CK2 is amazing. I tend to play a lot of games but I keep coming back to this one. I've put in 477 hours which is far more than anything else I've played. Even Civ V only lasted me 133 hours.
There's a rough learning curve but it's really satisfying once you get the hang of things. The vanilla game has still received updates with all the expansions that have been released over the years so there's a lot of content, even if you don't buy everything. Everything in the Dynasty Starter Pack is definitely worth having, you can probably leave the rest unless something really grabs your eye.
There's a great mod community too. Tonnes of little tweaks to graphics or gameplay rules like being allowed to murder your own children, big changes like being a vampire & complete overhauls like the Game of Thrones mod.
If you enjoy creating your own stories out of gameplay, rather than a story being handed to you, this is a fantastic game. I highly recommend it.
No one wants to see what film makers create, they just want to argue about lore & have a movie script based on a reddit post. Star Wars isn't a film series people can enjoy watching, it's just an argument waiting to happen.
@austinp: Yeah, I know it's possible to not buy stuff but I really hate it being shoved in your face all the time. I hate the idea of Talion going down to the local orc store to peruse today's offering. I hate the fact that talented hard working developers had to build in a way of making their game worse just to keep the greedy publisher happy because they over-promised to the shareholders.
Anyway, it looks like people like me choosing not to buy the game has made a difference. I'll happily reward them for making the right decision & purchase the game when they fix their mistakes.
Good choice. I really enjoyed the first Shadow of Mordor but I didn't want to support a game that would sacrifice gameplay for a quick buck. I'll probably pick it up after this patch.
Extra tip: make sure to spend all your money on torn jeans & dirty t-shirts that you can't see outside the menu where you buy them. Much better value than a scope for your gun.
@blufalconultra: Yep, spot on. The combat is dated, rather than boring but that's what you should expect from dated games. If they brought out another one a couple of years ago with the same combat from decade-old games then we could talk about this game "fixing" the combat but it was never really a problem when those games were released.
Spectacle fighters like Bayonetta 2 are still doing well (a 10 on this site) so it would be pretty hard to argue that his style of combat is broken & needs fixing anyway.
The combat was one of the main aspects of gameplay that gained God of War its success. It's a spectacle fighter, combat is supposed to be bombastic & over the top. There was a great set of combos, different weapons with different play styles as the series continued, satisfying visceral visuals as you massacred hordes of enemies. The mechanic of mashing a button to represent Kratos' effort as he ripped off an enemies head worked really well & connected the player to the action in a way that a single button press could not.
This new game is a different thing & that's fine but to call the old games' combat boring is a personal statement, not a widespread opinion.
@II_Exile_II: I agree, it's a cool idea but it definitely limits what they can do with the storytelling. Part of Tomb Raider's story had scenes going on in other locations & they wouldn't have been able to do that if they adhered to this arbitrary rule they imposed on themselves.
I'm sure they can make it work in God of War but they have to plan the story from the outset to cater to it. Not cutting in a video game is not really the same achievement as in film so it does sound a little gimmicky but I guess it should help keep the story focused on Kratos & his perspective of events.
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