Medieval Dynasty is my most recently played game on the PlayStation 5, and it is a new favorite. Now, my favorite games are mostly RPGs. But Medieval Dynasty is a combination sandbox-simulation-adventure-crafting sort-of-RPG, set in a large open world. Some people have described Medieval Dynasty as a survival game (ick, no thank you). It wasn’t a survival game to me, though, because I turned those options off! 

Now imagine this…

Imagine you are in Skyrim (humor me). Imagine the Jarl of Whiterun has a secret, and after a few quests, he reveals it to you. It’s a real shocker, but once you know, you know. Now you can live your life. 

Now imagine the Jarl gives you permission to own a house. Typical, right? But this time, imagine the house is on 10,000 acres of land outside the city walls. And you can place your house anywhere, on a hill, by a lake, in the woods, which by the way, you can cut down. There are a few wolves and boars and some big buffalo, but no dragons or vampires. No creepy stuff. No necromancers. 

Now imagine that you can just settle in and build your small farm or medium-sized fishing village or big mining town (or whatever). You can marry Ysolda or Sorex Vinius (or whomever) and raise the baby that will take over your dynasty someday. Imagine that! 

Because that is Medieval Dynasty. Skyrim, but cozy. 

I am comparing this game with Skyrim because both games are so open, and so medieval, and both games offer so many different options for players. And I’m contrasting this game with Skyrim because this is the Skyrim that my battle-weary Dragonborn heroine has longed for, and why she fast travels back “home” to Whiterun after every gross dungeon crawl. 

In reality Medieval Dynasty is the anti-Skyrim. You are not a legend and the world is not in peril. You are a regular guy, who arrives in an unnamed valley after fleeing some unspecified war, and your only goal is to make a life for yourself. Note that you cannot in any way customize your character. But that is nothing, because the game experience is entirely customizable in every other aspect. You can turn turn off survival elements and increase xp. And you can build almost anything, anywhere. 

Oh, and the valley of Medieval Dynasty is beautiful! It is stunning, in all of its four glorious seasons. The game itself is about exploration and creativity. Play it, and you will know why they use the term sandbox to describe games like this. I know I loved it! 

Now, if only in the real world I could switch off hurt and hunger in an instant, and chop down a tree with five swings of an axe, I think I would build a log-and-limestone farmhouse in a beautiful valley too. And I would not leave a forwarding address. 

Trailing Sleeves gives Medieval Dynasty 10 / 10 bowls of soup.