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

Crusader Kings III: All Under Heaven Review

Of all the dream expansions for Crusader Kings, one has always been the holy grail. I’m talking about East Asia, extending the game’s map all the way to the Pacific. It’s a popular idea that has inspired a lot of speculation and a good number of fan-made mods. Now, at a time when Paradox could really use a win, they have released their own take on the idea. It’s hard to think of an expansion that could please everyone, but Crusader Kings 3: All Under Heaven is stuffed with new ideas of what Crusader Kings can be.

Silk Roads

Crusader Kings III: All Under Heaven grows the existing map by 40%. The game now extends the world from Iceland in the northwest all the way to Indonesia in the southeast. This adds in dozens of new cultures, religions, kingdoms, and types of character. New places mean new ways to play the game in ways that will inevitably become some people’s preferred path.

China and Japan are the two headliners, but there are plenty of other new nations (or kingdoms or duchies or other set region). For my first game, I played as the man who would become King Jayavarman and unite the kingdom of Khmer. His style of rule was fairly close to feudal Western Europe. You live in a castle and command a small army, you manage a council of sometimes bickering vassals.

There are a few particularities. The kingdom of Angkor (as it is called then) is all about developing your temple holdings to increase legitimacy. There’s also the added challenge of managing a war machine mostly made up of Buddhist pacifists. But this corner of Southeast Asia is a great way to learn some of the Crusader King basics. There is even a new notification to urge players to play 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 kingdom of China, which is so big, CK3 needs to add new rules for reigning over so many. Medieval China had a belief system called the ‘Celestial Bureaucracy,’ and that is very much the vibe when playing China. You are given an estate in the capital to manage alongside territory to govern. Your home and your governance need not be the same place, and you can develop the latter with money from the Emperor’s coffers.

Historical China developed the world’s first major meritocracy, so the most successful characters will be the ones who can navigate that complexity. Chinese rulers don’t need to be violent meatheads like the French or the Dutch. You’ll be raising a family of scholars who are good with numbers and Confucian piety.

Best of all since your fortunes are decoupled from your land, you can play in relative safety. You will see your noble house rise and fall over the years, but never smashing up against a game over screen. The expansion knows that is an appealing way to play, so there is even a new character creator that will allow you to make a whole noble house from scratch, to be given a modest Chinese estate and nothing else. I have already spoken to people who have completely shifted to playing CK3 this way, playing in China over and over again.

Shogun Showdown

The island of Japan is completely different, but no less complex. Playing as Japan of All Under Heaven will also put a cap on how much land you can rule. In Japan there are two types of nobles, and everyone is fighting against everyone else. You can be either a noble of the court, or a familiar martial samurai type. Every family rules over a single county, which also contains their family estate. Each noble family is part of a bloc, and can only attack lords from other blocs. In fact, you have very few troops on your own so wars in Japan will be fought with your allies troops. A lot of troops. The biggest armies I have ever seen in CK3.

While Japan is clearly optimized to play as a warrior, you can’t be a blunt instrument. Politicking in the blocs means you will also need to pay attention to domestic affairs, and you can only succeed in a scheme if you cover every angle. This is a high stakes way to play, but extremely fun. After trying a few different types of games, I definitely most relished the challenge of the Japanese County Thunderdome.

The World Beyond

The expanded world also freshens up stale corners of the world. India has always felt a bit boxed in to me, but no longer. With the added context of East Asia, Indian rulers now see a lot more action. The same goes for the recently added nomadic content. The Mongols have a lot more character with China in the mix, and I am certain that some Ghost of Tsushima fans are going to try to recreate the 1274 Mongolian invasion. The expansion has exponential appeal. A full map means much fuller stories whether playing in Europe, Asia, or Africa.

I play a lot of Crusader Kings, but I am not too involved with the online community. That being said, even I have noticed how frustrated fans have been with Paradox’s game release policies. I can’t say for certain if a new expansion, even an excellent one like this, could bring those people back into the fold. But having spent a lot of time exploring the new content, I would rank All Under Heaven very highly, up there with Roads to Power as one of the best additions to the game yet. As a grand strategy game, Crusader Kings has never felt grander.

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