Crusader Kings 3 PS5 console review – a grand old time

metro.co.uk:

One of the most famously complex PC strategy games ever made makes the leap to consoles and works far better than you might imagine.

The world of PC gaming always tends to be viewed as intrinsically nerdier than consoles. Being a PC gamer means spending hours tinkering with electronics to build or upgrade your computer, as well as fiddling with settings and drivers to get games running on your particular hardware configuration. In return you get cheaper games, higher resolution graphics, insanely high quality monitors, and access to genres often denied to more casual players.

One of those is grand strategy games, which benefit both from the precision of keyboard and mouse, and the proximity of monitors, in order to navigate their fiendish complexity. The genre does occasionally make the leap to console though, such as with 2019’s Stellaris Console Edition and Civilization 6 – which even managed to work surprisingly well on Nintendo Switch.

Crusader Kings 3 is the latest example to make the jump to consoles and it’s a masterclass in information and control systemisation, elegantly sublimating the layers of menus necessary to fight, influence, and marry your way through labyrinthine dynastic politics. As with its PC-based older brother, you start with a single ruler, whether a king, queen or lowly duke and try to create a dynasty to last the ages.

The entire game takes place on a map of the world, which is made of colourful paper when fully zoomed out but closer up shows individual duchies, counties, and the countries they comprise. Typically beginning in 800-1100AD, you choose a starter noble with the sole task of building their family line’s power in an unstable and unpredictable world.

You need to start by taking stock of