KickStarter King Arthur: Knight's Tale + Legion IX standalone expansion - dark fantasy turn-based tactical RPG from NeocoreGames

[Cyberarmy]

Review?

I might write one if I find the motivation.

Is it good?

OMG WHY ARE PEOPLE STİLL ASKİNG THİS!
YES ITS A GREAT GAME!
COME ON CODEX PLAY THİS ONE FFS!

I really can't believe we had to force people to play this gem, in RPG Codex of all places...

 

[Cael]

Review?

I might write one if I find the motivation.

Is it good?

OMG WHY ARE PEOPLE STİLL ASKİNG THİS!
YES ITS A GREAT GAME!
COME ON CODEX PLAY THİS ONE FFS!

I really can't believe we had to force people to play this gem, in RPG Codex of all places...

I have been playing it. I have to say that it is pretty good and makes you think. However, I am finding it hard to keep up the motivation to keep playing it. I am currently in Act 3 around the middle of it, but haven't touched it in days. I think I played like 1 mission the last fortnight or so. A bit strange, as it is not an awful game at all.

 

[gurugeorge]

I particularly dig the three-form life pool combining vitality, HP and armour.

It's the jewel in the crown of this game, it feels ultra-finely-tuned - just really satisfying in terms of you being slightly on tenterhooks and having to be careful when you play because of the hard vitality limit, but with enough of those refills of armor and hp to keep you going so long as you play carefully. It's a thing of beauty.

It's very organic and well thought-out, the size of the maps, numbers of encounters, types of encounters, buffs and refills and little treats here and there. It all just flows so well.

 

[Parabalus]

Review?

I might write one if I find the motivation.

Is it good?

OMG WHY ARE PEOPLE STİLL ASKİNG THİS!
YES ITS A GREAT GAME!
COME ON CODEX PLAY THİS ONE FFS!

I really can't believe we had to force people to play this gem, in RPG Codex of all places...

I have been playing it. I have to say that it is pretty good and makes you think. However, I am finding it hard to keep up the motivation to keep playing it. I am currently in Act 3 around the middle of it, but haven't touched it in days. I think I played like 1 mission the last fortnight or so. A bit strange, as it is not an awful game at all.

Had the same happen to me, twice - still a worthwhile play.

 

[covr]

The game gets better after some time, they keep introducing new features like invincible enemy buff, or new stuff you unlock at Camelot. This is good.

The only thing I don't like is how map/minimap works. For some reason it is confusing to me, it does not work how I imagine it should. You can lock or unlock minimap, but still there is something very wrong on how it works and I can't put my finger on what it exactly is. In the result I do not enjoy exploration of the maps, finding secret chests, etc. Maybe because game is too zoomed in? IDK. Tried playing with M&K, or only on mouse or even on gamepad (works surprisingly well!) but it is still not satisfying enough.

 

[Cael]

The game gets better after some time, they keep introducing new features like invincible enemy buff, or new stuff you unlock at Camelot. This is good.

The only thing I don't like is how map/minimap works. For some reason it is confusing to me, it does not work how I imagine it should. You can lock or unlock minimap, but still there is something very wrong on how it works and I can't put my finger on what it exactly is. In the result I do not enjoy exploration of the maps, finding secret chests, etc. Maybe because game is too zoomed in? IDK. Tried playing with M&K, or only on mouse or even on gamepad (works surprisingly well!) but it is still not satisfying enough.

Invincible enemy buff isn't something that is going to interest me. It is a cheap way of getting damage on you by people who ran out of ideas how to challenge the player. It is lazy game design.

Mid-Act 3 means just about every thing is unlocked. You just need the resources to build them. I am not likely to see anything new until after the endgame. Perhaps that is what is making me lose interest.

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

I have been playing it. I have to say that it is pretty good and makes you think. However, I am finding it hard to keep up the motivation to keep playing it. I am currently in Act 3 around the middle of it, but haven't touched it in days. I think I played like 1 mission the last fortnight or so. A bit strange, as it is not an awful game at all.

Invincible enemy buff isn't something that is going to interest me. It is a cheap way of getting damage on you by people who ran out of ideas how to challenge the player. It is lazy game design.

Mid-Act 3 means just about every thing is unlocked. You just need the resources to build them. I am not likely to see anything new until after the endgame. Perhaps that is what is making me lose interest.

Yes, the greatest weakness of King Arthur: Knight's Tale is that the gameplay eventually becomes repetitive; obviously, this is worst in the fourth (final) Act. Enemies also became quite bloated in HP late in the game, though this might not be the case anymore given the extensive refinements made through patches.

