Somehow I had not logged this on backloggd. Well, time to correct that mistake. King of Dragon Pass is easily one of the best strategy games I've ever played, and despite not being primarily a roleplaying game, also easily plows over most of that genre in terms of actual roleplaying. To finish the game you have to build an intuitive grasp of the Iron Age-inspired culture you are leading, and use that to respond to situations appropriately. It's a fantasy setting too, so sometimes that cultural knowledge is knowing that bringing out a lawyer to sue the ghost is the correct solution to a haunting.
In addition, events are a joy to read, and the art that comes with them is wonderful. If there's any criticism to levy against this game, I suppose it would be the randomness of heroquests, which can sometimes be frustrating when you are trying to finish the game. The strategy layer itself isn't that satisfying either most of the time either, but I see it as mostly a vessel for the narrative so I was never too bothered by it.
Definitely play! The best duck warriors outside of Suikoden 3 also included!
Edit: I see now that someone else mentioned the legal claim thing, well, it is a memorable event.
In addition, events are a joy to read, and the art that comes with them is wonderful. If there's any criticism to levy against this game, I suppose it would be the randomness of heroquests, which can sometimes be frustrating when you are trying to finish the game. The strategy layer itself isn't that satisfying either most of the time either, but I see it as mostly a vessel for the narrative so I was never too bothered by it.
Definitely play! The best duck warriors outside of Suikoden 3 also included!
Edit: I see now that someone else mentioned the legal claim thing, well, it is a memorable event.
King of Dragon Pass is that rare pleasure, a game that feels fresh and almost totally unique 25 years later. From a high level, it sounds like a strategy game crossed with an RPG: using a simple menu-based interface, you must lead your clan to prosperity over the course of decades, managing your people’s wealth, happiness, and relationships with your gods and other clans. Several times a year, you’re faced with a narrative event that requires you to make a decision as clan leader. Along the way, you’re helped by a group of clan nobles who offer advice and guidance.
But where most other games treat culture as something intrinsically narrative, in KoDP, culture is gameplay. Set in the rich fantasy world of Glorantha, every single one of the game’s systems is governed by the laws, customs, traditions, history and religion of your people, the Orlanthi. It’s a complex harmony of gameplay and worldbuilding where learning the game means learning about Orlanthi culture and fully inhabiting your role as a clan chieftain. In so doing it carves out its own genre, cultural roleplaying. It’s practically a crime that this game was such a commercial failure on release and has exerted such little influence on video games as a whole.
But where most other games treat culture as something intrinsically narrative, in KoDP, culture is gameplay. Set in the rich fantasy world of Glorantha, every single one of the game’s systems is governed by the laws, customs, traditions, history and religion of your people, the Orlanthi. It’s a complex harmony of gameplay and worldbuilding where learning the game means learning about Orlanthi culture and fully inhabiting your role as a clan chieftain. In so doing it carves out its own genre, cultural roleplaying. It’s practically a crime that this game was such a commercial failure on release and has exerted such little influence on video games as a whole.
There is no game quite like KoDP, not even Six Ages. The spectacular achievement of this game is that there are 2 ways of being successful: memorising every "good" choice in every situation and treating it like a math problem (the objectively wrong way of playing the game), or by roleplaying as an Orlanthi, really understanding what their whole deal is and intuitively understanding what each situation calls for. You shouldn't exorcise a spirit, you should launch a legal claim against it. That sort of thing.