King's Bounty 2 | Preview, a promising revolution

King's Bounty 2 | Preview

There is little to do: this time 1C Entertainment seems to have done things very big. A few weeks ago we saw a closed-door presentation of King's Bounty 2, a title expected on August 24th on PC and consoles, and we fell in love with it to say the least. Impressions confirmed by the trailer seen a few days ago at E3 2021. A huge exquisitely fantasy open world, a plethora of turn-based battles with a strategic flavor and a world of things to do: if a good morning starts in the morning, that of King's Bounty it seems to be a very pleasant journey, which we can't wait to experience. But let's go in order.

A fantasy world to explore

With King's Bounty 2 the iconic series is preparing, by declaration of 1C Entertainment itself, to take the plunge, abandoning its clothes from indie to fully embrace those from major production. The immense fantasy world shaped by the software house for the title is a clear and glaring sign of this change of perspective and the trust placed in the project. In fact, in it we will be able to wander far and wide as in any Western AAA RPG, looking for treasures, solving quests and so on.

Obviously from the short piece of gameplay that was shown to us it was not possible to understand a I know the goodness and the vastness of this setting, but the impressions of what we have seen are certainly positive. Villages full of life, imposing buildings, fields in bloom and gloomy cemeteries: the world of King's Bounty 2 is taken with both hands by the classic fantasy imaginary and seems to have all the credentials to bewitch lovers of the genre. On the other hand, the animations, especially the facial ones, arouse some perplexity, which however remain of an overall satisfactory quality.

On the battlefield

If King's Bounty 2 has therefore declined the wandering from one area to another to a purely classic RPG experience, the fights remain those of always take place strictly in turns on hexagonal battlefields. These battles are activated either with the continuation of some quests or by entering large golden circles that we will find from time to time on the game map. In short, no monsters hidden in the tall grass like Pokèmon, but clearly visible threats.

The novelty of King's Bounty 2 in the clashes takes hold in the playing fields that follow the morphology of the area. For the first time in the series, these hexagonal chessboards are therefore also in 3D, with heights and other obstacles that take on a decisive and disruptive role in the various strategies. Trivially, if a platoon of archers does not have an unobstructed view, it cannot hit an opposing troop.

Another very interesting dynamic present in King's Bounty 2 is that in which every single troop in the game has three different ones different levels from each other also in terms of aesthetics as well as skills and statistics. What makes it more interesting is the fact that 1C Entertainment's work gives us the opportunity to recruit virtually every type of warrior and monster in the title. The only exclusion from this list are the troops belonging to the Void, absolute evil of the title that grips the game world.

Many choices, only one ending

Returning now to the King's RPG mechanics Bounty 2, very promising seems to be the presence of a system with 4 ideals, which we can modify according to our behaviors and our choices at stake. Respecting justice will allow us to obtain order points, while showing firmness in certain situations, power points and so on. However, positioning yourself in one of the four points does not only guarantee different characterizations of our character, but also a whole series of changes during the game. A character moved towards anarchy will therefore have faster troops, for example, while a more dedicated to order will have greater health points and a more rocky defense. Although it is then possible in any case and with every positioning of the hero in the matrix of ideals to recruit any troop, hiring fighters belonging to an ideal far from ours will lower their morale and verve in battle.

All this combined with the possibility of making different choices in the quests, it enriches the characterization of the character even more, allowing the player to shape him to his liking. A whole series of narrative crossroads, which will flow, however, as stated by 1C Entertainment itself, in a single ending. In short, all roads lead to, hopefully, the defeat of the Void.

King's Bounty 2: in conclusion

There's no need to go around it: King's Bounty 2 looks really cool. 1C Entertainment has indeed decided to raise the stakes with this last chapter of the series and it seems to have done it in the right way. Without betraying its turn-based strategy soul, King's Bounty 2 is preparing to welcome an articulated and complete RPG framework, thus opening up to numerous new fringes of players. Not so long until 24 August, but after what we have seen, the wait seems really interminable.

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