A new strategy game is set to be released on Steam on July 18, which many are looking forward to: Norland mixes the busy view from RimWorld with malicious RPG elements from Crusader Kings 3. MeinMMO author Schuhmann says: These are 2 of his favorite games, and he should actually be looking forward to Norland. But he is skeptical after being somewhat disappointed by the gameplay experience of Norland.
What kind of mix is this?
The basic idea of Norland is reminiscent of Crusader Kings 3: You build an empire, but play as the ruling class, which cares little for the people and pursues its own ambitions. The rulers want to eat, drink, and have sex. The relationships between the individual nobles are crucial; new stories keep emerging, keeping Norland dynamic.
While Crusader Kings 3 largely occurs in the player’s mind, with reading texts, Norland depicts the whole hustle and bustle like RimWorld with stylized figures.
It sounds like a wild mix, but RimWorld and Crusader Kings 3 have an excellent reputation as games that continually tell new crazy stories, and Norland has also made it to the top 20 wishlist on Steam. The early access release is on July 18 (via Steam).
Great anticipation for Norland – but many open questions as well
Will this be a success? That seems questionable at the moment. A demo has already been released and it was well received and found some fans.
However, even though I am precisely the target audience for Norland, the demo didn’t convince me back then, and I love both RimWorld and Crusader Kings 3. Yet, I found Norland too chaotic and arbitrary; I couldn’t get into the game.
The community around the game is still relatively quiet, although it’s clear there is a target audience interested in Norland.
Initial reports, such as from PCGamer, attest to Norland’s great potential, but make it clear that the title still has some balance issues in the details and will clearly be an early access title, albeit an advanced one.
PCGamer criticizes especially a mechanic involving rings, which brings the game into a permanent, unresolved imbalance of dissatisfaction – which sounds like a big red warning flag for every strategy gamer.
All attempts to copy the cult games have failed so far
What could go wrong? Ultimately, both Crusader Kings 3 and RimWorld are unusual hit games of their developers, into which a lot of work and time have been invested. We will have to wait and see if Norland can capture the unique charm of these games right at release – and if they don’t succeed, whether Norland then gets enough time to mature.
Because ultimately both games continually tell new stories that arise from the game world – for this, a polished world and a logically coherent game mechanic are essential. Other games that have attempted to copy the success of Crusader Kings 3 or RimWorld have been unable to establish themselves.
I have started several games in recent years that have tried to imitate either Crusader Kings 3 or RimWorld and have quickly given up on all copies and turned back to the original: Games like Going Medieval, Stars Dynasties or Great Houses of Caldaria failed to captivate me.
I must even shamefully admit that RimWorld spoiled me for the original of the genre, Dwarf Fortress. I wanted to dive in with the Steam release, but ultimately spent only 22 hours on it.
I am curious if Norland will at least end this trend for me.
If you want to read how the demo of Norland was received and how enthusiastically many players reacted to the unusual title, we recommend this article: Steam: New game is RimWorld in the Middle Ages, it is received very well – “I will sink hundreds of hours of my life into it”
