A nice mix of the Civ series addictiveness and the dynasties and personal events of Crusader Kings. Beautiful music from all the cultures included. A chill, enjoyable grand strategy game.
Old world is a nice civilization alternative & I'll always talk favorably about those ^^ It has an interesting economy, which is a bit hard to get into & more complex than civ.
However, for me the number of families and characters you need to keep track of are really a problem. You don't just have to manage the ruling family but also several minor dynasties inside your kingdom and potential intermarriages with other civilizations.
Usually, I like to "roleplay" a civ - play a warrior civ, a scientific civ etc. Having a family to manage and raising your children as mighty warriors or great scholars would usually work really well with this. But right now, having soo many characters is just getting too much.
There is an option to switch family management off altogether but this also kills all kinds of quests and roleplay.
Maybe Mohawk/someone else will add an option to manage just 1 family/the ruling family.
I started playing it hoping to have a turn based strategy civ like game, however for me the "social" aspect is overwhelming and distracts me too much from building up my nation. Your court gets pretty big and crowded - a lot of people to take care of. I just couldn't focus on everything and I ended up neglecting this part alltogether. Maybe another time, in another playthough, when I am more into social engineering.
A masterful blend of Civilization and Crusader Kings, done in a way that is fluid and engrossing. I really can't believe this game isn't far more popular as I consider it a much better game than Civ 6. An absolute steal on sale, and pretty much guaranteed to get your money's worth even at its normal sticker price. If you're a fan of civ-styled games, you can probably squeeze hundreds of hours from this title.