My favorite game by paradox, and really ever, is Mount and Blade: Warband. Its an open ended medieval sandbox rpg set in the fictional land of Calradia. You create a character, decide what they look like and pick different backround options that determine skill bonuses and starting equipment. Once that's done you can either take part in an optional tutorial mission or tell the quest giver to go Funk himself.
Once in the open world you can do what you want. You can be a token adventurer running around completing quests, a merchant buying goods in one town and selling them in another for profit, a bandit preying on peasant farmers and trade caravans, a hedge knight going from kingdom to kingdom competing in tournaments or a mercenary fighting for the highest bidder.
Now the game is called warband so its kind of self explanatory you will want some soldiers. You can either reccruit seasoned mercenaries from taverns, or recruit raw peasants from villages, and gradually with experience see them become elite warriors. There are also companions you can find who are their own characters with unique backstories who you level up with the player. There are six skill trees for recruits for the six kingdoms you can recruit them from:
-Rhodok: Best defensive infantry, they use large board shields and polearms mostly, and okay crossbowmen but no cavalry.
-Swadian: Best Heavy cavalry mostly using lances to charge at the enemy, mediocre archers and foot soldiers.
-Nordic: Best Offensive infantry very proficient at taking castles, okay archers, no cavalry.
-Vaegir: Best archers very proficient at defending castles, okay cavalry and infantry.
-Kerghit: Best light cavalry, primarily horse archers and are highly mobile, nonexistent foot soldiers and ground archers.
-Saranid: Okay at everything, Best at nothing.
heres a map of calradia:
http://mountandblade.wikia.com/wiki/Cal ... rldMap.pngWhen your party gets into a fight on the main map screen, you go to a real time battlefield, like in total war, except you personally lead the charge and actually fight the enemy soldiers instead of clicking on unit cards. It has an innovative swordplay system that is easy to learn and hard to master, there are five attack directions and five block directions such as up down left right thrust controlled by mouse movements. You deal extra damage depending on your momentum, so you deal far more damage hitting someone from a moving horse than on the ground. there is also a jousting mechanic where if you are riding fast enough with a lance equipped you can couch your lance to deal astronomical damage to whatever you hit with it. There have been a few games who have ripped off mount and blades combat system (I'm looking at you chivalry: medieval warfare) but warband did it first and does it best.
Now you don't have to be an adventurer forever, With enough renown and honor you can become a vassal to a king. As a vassal you swear fealty to the king and are granted a fief, which can either be a town a village, or a castle. In return You have to fight for the king whenever he calls on you. If However you don't like the sound of serving in heaven, you can try your hand at reigning in hell by starting your own Kingdom. As King you always have to have one personal fief but any others you conquer you can give to your companions to make them vassals.
There really is no winning in the game, Its up to the player to decide what their victory scenario is be it conquer the world, amass a gigantic fortune, or just to be famous. When you feel that your character has fulfilled their destiny, you can have them ride into the sunset and you get an assessment of your playing based on how much gold you retired with how many battles you won or lost and your difficulty setting etc. and you can start a new.
Now I think this ran a little longer than I intended, but I felt any less would have been a disservice. Honestly, If you are into the middle ages and don't care about somewhat dated graphics (Its sort of in between morrowind and oblivion) and like paradox, I think you'll love this game as much as I do.
P.S This is not a paid ad I'm just a fan. However, if someone at paradox sees this and would like to make a donation to the Cpt._Funkotron retirement fund, that would be appreciated. Spreading the power of Funkiness isn't cheap you know.