kingdoms themselves, sometimes visible... sometimes in the shadows with secret plots, since you and other AI can try to place themselves on the throne too. Again if you play as king it's not necessarily easier either since you have to contend with all of that too. The reason is that you don't really "own" all of the land per se, you have to pass it off over for administration which are your vassals, your vassals can rebel against you and can gather support. The game has tons of mechanics to contend with this such as espionage.
You can look at all the diplomatic mechanics alone here:
https://ck2.paradoxwikis.com/Diplomatic_actions
Remember that there are things like laws and the council, as well as council positions you have to contend with who gets to be on it, changing up the politics and policies in your realm can have major impacts within but also geopolitically.
Also the game all revolves around titles, you need to have claims to titles, how you get those claims can be achieved in many ways, again because it's a grand strategy there is no simple "I want war, I want this", you need to interact with a lot of mechanics to achieve things like that, such as through marriages, espionage, etc.
And of course the "grand goal" is to have your dynasty to last through all the centuries to the end, so you play as the head of your dynasty, and then they die, then you continue playing as its heir like your son or daughter, etc, and all of them continue with the same history and consequences from say what maybe happened 150 years prior. Your characters have tons of attributes and traits that affect it, so you can land up with a son that could be infertile and is the heir to your kingdom... do you murder through a plot? Send him off to lead a war in hope he dies? Imprison? If you land up playing him and you can't produce any children then your dynasty is at risk.
And of course this is all happening in the world too, such as neighbouring kingdoms, the whole of Europe, Middle-east, part of North and East Africa, and part of Asia (Indian subcontinent) and now with upcoming expansion mainland de jure China is simulated.
There's so much to go into with CK2 and all PDS grand strategy games because they're very different from 4x games and you could write books on the extent of its gameplay, but I recommend you read up on CK2 and you will find tons of information out there. Maybe watch some let's plays too.
