Crusader Kings III: Royal Court

Reviewing (mostly) every game (or DLC) in my library, part 121: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️☆☆ (8/10) [i] Crusader Kings III: Royal Court[/i] promises to make you feel like a true medieval monarch: holding court, basking in splendor, and ruling from a throne room filled with sycophants and schemers. And in some ways, it delivers. You get an actual 3D court space, culture reformation tools, and an expanded roleplaying layer where vassals and courtiers beg for your attention. But for all its grandeur, it also feels … thin. [i]Royal Court[/i] is a strange mix of brilliant ideas and shallow systems, more “nice-to-have” than “must-have.” Its strongest features are tied to immersion and flavor, not deep gameplay changes. If you love CK3’s roleplaying and narrative moments, you’ll find a lot to enjoy. If you’re looking for big, game-altering mechanics? This may underwhelm. 🏰 [b]Pros: [/b] [list] [*] The court is yours—visually and narratively. You now have a 3D throne room! It's cosmetic, yes, but surprisingly effective. From stacks of books to tapestries and crown displays, you can decorate your court to reflect your character's values. It adds personality, and seeing your monarch lounging with a goblet while your subjects squabble really sells the fantasy. [*] Hold Court events = kingly chaos. Periodically, you’re prompted to hear petitions, resolve feuds, or weigh in on weird legal cases. These are fun, varied, and often come with prestige, gold, stress loss, or long-term consequences. Some are straightforward (“This dude stole my pig”), others bizarre (“My jester’s jokes are too offensive”). It’s peak CK drama. [*] Artifacts and court grandeur. You can display legendary weapons, books, and regalia, each with stats and stories. Some are inherited, some forged. Your court grandeur score affects vassal opinion, marriage prospects, and how prestigious your court seems. It makes your court feel alive and evolving. [*] Cultural hybridization and divergence. This is [i]Royal Court’s[/i] best system, hands down. You can create hybrid cultures (e.g., Anglo-Norse) or diverge from your roots, customizing ethos, traditions, and even language. It’s brilliant for RP, allows for cool alt-history runs, and adds real strategic variety. Want a martial Buddhist Highlander culture? Go for it. [*] Flavor events and RP decisions. [i]Royal Court [/i]adds lots of small, flavorful events—like court philosophers debating ideology, court physicians spreading new medicine, or your kids embarrassing you in front of guests. These don’t change the world, but they add depth to characters and help your dynasty feel “lived-in.” [*] Artifact economy. There’s now a whole loop around acquiring, forging, repairing, and displaying items. If you’re a collector, this adds a satisfying dimension to your playthroughs. [/list] ⚙️[b]Cons:[/b] [list] [*] Very top-heavy. Only kings/emperors get a court. If you're a duke or lower, almost all of this DLC is locked out. You can’t hold court, decorate a room, or use grandeur. This makes the early-mid game feel unchanged, which is disappointing for players who prefer starting small. [*] Repetitive events. “Holding court” feels novel the first few times, but the events start to repeat. There are only so many times you can rule on a carpet dispute or hear a courtier beg for land before it becomes routine. Vassals still remain just another face or name. [*] Artifact stats are underwhelming. While it’s fun to collect and display swords or crowns, many of them have minor or negligible gameplay impact. The system is more about flavor than strategy. [*] UI clutter and tracking issues. It can be a pain to manage, track, and repair your growing collection of artifacts. There’s no easy way to compare or filter them. After a few generations, your dynasty's collection can become a cluttered mess. [*] Feels like it should be base game. Some players (fairly) argue that holding court and cultural divergence should’ve been in the base game. It doesn’t feel like a major overhaul—just long-missing features finally added, at a price. [*] Slows the game down. Some players find that with all the added flavor events, grandeur upkeep, and culture micromanagement, [i] Royal Court[/i] actually interrupts the faster, cleaner flow of the base game. Especially true if you're playing tall or want to min-max. [/list]

Personally the culture mechanics added to this game really make culture feel like a core part of the game instead of just a tag with tech tree tied to it. The traditions make each culture feel unique and flavorful to play and sets each geographic region apart. I don't think I've played a single playthrough where customizing my culture hasn't been a major focus. The royal court stuff adds an immersive layer to the game and does a good job of setting kingdoms and empires apart from the lesser titles. I've always been a fan of collecting artifacts since ck2. They're fun and feel impactful in ck3 as well. I think my only complaint is that the artifact UI, especially for the court artifacts, can be a bit hard to read, when trying to figure out what's equiped and what's new when you have a long list of gathered artifacts. I highly recommend this dlc as a core part of my ck3 experience, at any price point you're comfortable paying.

adds content that should be in game itself, while costs a tonn of money