Crusader Kings 3 was one of 2020’s most-acclaimed role-playing games, with system-based story mechanics that allowed for a high degree of player-choice. The game is getting its first DLC pack, and it’s out next week.
It isn’t a full-scale expansion, but the Northern Lords Flavor Pack enhances Crusader Kings 3 with Norse-themed adventurer realms, character art, new music, and 3D models, as well as new decisions and events that should add more variety to your gameplay. The Flavor Pack is also included if you have the expansion pass.
Crusader Kings 3 released about eight years after the previous game, Crusader Kings 2, which itself released about eight years after the original game. In the third game, you can form a Middle Age dynasty and control it for hundreds of years, altering history via familial and political manipulation.
You’re free to begin as one of several different rulers, as well, including a Roman emperor or an Arab caliph, giving you significant replay value should you choose to start a second game. You can even establish a new religious faction, potentially pitting citizens against each other as they fight for power.
Crusader Kings 3’s ambition drew attention from critics, with GameSpot reviewer David Wildgoose praising how its systems work together in our Crusaders Kings 3 review.
“In a sense, Crusader Kings 3 is all over the place. It doesn’t always work perfectly, and at times it really makes you work for it, but there’s something amazing in that any of it works at all. Strategy games can tell interesting stories as their empires rise and fall, but their procedural narratives are rarely as affecting and poignant as they are here,” Wildgoose said.
The Northern Lords Flavor Pack was just one announcement made during today’s Paradox Insider showcase. The publisher promised plenty of news on upcoming games, as well as new trailers, deep-dive gameplay sessions, and interviews.
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