Crusader Kings III, the grand strategy, role-playing game set in the Middle Ages where you can become a noble houses’ legacy, has announced the newest expansion By Gold Alone, ahead of it’s release on September 30th.
We previously reviewed Crusader Kings III:
“The addition of the stress systems solves issues that existed in CKII, and similarly other features like secrets and hooks (wherein you can learn people’s secrets to get favours over them, and these secrets can form as a result of event string — eat a human to survive a hunt gone wrong and you’ll gain the cannibal secret) as well as the guest system — where claimants tour other courts and if you press their claim then they become your vassal — restructure the pace of the game and mean that there’s always the potential for chaos even if you slow the game down to the slowest speed.
There’s so much that couldn’t be touched on in this review, like how nice it is when the main menu shows your character, their spouse and heir, or when the characters hit little poses for certain actions. It really does feel like no area has gone untouched when it came to updating the formula of the last game.”
Crusader Kings III — A worthy successor to the grand-strategy throne?
In the By God Alone expansion, Crusader Kings III will have new ways to engage with religion and church-related politics. This expansion focuses on developing Christian leadership through the medieval era, allowing you to play theocratical landholders like archbishops or the Pope, leading your own flock and increasing church power (while also gaining money along the way).
By God Alone has faith-based activities and a reworking of rites and tenets, where you can defy the religious authorities and bend your faith or follow it to the word. This expansion is quite a large one, including a persistent Situation for Christian realms, where actions and decisions connected to the development and progress of the Faith can be tracked. There is new dynamics around following or rebelling against the church, cardinals can be appointed to bring a bigger struggle between secular and religious authority, there are dynamic holy sites that change and grow, cathedrals that have specific saints and holy figures, and puppets that can act in politics despite being machinery of the church. Clerical titles can end up having religious authority over geographical regions independent of secular rulers’ land – so there is a big shift in power!
Currently, Crusader Kings III: By God Alone will launch on September 30th, as a part of Chapter V for Crusader Kings III, but will be a stand-alone purchase.
