The legends of King Arthur, Camelot, and the Woman of the Lake have been in style over the previous couple of years, and a variety of initiatives from weird motion video games to turn-based gacha are doubling down on these romantic influences. Neocore developed their very own slant on the legend, King Arthur: Knight’s Story, again in 2022 and the technique RPG was nicely obtained. Extra just lately, they’ve produced a distinct spin on the identical methods and engine, by means of the stand-alone King Arthur: Legion IX. This newest recreation takes the themes and characters into Historical Roman territory whereas nonetheless sustaining the versatile tactical methods, difficult fight, and darkly dour themes of its authentic inspiration. Having stated that, longer-term followers shall be clever to mood their expectations round how a lot Legion IX provides to the unique recreation. In contrast to their Roman namesakes, this legion is extra iteration than innovation.
The story revolves round a robust historic chief, Gaius Julius Mento, the commander of Rome’s legendary Legion IX and a distant relative of Julius Caesar. Alongside along with his undead troopers, introduced again from the useless realm of Tartarus to battle for his or her futures, he emerges within the fey land of Avalon and shortly locates the fledgling metropolis of Nova Roma. From this level, Gaius explores the encircling space in search of a method to convey his boss, Emperor Septimus Sulla, into Avalon after which into the residing world and the brand new glory of Rome. As he does this, he quickly will get embroiled within the characters and mythology of Avalon, with plentiful callbacks to the unique recreation. The narrative passes by simply sufficient, even when it suffers from the identical clumsy writing and blunt characterization as the unique.
Legion IX presents a melancholy setting, stuffed with swirling mists, skeletal bushes, and indignant Pict warriors. There’s not quite a lot of selection or level of distinction from the unique recreation, with a couple of reused areas. The Roman element on the brand new enemy faction and participant characters is good and evokes the macabre sense of a legion of useless centurions, however there’s nothing that takes the graphic design to a different degree. Music and sound operate equally, and the voice performing maintains a melodramatic and over-the-top method. Don’t anticipate a lot nuance right here or any memorable musical tracks or moments.
Nuanced, well-crafted dialogue, you received’t discover right here.
Nevertheless, the builders added a couple of twists to the strong turn-based fight. Firstly, the roster of characters (simply six complete) all boast new courses and talents. Though these don’t seriously change the tactical method, some are extra profitable at offering selection than others. The sorcerous Flamen class, embodied in one in every of your delightfully evil advisors, gives methods round inflicting injury over time to a number of enemies, mirroring injury between them, and customarily weakening them for everybody else to mush. That he’s not a powerful offensive weapon just isn’t a problem.
Later levels within the recreation introduce Final talents. Every character has their very own, starting from summoning an abyssal ally to easily whaling on an enemy with a number of hits. Ultimates acquire energy from soul power dropped by fallen enemies in battle and indicated with numerical counters signifying their worth. As soon as this a part of the sport opens up, methods to create optimum motion paths to gather soul power, in addition to deciding who to gather and when to activate an Final, add to the tactical choices. It’s important for tougher maps afterward: the power to flood a map with further short-term doppelgangers may be very helpful to take the warmth from a couple of hulking Formorians, for instance.
Lastly, battles make extra use of boundaries and terrain chokepoints than King Arthur: Knight’s Story, and when coupled with enemy therapeutic or spawn totems, this provides to the complexity and calls for of fight, particularly with the restricted roster. Within the authentic, there was extra scope (relying on who you recruited or found) to pack out a squad with tanks, scouts, or mages, whereas the concentrate on every Legion IX character having a selected position makes the maps and targets extra demanding and fascinating. Though it felt initially disappointing to have so few characters, this design determination in the end serves the sport nicely.
It’s grim, dirty and misty. Welcome to the overwhelming majority of Legion IX maps!
There are a raft of various tools runes, relics, and banners to search out or buy to additional empower your characters, and all talents have a number of unlockable bonuses to make them extra environment friendly. As there are solely six characters and 6 courses, every construct could be distinctive and gives a number of tactical selection. It’s possible to concentrate on empowering a couple of key talents or to unfold your assets throughout many, even when they aren’t as sturdy or price extra motion factors to make use of. There’s even scope to concentrate on a couple of key talents and max out a variety of passive abilities, reminiscent of rising your motion price or enhancing a personality’s bodily and psychological resistance. Taken as a complete, it’s an excellent system and the smaller forged of characters brings it into sharper aid than beforehand.
Shortly after the opening battles, the base-building parts return in a barely leaner format. Though there aren’t any wounds or accidents to cope with, there’s a blacksmith for tools upgrades and two totally different retailers as pathways to enhancing characters. Edicts, which implement a selected set of circumstances or benefits for an upcoming battle, additionally make a return offered you might have the coin and assets. One new space is the Lararium, the place collectable Lar busts could be activated. These marble statues present each a boon and a drawback throughout fights. On one map, a Lar’s capability to revive 10% of injury dealt as well being (even when campfire rests wouldn’t replenish well being as a draw back) labored nicely when there have been a number of smaller battles and the crew might hit exhausting.
Maybe essentially the most disappointing side of the sport is the shortage of enemy selection. Preventing by means of waves of the identical Picts, Misplaced, and Seelie adversaries feels very acquainted, and even the mission goal selection can’t masks the familiarity. Coupled with the inherent dreariness of the setting, it results in factors the place ploughing by means of a map to disclose new runes or a stash of treasured relic mud is the principle objective. The sport does supply some cool new dangerous guys within the endgame, reminiscent of elemental sprites and a wider vary of Fomorians, but it surely feels prefer it arrives too late. Points across the fiddly UI and deciding on characters within the battle maps persist, too. There have been many occasions characters ended up occurring an unintentional run and losing motion factors for my liking, with no choice to re-do.
I’m very conscious that all through this evaluation, I’ve handled the sport nearly like a DLC, however Legion IX is an odd recreation in some ways. It feels prefer it was an offshoot design of the unique recreation: a kind of parallel-world method that results in it being not solely very related however a step again from its predecessor in some instances. There’s no doubting that the morality system is simplified and the base-building has far fewer parts to handle. Even the fight, slick and efficient although it’s, solely iterates round acquainted methods; there’s nothing that alters the dynamics or shifts perceptions. Consistent with its tight focus, Legion IX just isn’t a protracted slog both, and aside from selecting the Demonic or Humanist path and a few robust closing boss maps, there’s little else to justify a replay.
This style and method are my catnip, and I might fortunately play Legion IX once more simply to discover totally different character builds and attain the complete demonic morality bonuses, however I believe many avid gamers will bounce straight off it even when they preferred the unique. If you happen to actually loved the unique, and wish extra of the identical, you’re in the appropriate place. If you happen to loved the unique however wished it addressed a few of its points or innovated on its designs, this journey to Nova Roma received’t present options. You’ll be able to determine whether or not you’ll come, what you suppose you’ll see, and for those who suppose you’ll conquer. Veni, Vidi, Vici, certainly.
