King’s Bounty is the oldest series of popular RPG strategies. Both the first part from 1990 (created by New World Computing, the creators of Heroes of Might and Magic) and its later remake released by 1C Entertainment are classics of the genre. But now the big brand is moving into the third dimension. Is there a method in this madness?
The Witcher meets Heroes of Might and Magic
The creators do not hide their inspiration with the great RPG titles that have achieved success in recent years. It is the influence of the Witcher or Mass Effect series that made King’s Bounty 2 move to the third dimension, and the camera will be hung behind our hero’s back during the journey. A beautiful world is to be filled with fights, logical puzzles and a mass of characters representing various factions. Will we actually be able to talk about such a momentum? It’s hard to say, but graphically the game reminded me of Kingdom Come: Deliverance more than The Witcher.
You’re a wizard Harry! – I’m what?
Depending on how the player completes the mission, the character’s skills are also shaped. We have four specializations: Order, Power, Finesse and Anarchy. The creators swear that the character’s development is crucial, unique and has a huge impact on the gameplay. However, we will learn about who we will develop in the near future – out of the three available heroes, only Ivar has been presented – a warrior who specializes in buffs to units. Apart from him, there will be a paladin who, according to the teachings of General Zhukov, will bet on the number of troops and a magician casting spells. Of course, the heroes will be able to collect equipment that will allow them to increase the statistics of their units. To sum up, apart from the new character development system, the available heroes will be similar to their counterparts from the King’s Bounty from 2008.
[read in Geralt’s voice] Plague
The goal of our journey will be to defeat Blight – the mana depletion plague from the world in which the story of King’s Bounty is set. However, do not be afraid of time limits – the arch enemy will wait calmly when we will enjoy the game, estimated at around 40 hours. Despite not having more than one ending, the developers want King’s Bounty 2 to be a story for 3-4 adventures, so fans of maxing games can look forward to months of fun *. From the presentation prepared by the creators, we learned little about the plot, but the fragments shown did not indicate any outstanding story – in my opinion, it is only a background for the presented world, in which there is a visible rivalry of several opposing groups. Interestingly, due to the plot, the mana will not renew, but only a valuable resource which we will have to get somehow. In the atmosphere of all-consuming extermination, it is not difficult to fight, so we will certainly reach for the sword in the game.
It’s over, Anakin! I have the high ground!
Battles are carried out in turn-based mode, which we have known for 30 years, i.e. since the premiere of the first part of King’s Bounty. As the game enters the third dimension, my favorite remake feature will be missing – manipulating the guards to grab the treasure and escape without causing a fight, as the fights start automatically after cutting the invisible stumbler.
The arenas where we have to cross swords with computer adversaries, faithfully reflect the area surrounding us during the exploration, along with the hills and uneven terrain present in the area. Thanks to this, units can get the beloved High Ground by all Star Wars fans or hide behind a wall from enemy troops. Interestingly, the story choices will affect the outcome of the battle, as we’ll get unexpected support from time to time. In the presented fragment of the game, a unit of allied griffins – thanks to earlier choices – appeared on the map and caught the enemy shooters, and our units suffered much less losses in the fight against bandits.
Staying Alive
Units that are lucky enough to survive the fight against the enemy will be rewarded with experience points, which means they can be promoted. Units can reach a maximum of level 3, and potential bonuses (depending on the unit) include better statistics, a greater range of passive skills or new active abilities. We also have to prepare for a wide range of potential pets – virtually every unit found on the map will sooner or later be available for recruitment by our hero, and the only nation from which we will not recruit are representatives of the aforementioned plague (Blight). The creators encourage you to frequently change units in the hero’s private army – we will not go through the whole game with one type of warrior.
31 years have passed as one day
The premiere of King’s Bounty 2 from 1C Entertainment will take place in March 2021 on PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch, and the publishing support for the game is provided by Koch Media. The creators are already declaring that if the game is successful, additions will be made in the coming years, so we can expect a story similar to the one from the premiere of the remake – then King’s Bounty was successful, and over the years we finally got 4 large expansions. Do I think this is the most important game of the coming year and I can’t see the world outside of it? Not at all. On the other hand, I am not going to miss the opportunity to check out King’s Bounty 2 in person – usually the best parties are the ones we turn our noses to at first.
* unless someone in the budgetary loves King’s Bounty and plays only during working hours, then he will spend an equal month in front of the computer