A bloated but largely enjoyable experience.
When boiled down to its combat mechanics, Ruined King does a great job at adding depth to the tried and tested turn-based combat. As the game progresses however, it fails to add anything new or exciting to the gameplay, meaning the many MANY combat encounters during the game's dungeons can start to become a little repetitive. This, combined with the somewhat scuffed dificulty curve, means you can pretty much autopilot your way through much of the second half of the game. Despite not having random encounters per say, the enemies run fast enough and have a wide enough hitbox that dodging any combat in the game is pretty tough.
Many of the environments start out as exciting places to explore, with lots of nooks and crannies offering minor but satisfying items of loot. By late-game, however, there is simply not enough variety. The game takes place between two main settings: Bilgewater, the scuzzy pirate town by the sea, and the Shadow Isles, which is basically one giant haunted island. Within each of these zones, outside of a few isolated rooms, it really felt like you were trawling through the same spots over and over.
This lack of identity, as well as the slightly complex layout of some zones (not in a bad way), meant that checking the map was a constant necessity. Most of this game's UI is hidden behind at least 2 menus, meaning constantly opening up the pause, fiddling around for a while, closing, and then immediately needing to reopen after you inevitively forget which exit you need to take, or that you needed to enchant an item you just equipped, or blah blah blah. This really did weigh down the general experience of the game. More hotkeys would have massively sped up navigation and equipment management.
Maybe this was a me-problem, but I found one team comp much more playable than any other, meaning I stuck with it for most of the second half of the game. This, compounded with the fact that the game's final act feels like it lasts for about half the game, especially when we keep getting little minor distractions as we're on our way to the final boss, really dragged the experience out for me.
I definitely liked this game, but I find it a lot more interesting to talk about what I didn't like than what I did. It's a gorgeous game, especially when we get the comic animation style during story events - genuinely wow moments. And the story itself is strong, and your band of characters are a really diverse group. They're all well written, with nice motivation to help the story trundle along. Plus it's always nice to see some of your favourite characters in a different genre and some creative license. And I really mean it when I say the combat is good, I just wish it required mastering to beat the game.
Remove some of the padding, speed the menus and UI up across the board, and this is easily a 4-star experience for me.
When boiled down to its combat mechanics, Ruined King does a great job at adding depth to the tried and tested turn-based combat. As the game progresses however, it fails to add anything new or exciting to the gameplay, meaning the many MANY combat encounters during the game's dungeons can start to become a little repetitive. This, combined with the somewhat scuffed dificulty curve, means you can pretty much autopilot your way through much of the second half of the game. Despite not having random encounters per say, the enemies run fast enough and have a wide enough hitbox that dodging any combat in the game is pretty tough.
Many of the environments start out as exciting places to explore, with lots of nooks and crannies offering minor but satisfying items of loot. By late-game, however, there is simply not enough variety. The game takes place between two main settings: Bilgewater, the scuzzy pirate town by the sea, and the Shadow Isles, which is basically one giant haunted island. Within each of these zones, outside of a few isolated rooms, it really felt like you were trawling through the same spots over and over.
This lack of identity, as well as the slightly complex layout of some zones (not in a bad way), meant that checking the map was a constant necessity. Most of this game's UI is hidden behind at least 2 menus, meaning constantly opening up the pause, fiddling around for a while, closing, and then immediately needing to reopen after you inevitively forget which exit you need to take, or that you needed to enchant an item you just equipped, or blah blah blah. This really did weigh down the general experience of the game. More hotkeys would have massively sped up navigation and equipment management.
Maybe this was a me-problem, but I found one team comp much more playable than any other, meaning I stuck with it for most of the second half of the game. This, compounded with the fact that the game's final act feels like it lasts for about half the game, especially when we keep getting little minor distractions as we're on our way to the final boss, really dragged the experience out for me.
I definitely liked this game, but I find it a lot more interesting to talk about what I didn't like than what I did. It's a gorgeous game, especially when we get the comic animation style during story events - genuinely wow moments. And the story itself is strong, and your band of characters are a really diverse group. They're all well written, with nice motivation to help the story trundle along. Plus it's always nice to see some of your favourite characters in a different genre and some creative license. And I really mean it when I say the combat is good, I just wish it required mastering to beat the game.
Remove some of the padding, speed the menus and UI up across the board, and this is easily a 4-star experience for me.