10/10 Would invade the holy land again

This game is one of my more played games and for good reason. In this game you can choose to play as any large or small dynasty starting from right before the viking era, up until the late crusades. You can start as a low count and build yourself up to emperor in one life if you're determined enough, or you can be a merchant republic and command trade routes. Not only do you have to watch out for invading neighbours, but also plagues and the black death. If you're smart enough, you can even cheat death and become immortal and become the mightiest Emperor to ever rule the old world. You can pretty much do anything you imagine.

You can play the game without all of the DLC but it is much more enjoyable with them enabled, I'd also recommend waiting until they go on sale as some of it can be pretty over priced for what it is. A lot of the Workshop content is to die for and a lot of the content doesn't require the DLC either. It might look intimidating to play due to the UI and the mechanics, but the game is really easy to learn and once you get the hang of it, the game is a breeze.