 

[covr]

Well, I am still enjoying early act 2. Once it become repetitive chore I will just stop playing and probably try skirmish missions. I am 20 hours into the game, so maybe the game is just too long given the scale and number of new features?

 

[Grunker]

Once it become repetitive chore

It never does. The very ending of the game is sort of weak, but never a chore

 

[Modron]

I really can't believe we had to force people to play this gem, in RPG Codex of all places...

Just look how few codexers are willing to play stuff like Prelude to Darkness, Voidspire Tactics, Titan Outpost, KotC, et cetera. You have to twist the average codexer's arm to make him stop playing casual filth (especially nucodexers).

 

[Chippy]

I will go right ahead and say that this game is a paragon of system design. I don't remember the last time I played something that had mechanics this well thought-through - you can tell that the team was focused first and foremost on making the combat work. Usually in such games you can easily identify features that could easily be taken out or others that are bandaids put on glaring issues, but here everything just clicks together so organically. I particularly dig the three-form life pool combining vitality, HP and armour. It's also great that this game avoids the pitfalls of most deterministic systems where the fights feel like chess puzzles to arrange and essentially 'pre-win' on turn 1. There are enough unknown/changing variables involved in combat here to make sure that the fights actually play out on a turn-by-turn basis where plans can go wrong and you're forced to adapt to the consequences of failure and unforeseen circumstances on the fly, and all of that is accomplished WITHOUT the cancerous universal death timers and endless deep-striking reinforcements - I cried manly tears of appreciation when I saw that even the bone totems that summon skellington crossbowmen actually explode by themselves after summoning a certain number.

It's obvious to me that the primary objective behind the development of this game was to make sure that everything about the combat works right, with no exceptions or handwaves, and that everything else was 10 priority levels under that. Neocore knew what they set out to accomplish and they did it. This game simply knows what it's about and it sticks to its guns exactly where it matters. Playing something with a focus/vision this clear and well realised is always a true joy.

Well said sir, well said indeed.

This is why BG2 came together so well in comparison to PF:Kingmaker for example even though the PF:K had hundreds of feats and systems in place. The real accomplishment they've made here is that the game is challenging, but the skills and combat is valid, and any failings are typically on the player for not getting gud.

I think they've struggled with some difficulty curves in the past *cough* Van Helsing *cough* but so far they've really nailed it here. Every Codexer should have this game in their library.

 

[Darth Roxor]

Kneel before your king. Balin can now one-hit-kill high value targets like lost knights from stealth and I find it greatly amusing - just like the fact that somehow Balin manages to become a ridiculously broken meat slicer in every single King Arthur game.

Also I am now finishing missions without even taking damage. I think I may have become too good at this game

 

[Lacrymas]

I hope you are playing on the highest difficulty.

 

[mediocrepoet]

I hope you are playing on the highest difficulty.

It was the strangest way to discover that Roxor was a story mode enthusiast.

 

[Grunker]

I think I may have become too good at this game

the difficulty just drops like a sack of shit a little over halfway into the game unfortunately.

 

[fantadomat]

Kneel before your king. Balin can now one-hit-kill high value targets like lost knights from stealth and I find it greatly amusing - just like the fact that somehow Balin manages to become a ridiculously broken meat slicer in every single King Arthur game.

Also I am now finishing missions without even taking damage. I think I may have become too good at this game

The difficulty spikes when you get to fight elves.

 

[Chippy]

How are you guys with your Jew gold? I'm happy to part with it, but I don't really have enough. Might start again, put everything into the training ground. Problem seems to be respeccing knights and having to pay for it vs upgrading Camelot. First playthough and didn't realise how little gold you get.

I suppose it's one of those games where a little meta gaming goes a long way in terms of know what your roster is gonna be. I've been paying hundreds (600 gold I think to respec a level 10 knight) and then not even using them. Then there's the dumbfuckery of roleplaying a Neocore game - like keeping Tristan and Isolde together and paying to repec them but not kicking her out.

 

[Chippy]

Here's a question - you don't get side missions or events based on your knights do you? That threw me in terms of Lady Dindraine when she got the Grail mission in act one. But in later acts I assume you just get the recruit missions for knights?.

 

[Chippy]

Also got a couple of gripes but nothing serious. Like when you repec you should get everything back except strike & shoot. Like +2 skills for Traps with Balin - he's so powerful I never use them. And I didn't relise how the multi-target skills work - flurry is now useless for Mordred as it needs x3 minimum targets AFAIK, and I hardly ever have 3 enemies around him. Preferred it with 2 only.

