Crusader Kings 2 Holy Fury

If you've been in gaming circles for the past 8 years, you've likely heard of this game already. There are jokes all over forums about people's attempts to breed the perfect heir by constant inbreeding that cross the line so much that they're hilarious again. Stories of how people assassinated their relative's children to plant their own puppets to become their heirs. Crusader Kings 2 certainly has a reputation in the gaming community.

To install Crusader Kings 2, have Steam installed. Once that's done, head on over to this link to install it.

The first thing to note right off the bat is this game's insanely steep learning curve. It's almost infamous - the tutorial does very little to show you the potential this game has and barely teaches you how to handle various situations that may arise.

The main part of what makes it hard to learn is the presentation. It looks like a board game, where you can see territories and the game pieces are the armies. While this makes the game feel less personable, it also lends itself well to the feeling of actually being a monarch. The UI is also incredibly cluttered and notifications pop every other year to tell you about something else you need to manage about your kingdom.

But the payoff? The payoff is much like Dwarf Fortress - an organic storytelling experience that is completely unmatched by anything else in the industry. The payoff is completely unmatched, and anyone who wants to know what kind of stories player-driven games can bring should definitely give Crusader Kings 2 a download.

Base game only.