King’s Bounty II review. An old tale in a new way – Igromania

The main enemy King’s Bounty II – time. And it’s not only about the plot in which the ancient magic plague returned to the vastness of the kingdom of Nostria. While the entire industry is trying to keep up with progress, the role-playing game is 1C Entertainment equal to the hits of the first half of the 2010s. And at the same time she calls herself the heiress of one of the most beloved domestic franchises, which has raised a whole generation of loyal fans. That’s so impudence!

However, as soon as you stop running the stopwatch and look over your nostalgic glasses, you will see a bright, talented game. Ugly in places, but well-knit, beautiful and extremely ambitious, especially by the standards of the Russian industry. Not a revolution, but a more or less modern reading of familiar mechanics and plots. Since the legend is so good, why not listen to it again?

Nostria can hardly compete in size with any Skyrim, but it takes on the density of content: new quests, secrets and battles are found here at every turn.

Between the past and the future

The plot of King’s Bounty II may even seem topical: the country is engulfed in a mysterious pandemic, refugees gather under the towers of the capital, politicians wash their hands, and the ecological situation is getting worse every day. Life energy, Mana, inexplicably leaves the lands of the kingdom, and even wise druids find it difficult to gather strength and get out of depression. However, there is hope. At the next court ball, the soothsayer chooses the “Savior of Nostria” among those present – but then the old king has a seizure, and the newly-minted messiah is sent to prison.

However, the player learns all this only after an hour or two. Authors prefer to present the story in portions: the plot here is so intense that it is easy to get lost in the names and titles without preliminary preparation. Like the original “King’s Bounty. The Legend of the Knight “ (it is no coincidence that it was created with the participation of the writer Alexei Pekhov), the sequel is not shy about its literary nature and enthusiastically plunges into all aspects of the game world. Mysticism and everyday life, palace intrigues and pastoral love stories, ancient legends and strife between neighboring villages – a deep, thoughtful universe opens up to the Saviors of Nostria. And the passage guides not so much a heroic quest as a sense of curiosity: what stories await around a new turn?

Don’t forget to read the counter notes and announcements. Firstly, they are a stable source of jokes, and secondly, they provide important context for quests and can influence the decisions you make.

King’s Bounty II remains faithful to its predecessor and in the fundamentals of the gameplay. The protagonist travels through a conventionally open world, performs tasks such as “go-fetch-kill”, slowly gathers an army and fights with adversaries in turn-based battles. Traditionally, there are three characters of different classes to choose from: the warrior Aivar, the sorceress Katarina and the paladin girl Elsa. True, the difference between them is minimal. One gets more strength points at the start, the second – more effectively supports the army with witchcraft, the third – quickly expands the number of units. But over time, all the characteristics can be adjusted to suit yourself, and as a result, even Aivar, who is far from mysticism, will learn to use magic: scrolls with spells are generously scattered around Nostria.

King’s Bounty II takes a cinematic look from more modern games. The journey through the kingdom is shown from the third person, as in Fable or “The Witcher”… In battles, the camera flies beautifully around three-dimensional models of soldiers and the environment, and quests are now given not by static portraits, but by full-fledged voiced characters. The scale is impressive: during the passage you will have to meet at least a couple of hundred unique heroes, and their voices are practically not repeated (hello, Bethesda!), and many have their own unique story. For example, if you defeat a detachment of a city bully, the next time he will appear in the camp of robbers.

A chain of flashback quests from the Diviner allows you to play as different prominent figures from the history of Nostria, as well as test new magic techniques and units

Medieval park

The only pity is that the interaction with the characters is limited. The dialogues follow a linear, clearly defined scenario: no answer options, additional questions, and even serious differences for different classes – only the character of the main characters’ remarks changes. Ivor, as befits a soldier, is pragmatic and goes straight to the heart of the matter. The arrogant noblewoman Katarina does not miss a reason to click on the nose of the presumptuous plebeians, and the simpleton Elsa, on the contrary, has infinite sympathy for everyone and comically intensifies pathos: she turns even the delivery of a crutch to a lame worker into a great feat.

The only factor that really influences plot variability is the reputation system. Faced with a moral fork, it is necessary to make a choice in favor of one of the four ideals, and these ideals are not only ethical, but also gameplay. Force adepts go ahead to the goal, but they hold on better in battle. Followers of “Mastery” are ready to negotiate even with the devil and, having gained forbidden knowledge, open access to more powerful spells. Fans of “Anarchy” are looking for their own benefit in everything and, therefore, fill their wallet faster. Finally, the followers of “Order” fight back corruption, receive bonuses to health and more easily keep units of different beliefs in check. Not every dwarf (“Strength”) wants to fight side by side with ghouls (“Anarchy”) – without the corresponding bonuses, their morale and effectiveness will decrease.

Reputation also affects the attitude of other characters towards the player. An excessively decent hero will not be trusted by the bandits, but knights who have found out about the betrayal of their feudal lord will cross over to him

Therefore, the player simultaneously decides the fate of both the NPC and his own hero. The weight of the decisions is as high as ever – and, to the credit of the authors, such forks get in the way quite often. And the further, the more blurred the boundaries of “rightness”. Whom to support: a lonely old man who drunkenly sold his beloved pig, or a new owner of a cattle? Is it worth fighting for the king’s power if His Majesty’s guards have long ceased to help ordinary people? As you progress through, the impression of Nostria and its inhabitants becomes more and more complex. Partly because designers tightly control the development of history and unobtrusively cheat with the “openness” of the world: fences and sills turn out to be insurmountable obstacles, and a seemingly random ravine forces you to go around – just across the nearest bridge where the enemy army is located. In fact, the kingdom is divided into separate isolated zones. Inside them, relative freedom of movement is allowed, but all transition points are rigidly tied to the plot and open only at the right time.

This illusion of freedom is not very striking, but it still pulls you out of immersion a little. The world of King’s Bounty II does not seem to be a living organic space, but a kind of fantasy Disneyland. All paths are outlined, all attractions are arranged, all dialogues follow a pre-approved scenario. But there is nowhere to be outraged – the rides are still fascinating.

Side quests often provide clues to the main ones. Are the boss crossbowmen constantly killing your soldiers? There are just a couple of friendly skeletons in the area with increased resistance to arrows – if, of course, you have enough Mastery points

Chess with death

King’s Bounty II reveals itself best when it comes to turn-based battles. There are no random battles in the game: all triggers are placed in advance on the necessary edges, but this does not limit the gameplay, but on the contrary, makes each battle unique. In addition, when switching to combat mode, the geography of the area is preserved. Have you passed the field and noticed a small shed? It can be used as a comfortable sniper position.

Before the start of the battle, the game obligingly displays statistics on the number of enemies and even makes it possible to retreat in order to gather strength and adjust the composition of the army, or even find an alternative route to the arena. For example, a battle on a mountain tract can be entered both from the foot and from the top of the hill; the first option allows you to quickly deal with enemy eagles, and the second gives archers a bonus to shooting.

In general, the effectiveness of units depends on two factors. The first is the skill level of the squad, which rises for participating in battles and quickly hits the “ceiling”, which motivates players to regularly train new, previously untested fighters. The second parameter is the level of leadership of the hero, which allows you to increase the number of soldiers within a separate squad. So, at the beginning of the plot, the pack of war dogs consists of only four dogs, but by the middle of them there are already ten. That, in turn, affects the survivability: dead soldiers can be “cured” at the end of the battle, but a completely destroyed squad will have to be bought again. And they are not cheap.

When encountering ranged units, it is important to track the trajectory of the projectiles. Using natural cover and the acceleration buff, there is a chance to get close to enemy shooters without losses

As in the original King’s Bounty, army commanders watch the battle from the sidelines and provide magical support. The arsenal of spells is standard, but very wide: direct attacks, various buffs, healing and even summoning additional units from the world of souls – from ordinary golems and bears to a merciless chimera. In addition, some spells can be used outside of combat to get a temporary bonus to the characteristics of the entire army as a whole. The combat system in King’s Bounty II constantly surprises with depth. In fact, every battle is a spectacular puzzle to which you need to find a solution. It is pointless to throw cannon fodder at the enemy, and even the calculations of the game itself about the difficulty of the battle are often wrong. “Deadly enemy” sometimes loses dry, but a small but skillful army of necromancers can completely paralyze and blind all your troops.

Obviously, 1C Entertainment did not have the resources to realize all of its ambitions, but it is all the more pleasant that the developers are not trying to jump over their heads and correctly prioritize. Animation in such a “literary” game is secondary – but they did not skimp on the scriptwriters and voice acting. Graphics lacking gloss? It’s not scary: beauty can always be compensated for by the competent work of artists, and the game can be ported to Nintendo Switch will be much easier. The design of the locations is rather constrained, yes, but this allows you to more dynamically build the story and get rid of the lion’s share of bugs, the eternal problem of open-world games.

And here’s the result. While other studios overestimate their strength and then endlessly finish Cyberpunk 2077, Russian gamedev is releasing King’s Bounty II – a game that perfectly understands its limitations, but knows its worth. This is a beautiful, varied, large-scale project, stuffed with content to the eyeballs, which sets itself exactly two tasks. The first is to revive interest in the popular universe and declare a new rich world for future heroic adventures. The second is to demonstrate the skill of 1C Entertainment itself in order to work with bOmore budget and freedom.

King’s Bounty II performs both of these tasks more than worthily. We can only hope that the players will appreciate it.

Pleased

• an abundance of story content;
• exciting tactics;
• elaborated ENT;
• picturesque landscapes;
• convenient navigation around the world.

Upset

• excessively rigid design;
• inexpressive animation of dialogues;
• rude interface;
• little difference between classes.

How we played

In what: the key is provided by the publisher.

On what: PC.

How many: about 30 hours.

Achievement of the editorial office

“Think Mark!”

Lose the entire army on the first playthrough of the battle, then restart – and this time not to lose a single unit.

Verdict

King’s Bounty II is a world-class Russian RPG, albeit a couple of years late. The world of Nostria amazes with the scale and elaboration of the lore, the battles are impressive in depth, and technical imperfections are easy to forgive against the background of the excellent work of the artists.