And as usual with Neocore games I was expecting the difficulty spike that fantadomat mentions. Just hit it in act 3 with the Sidhe. SPeccing Mordred for the best offense doesn't seem like such a good idea now. But again, you don't know what the XP gain will be, or the level cap, or if it has multiple side missions like KA:1 did.

There was a bucket tonne of side missions in Act 1. Hardly any in Act 2 and 3 so far. Still, I don't mind starting again with the meta knowledge.

Also: KA:1 & 2 THe Roleplaying Wargames available at 75% off or someting now at GOG.

 

[Harthwain]

How are you guys with your Jew gold? I'm happy to part with it, but I don't really have enough. Might start again, put everything into the training ground. Problem seems to be respeccing knights and having to pay for it vs upgrading Camelot. First playthough and didn't realise how little gold you get.

Early on you'll be tight on gold, but as you do more missions and obtain more items you can sell the ones you don't need/like and you should be alright.

Here's a question - you don't get side missions or events based on your knights do you? That threw me in terms of Lady Dindraine when she got the Grail mission in act one. But in later acts I assume you just get the recruit missions for knights?.

Actually, you do. There are at least two (if not three) missions you get that require certain knights. But it's not the rule (like I said, you will only have missions dedicated to a few knights).

And I didn't relise how the multi-target skills work - flurry is now useless for Mordred as it needs x3 minimum targets AFAIK, and I hardly ever have 3 enemies around him. Preferred it with 2 only.

You can use Flurry even if there are less than 3 enemies around your hero.

And as usual with Neocore games I was expecting the difficulty spike that @fantadomat mentions.

There was a difficulty spike in Act 2 for a bunch of side missions, but it could've been changed (I was playing on the release).

 

[Chippy]

Harthwain THanks for the reply, but the difficulty spike was definitely Act 3 for me with the sidhe. I steamrolled everyone to that point, then got cocky and shield bashed an unseelie at the start of the battle, wiped him out with Mordred with a few hits doing 70 damage or so (+10% double dam potion +15% item = 25% total chance + bless) and then the bugger exploded in ice @ 360 degrees for 2 rounds or so, and I hadn't invested any skills in Mordred for resistances or HP.

Within a few rounds he was down from full AC + HP to a few vitality points as the unseelie grappled him into a mob. And I didn't have my A-team on hand to back him up because I took level 10 knights on a level 13 mission to try to get some XP. This is a similiar tactic to the first KA game where enemy knights had a spell that reflected damage, and if you hit them with your best knight, you'd 1-shot yourself.

Neocore have this sort of thing as a trend in their games. It's either beneficial to the game or a pain in the ass. In this game I think it's the former.

 

[Harthwain]

and then the bugger exploded in ice @ 360 degrees for 2 rounds or so, and I hadn't invested any skills in Mordred for resistances or HP.

Oh, yeah. These guys were annoying to fight against. Although I had more problems with the stampeding ones (which I resolved by stunlocking them whenever they tried it, but you need build specifically for it).

And I didn't have my A-team on hand to back him up because I took level 10 knights on a level 13 mission to try to get some XP.

It is vital to level up underleveled knights via the Training Grounds. At most you should be taking knights on a mission if they are single level below it, not more, otherwise you risk getting too far behind the difficulty curve.

 

[Chippy]

Harthwain Yup, but this leads back to my criticism that there arn'y enough side missions to advance turns while knights are training. I think it takes about 3 turns for a full XP bar on average, so between level 10 and 13 you're looking at 9 turns. So all it then takes is an injury here and there on your A-team and you're risking it.

This is just my POV as a noob on my first run, I'm pretty sure most Neocore games need a restart or two to get you familiar with it, and I'll get there on the next one. I'm thinking of getting the +10% Law first, then the trining ground, and then being brutal in who I keep. Gotta plan for the perception + spellcraft checks as well. Apparently you only need 3 & above in Act 4.

Apparently you can also use the joust decree only as a Christian to pass a turn on the world map? Saw that on Steam. I should really read the manual.

 

[Harthwain]

Apparently you can also use the joust decree only as a Christian to pass a turn on the world map? Saw that on Steam. I should really read the manual.

Yes.

 

[Darth Roxor]

i am very upset that there are more knights than slots at the round table because i dislike the idea of parting with any of these valiant dudes