Is it worth buying just the base game?

[corestandeven]

I did enjoy CK2, and in my wishlist CK3 is on 70% sale right now, so was wondering if just buying the base game was worth it, or if you really have to have DLC to enjoy this?

I am well aware of the Paradox approach to games, which is to often release bare bones games that are only filled by a slow drip feed of overpriced and low content DLC, so I was wonder if that was the case here, or if they actually released a decent base game that is only enhanced by additional DLC if players want to have different experiences?

If the base game is fairly ok, but you'd say one or two DLC were worth it, which would you recommend? I see one DLC ironically is more expensive than the actual base game right now!!

Thanks

[AzZotik]

Its fairly empty but there are plenty big overhaul mods (AGOT, Godherja, Guardians of Azeroth, Lord of the Rings, Elder Kings...) The only DLC you should be looking out for are:

- Royal Court, overpriced cosmetic throne room DLC, sucks money and mostly just tiny buffs through artifacts and sometimes almost too good of random events that happen through interaction to periodically summon petitioners, adds a fun mechanic to split off your own culture or make a hybrid culture.

- Road to Power, ability to play a landless adventurer with a camp, fairly hard to get into but very fun once you figure out the kinks, expensive though because it almost feels like entirely new way to play.

- Legends of the Dead, the only dlc that makes your experience worse, adds plagues and Legends (something like CK2 bloodlines, a story about character X giving Y buffs in provinces it spreads through), has horrible rep and reviews, its bad enough that it should've been free tbh.

- Tours and Tournaments, expensive cheat dlc, expensive activities that reduce stress, help you gain prowess, raise prestige, raise legitimacy, get higher chances of marriage through expensive marriage activity, mostly feels like a paid patchwork bandaid of spending money to fix issues that shouldn't exist.

- Legacy of Persia + Road to Iberia, add a new mechanic in Persia and Spain respectively, kinda like a prolonged crusade with multiple outcomes, you do stuff and it helps resolve the local conflict, often used in other mods.

[Actalo]

Yes but get Royal Court DLC at least.

Then go download AGOT, cause AGOT is better than CK3. It has dragons that fly, and burn, and devour, and did I mention they fly?

In other words, only DLC you need is Royal Court and then explore the Workshop cause, in my opinion, the mods are often better made than DLC.

[armyissue69]

depends on how much life you're willing to give. This game will suck the life out of you ;)

[Deus Ex]

Since ppl are discussing price, i will take this opportunity to ask without making my own thread.
If i wait for best possible sale deal Steam has to offer, how low could i go on Base game+ all dlc's?

[Dizzy Ladybug]

it's worth it on sale, for sure. the game does get better with DLCs but they are definitely pricey. get what you can out of the base game then get some DLCs when you feel like you want more content or mechanics and when you can afford them

[Nye]

The DLC has been so subpar for this game that base + an overhaul is probably good as others have pointed out.

- Royal court is terrible.
- Tours and tournaments was praised by most people but realistically it's incredibly repetitive.
- Legends of the dead is so bad that it should just be avoided.
- Legacy of Persia is uninteresting to me because I just don't care for dlc that only affects a certain part of the map.
- Roads to power is the only good dlc imo because of landless gameplay, but to be honest, even that is barebones and arguably poorly thought out.

I do like this game but good lord there's so much that is lacking.

[Abacus]

Yes. It still has years of mechanical updates that are free so they aren't stuck in a DLC

I actually recommend to play 60+ hours to get an idea of what you want to expand on, as DLC add specific extended features, while free update add general mechanics.

Roads to power however, adds a very dynamic aspect of the game play loop that changes how the game is played. It is the top DLC to buy first.

Tours & Tournaments next.

[brownacs]

Originally posted by Deus Ex:

Since ppl are discussing price, i will take this opportunity to ask without making my own thread.
If i wait for best possible sale deal Steam has to offer, how low could i go on Base game+ all dlc's?

https://steamdb.info/app/1158310/

[corestandeven]

Thanks all for the interesting replies. I must admit, I am probably most interested in the Game of Thrones mod rather than all that DLC. Whilst some does sound ok, and some sounds the typical Paradox low quality, it may be best to start with the base game and see how that goes before maybe expanding.

On Game of Thrones mod, do I understand correctly that you do need Royal Court in order for that to work? I ask as its almost the same price as the base game is now, even on sale. I know Paradox has a reputation for being greedy and milking its customers dry, but when did they start releasing DLC that is almost as expensive than the actual game? Or is just normal practice for them now?

[Nye]

I don't think the price would be so bad if the DLC was actually good.

Also, the GOT mod says this:

"Do I need DLC to play this?
No DLC is required to play CK3AGOT, but we certainly recommend the Roads to Power & Royal Court DLC. Without the former, all landless characters will be unplayable as will Free Cities. The latter allows access to our custom courtrooms."

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2962333032&searchtext=game+of+thrones

[PDX-Trinexx]

Originally posted by corestandeven:

it may be best to start with the base game and see how that goes before maybe expanding

Definitely the route we'd recommend if you're on the fence! It's the cheapest way to get started with the game, and if you end up sticking with it then you can choose to expand upon the game with specific DLCs as you want.

We support the base game itself with substantial updates that release alongside DLC to minimize the "value disparity" between the game and the game+all DLC. Nothing sours players against a game long-term like picking up the base game and feeling like they need to shell out even more money to get an adequate experience out of it.

Originally posted by corestandeven:

do I understand correctly that you do need Royal Court in order for that to work?

Royal Court shouldn't be necessary for most total conversions, but it will add additional options for interacting with your throne room if you do have it. This is the case for almost all DLC; we've tried to expose as many mechanics to the core game for modders to take advantage of as we can, with specific implementations of those mechanics being DLC-only.

For example, the Struggle mechanic introduced in Fate of Iberia is freely available with or without the DLC, so you can play mods that utilize it without owning FoI (such as RICE); it's specifically the Struggle for Iberia that's DLC-locked.

Originally posted by corestandeven:

when did they start releasing DLC that is almost as expensive than the actual game? Or is just normal practice for them now?

The base game is currently heavily discounted as part of the ongoing Real-Time Strategy Fest sale. While some DLC is also discounted, discounts are typically scaled based on how recently they were released.

[JC]

Buy the base game and see if you like it. For me royal court and tours and tournaments are the best DLC's they made. Though if you like to play as vikings get the Norse flavor pack.