Key Highlights
- Paradox hits again with another expensive expansion, making you pay extra for features that should have come in the base game.
- Go on long trips across the map for events that would have worked fine as simple pop-ups.
- Feel the “fun” of watching a pawn move slowly across the map, mimicking your ruler’s risky and pointless travels.
- Leave your kingdom with careless leaders who will surely mess things up while you are gone.
- Deal with the letdown of planning a tournament only to lose because of random chance and badly designed game rules.
Introduction
Crusader Kings players, get ready for another letdown! Paradox has launched the Tours & Tournaments expansion. This paid update adds a lot of extra content that seems unnecessary for the base game. Even though the developers say this expansion helps you “immerse yourself in the medieval world,” it feels more like a way to get more money from you. Let’s explore the disappointing aspects of Crusader Kings 3 Tours & Tournaments.
Exploring the Rich Tapestry of Crusader Kings III: Tours & Tournaments
Honestly, the concept of Tours & Tournaments feels like a step back for Crusader Kings 3. The base game had events like feasts and hunts. These were simple and did not take much time to enjoy. This new expansion makes things too complicated instead of making them better.
Adding tours and tournaments may sound fun, but it actually means more work for players. Instead of just clicking a button to go to a feast, you now have to plan your trip. You need to gather a group and hope nothing goes wrong during your journey, but it probably will.
Diving into the Heart of Medieval Strategy
The developers say that the Tours & Tournaments expansion makes Crusader Kings 3 a more engaging RPG. However, the real experience is quite different. You can play as your ruler exploring the realm. But is it fun when bandits stop you along the way or when you have to play boring mini-games to get to where you’re going?
Life in the medieval world was tough, but this expansion adds even more frustration. Instead of enjoying grand strategy and political events, you will get stuck in the details of traveling. You’ll face many issues and worry about whether your ruler will survive sickness before reaching their goal. Is this what we expected from an immersive RPG experience?
The Impact of Tours and Tournaments on Gameplay
The effect of Crusader Kings III: Tours & Tournaments on gameplay is very small, and it can even be annoying. The new events and activities start off fun, but that feeling fades fast. After some time, you may feel like you wasted hours on things that did not matter.
The new regency system aims to improve the game, but it often causes more issues than it fixes. It can be really frustrating to come back from a long trip only to find that your regent has upset your vassals, emptied the kingdom’s treasury, or worse, started a useless war while you were away.
Instead of making the Crusader Kings 3 experience richer and more interesting, this expansion often gives you irritating and time-consuming challenges. These challenges can slow down your progress instead of helping it.
Mastering the Art of Medieval Diplomacy
Diplomacy has always been important in the Crusader Kings series. However, with Crusader Kings III: Tours & Tournaments, it becomes even more boring. Instead of using smart talks and timely partnerships, you now have to join social events and do dull activities to win over other rulers.
The expansion tries to make things interesting with new events and interactions at these gatherings. Yet, these are often simple and happen too often. You will find yourself clicking through the same dialogue again and again. You will just hope to gain enough goodwill for an important alliance or, more likely, to avoid being betrayed by a jealous enemy.
Strategies for Navigating Alliances and Rivalries
Building and keeping alliances in Crusader Kings 3 has always been tricky, but this new expansion complicates it even more. Now, you need to worry about what your vassals think of you and what they think of other rulers. This added challenge might seem interesting, but in reality, it makes diplomacy feel like even more of a hassle.
Instead of focusing on important marriages and political moves, you will have to deal with meaningless social chats. You will need to hope that your vassals do not betray you for a slightly more charming liege. The expansion’s goal to make medieval diplomacy more real backfires, turning what should be an exciting part of the game into a frustrating task of controlling every little thing.
The Role of Marriages and Treaties in Expanding Your Realm
Marriages and treaties are important for growth in Crusader Kings. They help expand your power and protect your dynasty’s future. However, the new expansion, Tours & Tournaments, makes things more complicated without really improving them.
The expansion aims to make marriages more interesting by adding new events and ways to interact. Unfortunately, many of these are shallow and repeated often. You may find yourself setting up marriages for your kids and grandkids. Then, it can be frustrating to see those alliances fall apart for reasons you can’t control.
Treaties are just as confusing. They have many extra rules that seem to make things harder instead of clearer. It seems that Paradox wanted to make diplomacy seem more “realistic.” But instead, they have made it more complicated and annoying.
The Thrill of Medieval Warfare
Warfare in Crusader Kings 3 should be exciting and intense. It mixes smart planning with quick moves. But, Crusader Kings III: Tours & Tournaments makes battles feel boring. It turns complex military fights into dull and expected events.
The expansion tries to bring some energy back into warfare with new events and mechanics. However, they often do not work well. The new unit types are not impressive. The updated siege mechanics feel awkward and give no satisfaction. The joy of battle gets lost in a pile of micromanagement and random results.
Assembling Your Armies for Victory
Assembling a strong army and winning battles should be one of the best parts of Crusader Kings 3. But with Tours & Tournaments, fighting sometimes feels more like a big headache than an exciting victory. Instead of leading large forces and having epic battles, you will get stuck in the tricky details of supplies, the mood of your troops, and other boring tasks.
The new types of units added in this expansion do not bring much strategy, and the changed combat system often feels unfair and unpredictable. You can spend a lot of time getting your troops ready and planning your attack, only to feel frustrated when your hard work falls apart because of things you can’t control.
Siege Warfare and Field Battles: Techniques and Tips
Don’t get too excited; siege battles in Crusader Kings III: Tours & Tournaments are still boring and annoying. Get ready to spend a lot of time looking at your screen while your armies slowly try to break down strong walls. The new siege rules do not make it better; they just make it worse. Field battles are not any better, either. The so-called “better” combat AI can still be easily tricked, even by new players.
