From the very beginning, there are a lot of ways you can choose to play this game starting out, the character development system allows for a lot of interesting combinations of character traits that you can work with. You roll for different attributes such as strength, intelligence, or dexterity, and then to make things more interesting, you are "guided" through your adolescence, where your character is further shaped by the choices that you make for him, and as some of the outcomes have multiple ends depending on your luck, it can be different every time, which keeps things interesting.
You can become a weak but nimble and pious thief or a strong, slow Knight, and your character keeps changing as you play.
It gets even more fun when actual game play begins there are many areas and skills that you can choose to focus on. You can develop your estate with farms, ranches, and villages your estate can function as one of your primary money makers or something that you completely ignore. There are tournaments you can travel to across Great Britain, where you spend your time and gain a small fortune jousting and melee-ing. Another way to spend your time at these tournaments is in wooing the ladies, of which there are several to choose from. All have their virtues, vices, and
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mysteries, and as you speak to them you are also developing your relationship and standing with them. You can eventually marry all of then, though some are far more difficult to convince of your virtues than others! In addition to speaking with the ladies, there are dozens of characters that you can interact with across the country and build relationships with to affect game play, including regulars at the village Inns and monks at the various chapels.
There is also of course building your fortress to thwart enemies, improving your armor and weapons, and (my favorite!) storming your neighbor's fortresses in first-person shooter style, only with swords! These raids yield a lot of cash and some awesome weapons and armor, and are fun besides. Killing the enemies' guards and the leader of the Castle is very satisfying. Becoming the ruler of the estate is only icing on the cake. Once you are powerful enough, you can eventually storm London and become the King of Britain! And among other things, you can go on quests across the country to find mysterious armor and weapons to slay a dragon that lives in the caves of modern-day Wales. If you enjoy RPG-Strategy-Action genres, or even just historically oriented games, this is a classic!