Crusader Kings III: All Under Heaven Review – The World Grows Enormous

Review of Crusader Kings III: All Under Heaven

Of all the dream extensions for Crusader Kingsone has always been the Holy Grail. I'm talking about East Asia, expanding the game's map to the Pacific Ocean. This is a popular idea that has generated a lot of speculation and many fan mods. Now, at a time when Paradox could really benefit, they've released their own take on the idea. It's hard to come up with an add-on that could appeal to everyone, but Crusader Kings 3: All Under Heaven is full of new ideas about what Crusader Kings could be.

Silk Road

Crusader Kings III: All Under Heaven increases the existing map by 40%. The game now extends from Iceland in the northwest to Indonesia in the southeast. It adds dozens of new cultures, religions, kingdoms, and character types. New places mean new ways to play, which will inevitably become preferred by some people.

China and Japan are the two headliners, but there are plenty of other new countries (or kingdoms, or duchies, or other established regions). In my first game, I played as the man who would become King Jayavarman and unify the Khmer kingdom. His style of government was quite close to feudal Western Europe. You live in a castle and command a small army, you lead a council of sometimes squabbling vassals.

There are several features. The goal of the Kingdom of Angkor (as it was then called) is to develop your temple holdings to increase legitimacy. There is also the added challenge of managing a war machine made up primarily of Buddhist pacifists. But this corner of Southeast Asia is a great way to learn the basics of Crusader King. There's even a new notice encouraging players to play in the region as a tutorial of sorts, joining Ireland as a good place for your first game.

Meet the new kings

The main event is the new Chinese Kingdom, which is so large that CK3 needs to add new rules to rule over so many people. In medieval China, there was a belief system called the “Heavenly Bureaucracy”, and it is this atmosphere that is very characteristic of the game of China. You are given an estate in the capital to rule along with a territory to rule. Your home and your office do not have to be the same place, and you can develop the latter with money from the Emperor's treasury.

Historical China created the world's first major meritocracy, so the most successful characters will be those who can handle this complexity. Chinese rulers don't have to be cruel and stupid like the French or the Dutch. You will raise a family of scholars who are well versed in numbers and Confucian piety.

Best of all, since your fortunes are not tied to your land, you can play in relative safety. You will see your noble house rise and fall over the years, but never collapse on the game screen. The expansion is known to be an attractive way to play, so there's even a new character creator that will allow you to create an entire noble house from scratch, have a modest Chinese estate, and nothing more. I've already talked to people who have completely switched to playing CK3 this way, playing over and over again in China.

Clash of the Shoguns

The island of Japan is completely different, but no less complex. Playing as Japan All Under Heaven will also place a limit on the number of lands you can control. There are two types of nobles in Japan, and they all fight against each other. You can either be a court noble or a familiar fighting samurai. Each family rules one county, which also contains their family estate. Each noble family is part of a block and can only attack lords from other blocks. In fact, you have very few troops of your own, so wars in Japan will be fought with the participation of the troops of your allies. Lots of troops. The biggest armies I've ever seen in CK3.

While Japan is clearly optimized for warrior play, you can't be a blunt instrument. Block politics means that you will also have to pay attention to internal affairs and you can only succeed in the scheme if you cover all aspects. This is a high stakes game, but a lot of fun. After trying a few different game types, I definitely enjoyed the Japanese County Thunderdome game the most.

The world beyond

The expanded world also freshens up stale corners of the world. India always seemed boxed in to me, but that's no longer the case. With the added context of East Asia, Indian rulers now see much more action. The same goes for the newly added Nomad content. The Mongols have a lot more character when combined with China, and I'm sure some Ghost of Tsushima fans will try to recreate the Mongol invasion of 1274. Expansion has exponential appeal. A full map means a much more complete story, whether you're playing in Europe, Asia or Africa.

I play a lot of Crusader Kings, but I'm not very involved in the online community. That being said, even I have noticed how frustrated fans are with Paradox's game release policies. I can't say with certainty whether a new expansion, even one as excellent as this, will be able to bring these people back into the fold. But after spending a lot of time exploring the new content, I would highly rate All Under Heaven as well as Roads to Power as some of the best additions to the game. As a grand strategy game, Crusader Kings has never seemed so grand.

***PC code provided by publisher for review***