X
- T
- Paradox Interactive
- T
- Paradox Interactive
- T
- Paradox Interactive
- T
- Paradox Interactive
Crusader Kings II: Conclave
Released On: Feb 2, 2016
Metascore
Available after 4 critic reviews
5.7
All Platforms
Crusader Kings II: Conclave represents the best incarnation of the veteran grand strategy title from Paradox Development Studio, a great experience for any player who loves history and wants to explore the many what if situations of the past.
While Conclave takes a few steps back by streamlining the education of children and the alliance system, the Council makes up for this by adding features and events that genuinely changes the way we play Crusader Kings 2 - which in itself is quite spectacular.
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 9 User Ratings
5.7
44% Positive
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
22% Mixed
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
33% Negative
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 9 User Ratings
5.7
44% Positive
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
22% Mixed
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
33% Negative
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
Conclave DLC is good on paper, not good on the map of game. Should I fire my 15-martial marshal because a powerful want his office even he have 5-martial? Of course not.
Report
PC
Good sides of conclave: Education system. The council in late game (after you missed most the fun). Avoiding revolts. Regents stop being people you want to smash to pieces the moment you turn 16, including castrating their whole family for undoing 100 years of your progress in 2 months (crown authority).
Bad sides: First 100 years or 200 of your campaign will be filled with tedium, as you unlock the laws enabling you actual RULING your country. Of course each time you will need to pay anything from 50 to 500 gold to at least 3 people, not much unlike paying for DLC's to unlock vital game functions.
Report
PC
Although Conclave does require an unusual amount of hard work on the player’s part, as well as the patience of a saint, the expansion is still mostly worthwhile (many of the bad changes were in the free patch, so there’s no way to avoid them without reverting to a previous version).
I love Crusader Kings 2. I've logged almost 2,000 hours of game play since it's release. I've loved all the DLC's that have come out except Sunset Invasion. One of the basic fundamentals of CK2 wasn't just about moving up the ranks or building an epic empire. It was also building a legacy. Breeding and grooming successors. So WHY would you release a DLC that completely ruins a major aspect of the game? Grooming your children for future positions of power was fun. Give your kid to a courtier, baron, count, duke, or even your king to mentor. Based on the traits of the mentor, there was a chance the child would inherit some of the traits, and gain stats based on the mentor (and parents). Now, your kids get "Childhood traits" which later evolve into other traits. At the age of 12, the child becomes an adolescent, loses their childhood focus, and may be assigned a specific attribute on which to focus their education. This gives the child a +1 bonus to that attribute and ensures that the education trait acquired at adulthood is one associated with that attribute. The level of the education trait is determined randomly based on compatibility with childhood traits (including childhood traits that have already evolved). The problem? You can no longer fully choose WHAT education focus you want your kids to pursue. For example, before you may want your heir to have high Diplomacy or Stewardship to make ruling easier, and have a brother become a general / marshal. Not any more. Some of the time, your kids are born with two opposing traits - picking one focus because it's compatible with one trait, but that focus is completely incompatible with another. The result: Kids with horrible traits and stats. Also, if you had a good mentor, it wasn't unheard of to have a kid with 7 or 8 traits. In conclave, I will have multiple kids on multiple play-throughs with 1 - 3 traits MAX. WTF?! Nothing like having a King with the Strong and Genius trait, and tier 4 education [ I.e., Brilliant Strategist ] to have an HEIR that YOU mentored pop out with only a tier 1 [ Misguided Warrior - a bad education trait ], along with only 1 trait - "Craven." Thank you, Paradox, for turning one of my favortite games into complete CRAP. I totally uninstalled CK2, and reinstalled the game WITHOUT Conclave. Love the other DLCs, but Conclave is total crap and not worth $15.
Understand, I didn't even touch on the horrendous council system - where Dukes with a Martialship of only 5 or 6 HATE you for not allowing them to be your kingdom's Marshal over the one you choose with a 26 Martial score, and then form an "Independence Faction" over it. Yes, force me to pick crappy people for my council or else I'm in constant civil war or rebellion.
Report
PC
WHAT would be your reaction if Bethesda took VATS out of Fallout and replaced it with a turn-based point and click system? How would you feel if The Sims no longer needed to eat, drink or sleep? What if someone released a DLC for Grand Theft Auto that made impossible to steal a car?
This atrocity of a DLC crushed my spirit and wounded my soul. It is impossible for me to understand how a long-established, formerly likeable independent game studio like Paradox would take the core gameplay mechanic of one of its best games and shoot it dead, like a horse in the street. Somebody took an axe to the warfare mechanics and irretrievably broke it.
Why, why, why would anyone in the entire country of Sweden permit this act of aggression? Sweden prides itself on its neutrality and non-involvement in foreign wars. Yet the release of this violent, insulting, belligerent piece of content is a declaration of war against its own fans.
I would like to think someone got demoted or lost their job over this. It’s not that I wish ill on other people, but at some point you have to have accountability. You have to have the courage to say: Look, you’re just not cut out to be a game designer, or a producer, or a brand manager, or whatever. You don’t know what you’re doing. You’re terrible at what you do and you are hurting our company and angering our fans. You ****. You are an embarrassment and you shouldn’t be allowed to do whatever it is that you’re doing.
Because whoever created and approved this fiasco doesn’t even play their own game, doesn’t like their own game, doesn’t like their fans, doesn’t understand what the appeal of their own game is, and in essence destroyed the game and irreparably harmed the brand.
This vile, ill-conceived atrocity saddens me to this day and has irrevocably destroyed the goodwill I used to feel towards Paradox. Yes, of course I can roll it back and I have and I still play the game pre-Conclave, but what this thing did to me was damage my trust in the company.
Report
PC
Summary Conclave gives your vassals some bite to go along with your bark, as the council that governs your realm will now demand some say in how you rule. Powerful dukes, regardless of competence, will require a seat at the table, and those left on the outside will be more likely to plot against you.
Rated T
for Teen
Platforms:
- PC
Initial Release Date: Feb 2, 2016
Developer:
- Paradox Development Studio
Publisher: Paradox Interactive
Genres:
