King’s Bounty 2 – -apkrig

Russian studio 1C Entertainment has finally released the long-awaited addition to the game series King’s Bounty, the legendary predecessor and companion of the popular Heroes of Might & Magic, directly on all consoles (Xbox, PlayStation, Switch) and on the PC. If you know Heroes, you know what’s going on here: Traveling through the fantasy realm, leading your own army, and strategically fighting with all the possible clutter that will come your way.

King’s Bounty 2 lured the kingdom of Nostria into the sweeping open world with magnificent trailers and promised an epic story, battles and a third-person view. Leckdo certainly raised his eyebrows above the atmosphere reminiscent of such a Dragon Age. Unfortunately, it’s really just reminiscent. And you better forget the comparison to Heroes, too.

Nuda v Nostrii

Nostria is a typical land of high fantasy full of dwarves, undead, spells and mentally ill wizards. Some would rightly call it generic and kitschy, but this kingdom is clearly not ashamed of such a label. And he’s doing well.

King’s Bounty 2 really creates a fairytale impression with its environment and bright colors on each corner contrast with the black and black evil that spoils the landscape here and there. You will come across snowy forests, mysterious cemeteries full of living corpses, castles, fortresses, villages, swamps, inns or the hideout of a mad mage. In short, everything a fantasy RPG needs.

However, the vast fields, towns, and roads of Nostria have one drawback: It is dead. You will find a lot of picturesque still lifes and panoramas, but the citizens of this kingdom just stand there, from time to time they shake and that’s it. The boredom of everyday life is also reflected in the beating and lengthy travel between locations. The panoramas turn gray, the squirming inhabitants look around, and when another epic task sends you to the same location for the fifth time, all that remains is to groan.

Unfortunately, the system of fast travel using altars, which are not very happily distributed, does nothing. Don’t even rely on using your faithful steed. Before you call him and climb into the saddle, you could be walking in the neighboring town.

To wander through the landscape from the perspective of a third person, an orchestra with vocals plays for you, which with each of its tones and beats again highlights everything you can imagine under the term “generic high fantasy”. The motifs themselves, even if it is more of a musical cotton ball without supporting melodies, could pleasantly complete the environment, but unfortunately they are repeated too often and when you listen to a song playing for battle on the fiftieth day, your ears will turn upside down.

Mukl strikes again

Just like a fairytale landscape, the story is generic. Right from the start, he will kick your face with knowledge: You start as a prisoner who is suddenly pardoned by the local ruler. Your task? Nothing less than saving the kingdom. Or maybe the world. Or something like that.

Unfortunately, you can forget about your favorite character’s many hours of chatter. At the beginning, you get to choose between a mercenary, a paladin and a witch with a different story background (but they all start in a dungeon). Again, don’t expect any original items in the served heroic menu, just like the world of Nostria, individual rivers are charged for epic high fantasy. Well, at least the game keeps its face.

In addition to the differences in the appearance of the character or the color of the voice, the main characters face a different distribution of points in the properties of order, chaos, wisdom and anarchy. You can get points by completing tasks and making decisions when solving them. Yes, you have the ability to influence how to solve some problems – you can betray someone, stab them in the ribs, or hug them, but the only real effect is to increase statistics or affect the morale of your army, which does not like when brave knights and villains fight side by side. paw. The impact of the decision on the story itself is usually minimal or non-existent.

Turn-based battles without a move to the gate

In addition to the story and walking around the world, an integral part of the game are, of course, the turn-based battles for which the King’s Bounty series became famous. In them, you command a large army (although unlike the Total War series represented by only a few pieces) and try to clear your opponents from the map at the cost of the least possible losses.

As is customary in today’s text, I will praise for a moment first. The game plan is beautiful and clear and the individual maps are visually and conceptually diverse. You will come across bare dark plains, rugged city streets with junk and obstacles behind which your units can hide, and hills that your shooting units will especially fall in love with.

The first stumbling block is control, because one can never be sure if one has chosen one or another unit of soldiers. Or where to actually click within the ability or spell icon to use them. It can easily happen that instead of triggering the ability, you will give the order to move just through the enemy’s field of activity, so that your unit, in addition to a wasted move, will also get a nice memorial.

After a few tragic battles that weren’t messed up through your own fault, and a few breathing exercises, you either get your hands on it or thank you for using it. There is a real feeling in the game that it was primarily designed for gamepad control. After this discovery, the battles will finally become at least a little fun, thanks to the good dynamics of rapid rotation.

It will also please a wide range of different units, whether they are infantry, shooting, equestrian, or those with magical abilities. Your cousins ​​can be brave knights and guards, as well as paws or golems, beautiful eagles or stinking undead.

You can influence them with the above-mentioned abilities, and your hero also supports his men with various defensive and offensive spells. If you initially chose the character of a warrior who has been advised not to cast spells, do not despair. She can use magic with disposable scrolls, and over time she will learn to juggle just like her fellow witch.

Humorously tragic are estimates of the strength of the enemy before the battle. You can sometimes knock a deadly enemy, that is, deadly according to the label of the enemy army, on the left rear shoulder blades and break your teeth on an allegedly similarly strong juice. As part of the story, you also have battles with a pre-prepared army, which often cause total frustration with the poor balance of forces, while you do not have the opportunity to change the initial settings and you only have the opportunity to try different tactics.

In addition to the strategic part, it is necessary to mention a small thing that personally spoiled my immersion in the story a bit. The main character or heroine travels the far reaches of the kingdom like a lone pilgrim, walking through the woods and streets and talking to him without obligation, but when a battle ensues, the whole army jumps out of his pocket. After an impressive, atmospheric solitaire, it really looks very contrasting.

Bitter game cocktail with potential

King’s Bounty 2 has embarked on an excellent, enticing mix of game genres, which, however, irritates its feet with clumsy control and no world at all. There we find wonderful views and nooks at every step, but the result is far too opulent and lifeless.

After a dozen hours of gameplay, you may experience clumsy control and tedious travel and wonder how all the intertwining stories and characters from Nostria will turn out, and King’s Bounty 2 will at least partially engulf you. Although the game world is generic up to the ceiling, the game has a certain charm that forces you to return to it, you don’t even know why.

If you are a fan of the series or high fantasy, you will not be taken away by a bit of the fairy tale, you do not require so much creativity, you can arm yourself with patience and you do not mind playing on a gamepad, do not hesitate to try the second part of King’s Bounty. For others, it is appropriate to approach this title with great caution.