This first quarter of 2021, projects still in development are beginning to gather that cannot wait to finish their development to be published in stores such as Steam, with King Arthur: Knight’s Tale being one of the first to take advantage of this premise. And the funny thing is that it comes from a successfully funded project on KickStarter … last November 2020! And at 155,885 lbs .
Developed by NeocoreGames, author of the adventures of Van Helsing in the Diablo plan, apart from Warhammer 40,000: Inquisitor, we are facing a change of record by this Hungarian study, since it had already created two video games about King Arthur ( King Arthur I & II ), but with a dose of role and strategy, seeing how now he opts directly for the classic SRPG style.
A very different story for King Arthur …
Its creators define it as a hybrid between the XCOM turn-based tactics with the traditional part of RPGs, but with thinking about the fantastic Divinity: Original Sin from Larian Studios we will have a much more approximate idea.
King Arthur: King’s Tale is a highly dynamic tactical RPG , in the vein of other games that combine free exploration with turn-based combat, from the Wasteland to Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden. This means that until the enemy sees us or an event in history is activated, we can continue with total normality when moving around the stage. The transition is practically instantaneous, but even the fighting is very dynamic, without having to suffer the tedious waits of other SRPGs that change slowly between characters.
What is striking, in any case, is how his story starts, since it shows us a much darker vision of the legend of the Knights of the Round Table, since to begin with, we are witnesses of how Sir Mordred murders King Arthur in a bloody battle, seeing how in his last breath, the king himself also destroys his nemesis. But it is that far from being there, both are resurrected (in the case of Mordred, through the Lady of the Lake), with a King Arthur who has gone completely insane, turning the kingdom of Britain into a nightmare. And there we will decide which attitude to continue controlling Mordred .
Thus, we take on the role of Mordred, son of Arthur himself according to the stories and former black knight. It will be in our hands to decide how to rule the kingdom of Camelot once it is restored, by influencing the development of history by the moral decisions that we will make, whether they are good or evil. This will gradually modify the section called “Morality Events”, where all vital events will be recorded, accompanied by a board from which to see what we can unlock according to the attitude taken and also based on religion.
The dialogues with the characters that we come across will be essential, except (from the outset) for those who, by history, are destined to join our cause. It does influence, in any case, for other types of events, the first of all being the kingdom of Camelot itself, being able to choose to stay with the throne and reign with cruelty or to restore the Round Table and return the kingdom to its stage. of glory. All this will change the things to unlock .
Without going any further, our decisions will also influence when we come across some characters or others within the kingdom of Camelot, no matter how much later in our journey through the missions we come across other historical figures, such as Sir Kay, Sir Balan or Lady Dindraine, each with his class.
King Arthur: Knight’s Tale has a lot of potential
Regardless of the primordial state in which this version of King Arthur: Knight’s Tale is found (it is not well optimized, with quite long loads, apart from experiencing some crashes; something logical knowing that it is version 0.0.2 ), it is a quite SRPG consistent in terms of battles, with a lot of dynamism when moving through the squares or alternating between each hero, no matter how much it is ruled by turns (ours and the enemy’s, of course).
Before starting a battle, in free exploration, we can even adopt a different formation to avoid unwanted surprises when we suffer an ambush, that we can only modify the position of our heroes in certain battles . Specifically, in which we see the enemy waiting and there are different entry routes, being able to decide which one suits us best. That’s cool.
Already in the middle of battle, it behaves in essence like any SRPG, except for the fact that we can alternately alternate between each hero without ending our turn. And all because each character has a certain number of action points, which is spent when moving, attacking or using any of the skills that we have previously unlocked. By default, attacking consumes three points, but if we don’t move, we can attack twice in a row. Or, with certain equipment, even three, since some items subtract one point from the attack requirements … Although not all equipment is advantageous.
Throughout my multiple battles, what I have made clear is that the most advisable tactic is to opt for a good defense, dosing the action points and placing the heroes in a guard position in areas with cover, to make the enemy come up to us and attack it automatically.
This tactic also entails its risks when there are rival archers, who can reach us with a distance of eight squares, but for something we will also get the services of Lady Dindraine to remedy it, being an invaluable ally despite having little defense. It is compensated with the rest of the knights, of great defense and a not inconsiderable offensive power, being a joy to combine them controlling all the essential parameters of an SRPG, such as knowing perfectly how far the enemy can move or attack, even without “clicking” on his head. NeocoreGames has it all under control.
To top it off, there is the evolution of Camelot itself, with different areas that we will be enabling by rebuilding them with the money obtained in the battle and by investigating, with chests or corpses to loot. And it will be essential not to neglect the castle, since from there we will heal ourselves, we will access the market to obtain better equipment and get rid of the one that does not serve us …
King Arthur: King’s Tale has everything to hook me and I’m looking forward to it .
- Platforms : Steam | In the future, PS5 and Xbox Series X | S
- Multiplayer : no
- Developer : NeocoreGames
- Company : NeocoreGames
- Released : Jan 26, 2021 (Steam Early Access)
- Price : 34.99 euros