I was recently perusing some video game news sites when I heard that Crusader Kings III is being ported to both PS5 and Xbox Series. While I’m not opposed to such a move, allowing video game developers to make more money by releasing their games on other platforms can only be good, I confess that I’m rather confused by how they’ll have the player interact with the game using only a controller. Based on my personal experiences with Paradox games, it’s extremely difficult for me to see how this can be accomplished in a way comparable to the PC version which uses a keyboard and mouse to interact. Taking this into account, I thought it might be interesting to take a look at a few genres of video games that I believe are best played on a PC.
Of course, as usual with these articles, I feel that it’s important that I give a disclaimer that the genres of video games that I believe are best played on PC are my own personal opinions. I play all of my games exclusively on PC and I personally consider PC to be the best gaming platform. However, I understand that many people prefer to play on consoles, mobile, etc. and I am not trying to discredit those platforms if those are what you like to use to play video games. However, I do genuinely believe that there are certain video game genres that are a better experience on PC due to the control scheme and I simply wish to share that information.
Since I started off the article by discussing Crusader Kings III, the first genre I would like to touch on is strategy games. This genre typically sees the player commanding an army, city, nation etc. and quite often requires planning and, as the name implies, strategy to overcome your opponents. This genre is surprisingly diverse with subgenres including Real Time Strategy, Turn Based Strategy, Grand Strategy, 4X etc. but something that’s particularly important to note is that strategy games are heavily associated with PC gaming. Instead of focusing on indistinct reasoning such as the taste of PC gamers or system power, I’d like to state that I’m confident that the reason that strategy games are much more popular on PC is due to the control scheme. Keyboard and mouse allows players to respond quickly with precision and with multiple shortcuts due to the wide variety of inputs available. In contrast, using a controller feels clumsy, imprecise and sluggish when it comes to strategy games in general and strategy games developed for console tend to use very different UI such as with Halo Wars and Valkyria Chronicles.
The next genre that I would like to take a look at are point and click games. Quite heavily associated with adventure games, these games typically see you encountering a variety of puzzles which are solved by using the correct combination of items while you explore the environment and talk to characters. As the name implies, the way you interact with the game is to point at a specific spot on the screen and click, causing your character to walk to that specific spot, interact with objects or characters or to use items or actions from a menu. Famous examples of this genre would include games such as Leisure Suit Larry, King’s Quest, Monkey Island, Day of the Tentacle, Grim Fandango etc. While I would personally argue that these games are easier to use a controller with than strategy games, it doesn’t take away the fact that using a controller is slower and more awkward than using a keyboard and mouse and that many point and click games are still best played on a PC.
Controversially, I’m sure, I and many others would also argue that the vast majority of games with a first person view are better to play on a PC than on a console. Taking a look at the enormously popular First Person Shooter genre, it is clear that using a keyboard and mouse is far superior to a controller. As part of an early crossplay playtest Microsoft oversaw in which “extremely talented console gamers were pitted against “mediocre” PC gamers“, the console gamers were defeated every time to such an extent that it was considered to be “embarrassing to the XBOX team”. Much of this was blamed on how precise the keyboard and mouse is over a controller, to the point now where first person shooters on console have to include aim assist in order to make up for the deficiencies of using a controller.
While I would argue that this benefit is much stronger in First Person Shooters, I still believe that any game with a first person view benefits from keyboard and mouse. Taking the Elder Scrolls series as an example, a first person role-playing game franchise, these games require much less accuracy and precision than a first person shooter with the only possible comparison perhaps being whenever you use a bow. Nonetheless, interacting with objects in the world as well as reacting to ambushes or sudden appearances is much more pleasant using a keyboard and mouse. I also find it interesting to look at Amnesia: The Dark Descent, a game that I played recently, and try to imagine playing it with a controller rather than a mouse and keyboard. The game has a fantastic physics engine which sees you dragging open drawers or lifting up the lid of a chest and then precisely aiming your cursor over the items inside to pick them up, all while possibly being pursued by horrors. While Amnesia: The Dark Descent has been released on consoles since its initial PC release, I can’t imagine ever playing that game with a controller rather than a keyboard and mouse.
While it is ultimately up to the player to decide how they wish to play their video games, I do honestly believe that there are plenty of genres where it is best that they be played on PC due to the control scheme. Nonetheless, I hope that, when Crusader Kings III is released on consoles, that Paradox manages to find a way to make Crusader Kings III comfortable for console players to play and that console players reward that with healthy sales and support. Let me know your thoughts on genres of video games best played on PC, your thoughts on Crusader Kings III being released for consoles, if you agree or disagree with any of the points I made and any additional information you might have on the topic.
Thanks for reading and if you wish to seek any of the titles I mentioned, don’t hesitate to use amazon.co.uk or amazon.com for all of your needs! Also feel free to follow my curator page on Steam “JRPG Reviews” for thoughts and opinions on any JRPGs that I play and my YouTube channel “Victory Achieved Gaming” where I guide my friend through challenging games.