The primary reasons this game, despite all the flaws, magically works are twofold:
1. The absurd brokenness works in its favour.
Ale makes any food production obsolete (you can run the entire game with a self-sustaining ale system without having to ever produce a singe piece of food for your population), bread far exceeds any other food production, catapults destroy castles in seconds, shields are insane, etc. - all of this actually works in its favour. Because it's so broken, it FORCES you to engage with its mechanics on a deeper level if you wish to get any enjoyment out of it. You have to utilize everything and anything if you're actually trying to have fun with the game and refuse to abuse the broken stuff. Due to that, it holds up with games that are FAR more complex.
2. The childlike wonder.
The game SHINES with personality. Each lord is extremely memorable and unique in their own way. Every villager has a name and something to say about you. All the units have different, entertaining dialogue. All the while, the game never tells you everything. For example, Emir mentions his mother only once in his dialogue, leading you to fill in the blanks yourself, imaging how his life with his mother might have been. It thrives in this sense of a bigger world that you can never fully know - it's perfect for a childlike sense of wonder that lets you be really curious about the world around you and imagine how things might work at large. This is why Wolf is one of the most memorable characters in ANY game I have played, despite the fact that he has only a bit of dialogue in both the original and Crusader. It leaves you to fill in the blanks, letting you find a far more interesting character than it initially seems within your mind.
So, yeah. Play this game if you haven't abandoned your childlike wonder. It's such a beautifully crafted thing if you're just ready to engage with it.
1. The absurd brokenness works in its favour.
Ale makes any food production obsolete (you can run the entire game with a self-sustaining ale system without having to ever produce a singe piece of food for your population), bread far exceeds any other food production, catapults destroy castles in seconds, shields are insane, etc. - all of this actually works in its favour. Because it's so broken, it FORCES you to engage with its mechanics on a deeper level if you wish to get any enjoyment out of it. You have to utilize everything and anything if you're actually trying to have fun with the game and refuse to abuse the broken stuff. Due to that, it holds up with games that are FAR more complex.
2. The childlike wonder.
The game SHINES with personality. Each lord is extremely memorable and unique in their own way. Every villager has a name and something to say about you. All the units have different, entertaining dialogue. All the while, the game never tells you everything. For example, Emir mentions his mother only once in his dialogue, leading you to fill in the blanks yourself, imaging how his life with his mother might have been. It thrives in this sense of a bigger world that you can never fully know - it's perfect for a childlike sense of wonder that lets you be really curious about the world around you and imagine how things might work at large. This is why Wolf is one of the most memorable characters in ANY game I have played, despite the fact that he has only a bit of dialogue in both the original and Crusader. It leaves you to fill in the blanks, letting you find a far more interesting character than it initially seems within your mind.
So, yeah. Play this game if you haven't abandoned your childlike wonder. It's such a beautifully crafted thing if you're just ready to engage with it.
I finished it once as a child and haven't touched it since. I thought it was cool that, compared to the first part, there were mercenaries with whom you could destroy and burn everything relatively early on :D I also thought the dialogue with the 3D faces was very cute.
A good game, I didn't pay this game at the golden age of this series and played recently however still can be played againist it's pretty old visuals.
The greatest RTS known to mankind.
I prefer the lush green lands of the first game and i miss its campaign, but the addition of a skirmish mode and so many maps makes up for it. Mercenaries are a funny addition, horse archers are great.
Oh, and if you have enough religion and booze you can starve the peasants and extort ridiculous taxes from them, which i feel can be seen as a social commentary of sorts.
Oh, and if you have enough religion and booze you can starve the peasants and extort ridiculous taxes from them, which i feel can be seen as a social commentary of sorts.
the game was so good, u only needed the demo for skirmishes, i'm not kidding
One of my first strategy games, I remember the first time I played it at my brother's house in 2015 over the summer. In any case, to this day I still know how to turn it on and play a few rounds. An interesting strategy game for the year it was made