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CK2 vs EU4

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If you're thinking of going into CK II then I would watch NG Paradox https://www.youtube.com/user/NGParadox
He goes over why he does what he does and goes through how do things. Specifically his Slavic Pagan run is still really good to see how most everything works, from managing empires to Crusades to proper Vassal management.
 
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If i had to pick only those two and that's pretty hard i'd say ck2. I'd say ck2 is a lot deeper without being needlessly complex. After a few hours i was able to pick it up. However i love both, i would recommend if you do get eu4 to check out the meiou and taxes 2.0 mod that should be released pretty soon. Everything they've posted about it basically looks like it will be one of the best paradox gaming experiences you can have.


But with that said ck2 has amazing mods as well that definitely add life to the game.
 
Shinkuro Yukinari said:
Neither. Buy Vicky 2 :p
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Vicky though is monstrously complex, it is a full blown industrialization simulator, with a heck of a lot of econ and production management. It truly is war by spreadsheet, and oh so addictive :D
 
well i guess most people answering here are ck2 players so tehy like ck2 more, i play since eu1 and i would say i preferk eu4 over ck2 by a lot.
ck2 is like rpgish u are a guy and then u are the son and you have ur family and intrige etc, ...
in eu4 u are the state ur not a person u the ghostlyhand over the state so much more like in the other games you played
also eu4 feels ... greater (not better just greater in scale)
 
I used to prefer EU4 but I've come to prefer CK2 mainly because EU4 is very gamey and has been moving in a direction I don't really enjoy (arcadey conquest).

Depends on what you are looking for in a game really.
 
wingren013 said:
I used to prefer EU4 but I've come to prefer CK2 mainly because EU4 is very gamey and has been moving in a direction I don't really enjoy (arcadey conquest).

Depends on what you are looking for in a game really.
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Same here, CK2 does a better job at immersion for the time period it describes (dynasty politics, religious conflicts, intrigue, personal and political conflicts merging, feudal vassalage, etc.). I would in fact enjoy an EU4 with the Victoria pops system a lot more than CK2 however, if it was available. My favourite Paradox game remains Victoria 2, but sadly development was stopped early on there so it feels lacking on various issues.
 
CK2 feels more relaxed and organic. I definitely enjoy the roleplay aspects.
 
Haldan said:
CK2 feels more relaxed and organic. I definitely enjoy the roleplay aspects.
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I agree, but I think that is largely down to the fact that in CK2 you are playing as an individual character at anyone time, whereas in EU4 it is much abstract, because you are playing as a nation.
 
Chreees said:
I agree, but I think that is largely down to the fact that in CK2 you are playing as an individual character at anyone time, whereas in EU4 it is much abstract, because you are playing as a nation.
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Well, you can do nations in a more non-abstract fashion like in Victoria 2. The EU4 has an abstract feeling because a lot of the mechanics (monarch points, development, splendour, trade power, the way in which production works, stability, overextension, etc.) tend to be game-made mechanics. Crusader Kings has fewer of these (prestie and piety are a bit gamey, but that´s about it), while Victoria 2 also uses nation states yet most of the numbers that you fight to improve are "real life" (e.g. population - with ethnic and religious breakdowns, public support, good production and prices, trade tariffs, taxes - explicit by social class, budgets, etc.).
 
In my opinion EU4 is a better game, it's newer and has more features of a game, more balanced, more goals, BUT CK2 is more fun actually.

CK2 just has lots of things that can happen, and is less 'linear' in the sense that in EU4 a nation's strengths have very direct consequences in the way the game unfolds, while in CK2 many different things can happen as the inheritance mechanics and the simulated frailty of human life play a huge role in how the different nations rise and fall, kind of more like real history.

Like other players have said it feels more organic, and as the advantages between the available parts of the world are rather narrow, very often the big players will be different empires, sometimes no single great empire rises in a large part of the map, while in EU4 you only see slight variations in the great powers with Europe always having most of them and most will tend to grow consistently over time. I think both simulate their time periods rather well in this regard.

I say this having played CK2 for 1000 hours and EU4 for 2500.
 
Both games are amazing. EU is about nations in a 'macro' way. You can´t micromanagement the life of your ruler. Your responsibility is to take care of a nation and improve it beyond your borders if you can.

CK2 is like 'The Tudors' where intrigues and scandals happen all the time. It´s about plots, kills, family and all the kind of things happening inside the palace. It´s very fun!
 
TotalKnowledge said:
Both games are amazing. EU is about nations in a 'macro' way. You can´t micromanagement the life of your ruler. Your responsibility is to take care of a nation and improve it beyond your borders if you can.

CK2 is like 'The Tudors' where intrigues and scandals happen all the time. It´s about plots, kills, family and all the kind of things happening inside the palace. It´s very fun!
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The issue with that is, that isn't how countries worked in the real world, and there were always factions and rulers working against the interests of the nation, but those nuances obviously aren't reflected in the player, whereas because in CK2 you are playing as an individual those nuances are represented.
 
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