The real success of the Conclave mechanic, however, is not in what it does for playing as the king. The mechanic is nice, but I wish it did more to put me in the role, as opposed to making everything feel like a department store transaction. I wanted some give and take with my conclave- negotiations and so forth. But I can’t help feeling that the sort of give and take that my English king would have had with his councilors, as they jockey for supremacy beneath him, felt a bit hollow. It’s an improvement over Crown Authority (because, previously, of course the vassals would always want a weaker king), in that you have a general idea of what your councilors think and why. There is a system in which you can gain favors to force a councilor to support you for a year, in exchange for money or fulfillment of ambitions. Each councilor was rated in how favorably they saw me, but I couldn’t really tell why they were rated in certain way and how my actions affected those rating. From the viewpoint of the king, I found the execution of the mechanic odd. Disobey the council too many times, and they will rebel in order to reign in your tyranny. This system replaces Crown Authority, which was a measure of how strong the king was versus how strong his vassals were. But now, as you make certain types of decisions, like say, throwing that nephew who keeps plotting to overthrow you into the dungeon, the council will weigh in. Your council is made up of ministers of various kinds like before. The Conclave is the big headliner in this expansion, and yet, I found it wanting. Instead of offering more lands to conquer and more nobles to play as, it revamps the act of leadership itself. The newest expansion, The Conclave, breaks away a bit from what the previous expansions to the game have done. I’d argue that I have more fun plotting against my enemies and enjoying the events than I do fighting and conquering. Crusader Kings 2 has the added benefit of a strong role playing element. These are games of obsession, of building an empire and expanding your power. If you were to go back through my “Most Played Game” files, I’m guessing that the only game that rivals it in play time is Europa Universalis IV. Crusader Kings II, Crusader Kings II: Conclave, Paradox Development Studio, Paradox Interactive, Real Time Strategy, The Strategy Gamer
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