Here’s a tip to get through this boring warfare:
- Set the game speed to the fastest and hope for a quick end to the battle, whether you win or lose. This is the only way to keep some sanity during the dull fights of Tours & Tournaments.
Even if you win, it doesn’t feel good in Crusader Kings III: Tours & Tournaments. The rewards are small, and their effect on your kingdom is hardly noticeable. You might find yourself asking why you even started a war at all.
The Intricacies of Managing Your Dynasty
Managing your dynasty in Crusader Kings 3 should be fun. You can watch your family grow and thrive over the years. But with the Crusader Kings III: Tours & Tournaments, even simple tasks can feel like a burden. You might find yourself lost in menus, setting up marriages, and dealing with constant fights among your kids. It’s frustrating to see your hard work fall apart because of unexpected events.
The expansion offers new features like shared lineage and cadet branches. However, these changes seem small and do not fix the main problems with managing your dynasty. Instead of making the game better, they add more confusion to an already difficult system. Players often feel more like babysitters than strong monarchs.
Heir Selection and the Importance of Lineage
Choosing the right heir is very important for the success of any dynasty. However, in Crusader Kings III: Tours & Tournaments, this big decision feels pointless. No matter how much you teach your kids, prepare them for power, or help them build skills, there’s still a chance that everything can go wrong. Illness, accidents, or even random luck can ruin your plans. This expansion doesn’t help players deal with this frustrating part of Crusader Kings. It often makes you feel weak against destiny’s unpredictability.
The game often talks about the importance of family. Events and features keep reminding you to keep your dynasty strong. But in the end, it seems like your family’s fate is not really in your control. It can be left to the random actions of a cold and harsh virtual world.
Balancing Power and Popularity Among Your Subjects
Maintaining a good balance of power and popularity is key to ruling well in Crusader Kings 3. However, the Tours & Tournaments expansion complicates things. It makes it hard to make everyone happy. One moment you are giving gifts to your vassals and helping them out; the next, they could be planning to oust you because you set a tax that they don’t like. Keeping your vassals happy feels like a never-ending fight, and success is never certain.
The expansion tries to improve vassal management by adding new personality traits and goals, but these changes often seem shallow and not very useful. It’s like painting a run-down house. It might look a little nicer, but the real issues are still there.
Engaging in the Grand Tournaments
Tournaments are meant to be the best part of this expansion, but they are a big disappointment. You should feel excited about joining these big events to show off your skills and gain recognition. Instead, you end up playing boring mini-games and facing very random results.
Winning in a tournament is mostly about luck, not skill. The game gives you random challenges and events that can lead to embarrassing losses.
Preparing for the Joust: Equipment and Training
The time you spend getting ready for a joust in Crusader Kings III: Tours & Tournaments should be all about careful planning. You should pick the best armor and horse, and sharpen your skills. However, it feels more like clicking through boring menus, without any real thrill or meaning.
You will spend long hours looking at your character’s stats. You try to make their fighting skills the best they can be. But then you find out that even a carefully trained knight can be knocked off his horse by a lucky peasant with a pitchfork. The focus on gear and training doesn’t seem deep. It feels like the designers wanted to trick us into thinking there is more depth than there really is.
The Glory of Victory and the Spoils of Tournaments
Winning tournaments in Crusader Kings III: Tours & Tournaments doesn’t bring much glory. You may get a small boost to your prestige or a few rewards, but it does not really help your dynasty. The feeling of victory is short-lived. Soon, you realize that you have spent hours on something that isn’t very important.
The rewards from tournaments are not impressive either. The weapons and armor you can win are usually worse than what you already have. Other rewards like titles and marriage options do not matter much either. In the end, the real prize in Tours & Tournaments is not the glory or wealth. It’s the relief when the whole boring event is finally finished.
Conclusion
In the world of Crusader Kings III, Tours & Tournaments might seem like simple distractions. They can provide brief moments of triumph, but they don’t have the deeper strategies that really engage players. The focus on diplomacy feels shallow. It makes alliances feel temporary instead of strong and lasting. Even the thrill of medieval wars doesn’t capture the true nature of battle. Managing your dynasty can feel boring instead of challenging and rewarding. In the end, Crusader Kings III: Tours & Tournaments don’t help improve the game experience. Players can feel like they need more depth and meaning in their journey for power and glory.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I start my first tour in Crusader Kings III?
Starting a tour in the Tours & Tournaments expansion is easy. Just click a button. After that, you’ll spend a lot of time planning your route and gathering the right team. You will also hope that your ruler makes it through the risky trip.
Can I host my own tournament, and what are the benefits?
Yes, you can hold your own tournament. But you will need to spend a lot of gold and deal with many loading screens. The benefits are very small. You may feel a little proud at first, but that feeling goes away fast. You will see that you haven’t gained anything really valuable.
What strategies should I employ to win a tournament?
There isn’t a clear strategy for winning tournaments in this expansion. Winning depends a lot on luck. You will need to hope that the game’s random events do not make things difficult for you. You can focus on improving your character’s stats, but in the end, it may not make much difference.
How does participating in tours and tournaments affect my dynasty’s reputation?
Joining these meaningless events hardly affects your dynasty’s reputation. You may earn a few points of prestige once in a while, but it probably won’t matter in the long run. You should use your time on something more valuable.
Are there any hidden features in the Tours and Tournaments expansion?
If this expansion has any secret features, they have done a great job of keeping them away from view. Don’t spend your time looking for something that is not there. Instead, try to forget about buying this DLC and focus on enjoying the other parts of Crusader Kings 3 that still make you happy.
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