So to scan the negatives from the beginning, certainly, its graphics are simplistic though beautiful but that is not why we play a game like this. The other big downside is the difficulty of measuring the hang of the gameplay and all it offers: the tutorials are not bad but do give an idea than a quarter of the extent of my game sense. The rest, we must discover it for yourself on the first parts, and gleaning advice from experienced online players.
Otherwise, the heart of the game, which we always said we will play a little longer to see is that you never know what you're gonna get, how will change our character, or rather, our dynasty.
Start Count and intrigue to climb in the hierarchy, or start warring king and his kingdom to enlarge, or start independent Duke and lead the religious wars against the infidels and go to the Crusades: the possibilities are endless and each party will never place like the previous one. Example, "Oh no, my son is dwarf and incompetent, my empire will surely suffer rebellions by vassals to my death and collapse": do I get rid of it (poison, appointment as bishop? ), should I change the succession law to allow another choice of heir, or is it that I accept the challenge by playing the status quo? These are the kinds of situations offered CK2.
What's nice too, nearly a year and a half after its release, is that Paradox continues to play and updater out some interesting DLC. Love it or not the DLC policy, we must recognize the concern of developers fix some bugs and to always improve the gaming experience.
I have not tried online, but it looks very addictive too.