King Arthur Knight’s Tale Review: the dark reflection of the Arthurian myth

King Arthur: The Role-Playing Wargame and its sequel of the same name tried to propose a mix of real-time strategic elements and role-playing components, making us play first as the Once and Future King himself, and then as his son (a By the way, would you like to take a journey through time on our site by reading our review of King Arthur: The Role-Playing Wargame?). The developers of Neocore have decided to try again, but shuffling the cards on the table. King Arthur: Knight’s Tale is a dark fantasy reinterpretation of Arthurian mythology. Called back by the Lady of the Lake, we will take on the role of Sir Mordred, enemy and traitor of King Arthur, to defeat an ancient evil that has taken possession of the former ruler of Camelot. The game, offering an original reinterpretation of the starting material, combines strategy and tactics with RPG mechanics. It will be up to us to decide whether to be the wise ruler of the new Camelot, or to reign with an iron fist over the mystical lands of Avalon.

Moral conduct

Died with Arthur in the battle of Camlann, Mordred, along with all the knights that gravitated around the court of Camelot, awakens in a corrupt and dark Avalon . An evil force is at work and only we will be able to guide the knights of the Round Table through woods, villages and fortresses to prevent an army of the undead from conquering the lands of the mystical island. Overseeing our adventure will be the omnipresent Lady of the Lake , willing to awaken the deadly enemy of her chosen one, now vile and evil, in order to put an end to the advance of the dark forces.

The awakening of Mordred, and the invitation from the developers to play this character, is the narrative pretext to implement a system of morality of the protagonist. From the beginning we will be faced with various kinds of choices that will concretely influence the development: we will find dialogue options during the missions, or events and decisions regarding the management phase that impact Mordred’s moral score. Moving between four quadrants, our alignment can vary between that of a just ruler or a tyrant, or move towards a Christian or pagan religious path.

Upon reaching certain scores, we will be granted specific bonuses in line with our behavior: we will have the opportunity to recruit canonically good or bad characters, and we will also be able to unlock upgrades for some buildings of our fortress. Unfortunately, we confirm the impression given during the early access period: providing bonuses of increasing magnitude based on the polarization of our alignment does not allow a real moral personalization of the protagonist.

Offering rewards behind a system of morality leads to concrete disadvantages in adopting legitimate conduct that is ambiguous, or at least weighted on the basis of situational needs or preferences. More than moral choices we can therefore speak of “ethical planning” of our character at the beginning of the adventure, similar to what happens in a D&D campaign . Although our alignment also impacts the loyalty to the cause of the recruited heroes, thus modifying their effectiveness in battle (up to the possibility that they even decide to abandon us), the benefits in terms of upgrades and strategic bonuses far outweigh the negative consequences.

You only die once

King Arthur Knight’s Tale is a rather customizable game in terms of difficulty, but not a little challenging for those looking for a certain degree of challenge. Several aspects have changed during development : if initially the difficulty bar was set rather high, now it is possible to change the level even between one mission and another. We will be able to decide to face the game by enjoying the plot more thanks to the story mode: in doing so we will not have to fear of losing our heroes permanently in case they fall in battle.

Obstacles will not be lacking in any case: frequent injuries, of varying extent, will often limit the capabilities of our heroes, even permanently . In fact, the game focuses on the irreversibility of the consequences of our ethical and tactical choices. It is at the greatest difficulties that the title expresses all its brutality. Few care, limited resources and necessarily careful management of skills in battle translate into a single concept: to save as much as possible. While unpopular with genre purists, reloading was necessary on a couple of occasions, to avoid finding yourself in a situation of no return. King Arthur will still provide us with information on the adequacy of our party: from the game map we will be able to see the recommended level to face each mission and then decide if it will be appropriate to temporarily focus on different objectives.

If on the one hand the work encourages prudence in practically every aspect, the interpretation given to the management of permadeath is very peculiar. Not only the (re) death of one of our characters can guarantee us buffs of various kinds, to be obtained by going to the crypt where they are buried and praying over their remains, but sooner or later it will be necessary to separate from them anyway. Seats at the new Round Table are limited, and only about half will be able to reside in the castle fortress of Camelot and be actively enlisted for missions.

Camelot Castle

Managing Camelot Castle (or rather: Camelot’s version of the afterlife) is the activity that will keep us busy when we’re not on a mission. Upon our arrival the fortress will be completely in ruins and it will be up to us to bring it to the glories of the past . The buildings that we will be able to rebuild are seven. In the main tower we find the Round Table, in which to issue laws and decrees, to get more experience during the missions or increase the revenues of resources. In the cathedral and hospital we will be able to heal our heroes, while in the market we will have the opportunity to sell or buy equipment.

The training camp will allow us to accumulate experience for the heroes not engaged in the missions while in the crypt, as mentioned, we will be able to commemorate the comrades who fell in battle. More isolated we will find the enchanted tower, where we can use our alchemical knowledge to forge magical objects. Each building can be improved by spending gold and building materials , both of which can be obtained at the end of each assignment.

Compared to the early access version, the economic system has been revised: if the loot obtained from the missions barely allowed to buy any potions, and the building upgrades were a distant mirage, now with careful management of finances and the resale of equipment in disused we will be able to proceed with the upgrade of each building.Hospitalizing the injured heroes is essential , as is allowing everyone to level equally: not doing so would force us to use the same party, almost certainly running into serious injuries which, we remember, can cause permanent penalties.

If we decide to heal or rank up the knights for free, the time required will be three missions. A time frame far too long to do without our heroes and obtain any tangible benefits. By spending gold, it is possible to reduce the time to a single mission : this is a very tempting solution, even if the scarcity of resources forces the player to consider the option very carefully.

Party management

In Camelot we will also have to manage our party, the equipment of each knight and distribute skill points. It will be possible to read the story of each of the companions , and in this way have a narrative background that will help us orient ourselves in the maze of characters and events of the Arthurian saga. The role-playing section is sufficiently detailed, and gives us the opportunity to clearly check every aspect of the members of our court. The runes, applicable to weapons and armor to improve their stats , as well as magical items and healing potions will be stored in a common inventory.

However, only objects compatible with the character’s class can be equipped: each hero in fact belongs to a non-modifiable class, on which the unlockable skills via level up will also depend. Unfortunately, the choice of equipment is limited to the selection of the strongest weapon , and the same can be said for the unlocking of skills, the same for all the heroes of the same class. It will therefore not be possible to explore very eclectic setups, or to excessively diversify characters belonging to the same class; an aspect that reduces the general tactical depth of the clashes.

The exploration of Avalon

From the map of Avalon, an island covered with woods and dotted with small settlements, we will be able to choose the mission to face. The overall aim is to reestablish dominion over the lands of Avalon and banish the darkness that has decided to invade them. During the assignments we will have to guide a party of four heroes through isometric maps in search of enemies to defeat and treasures to claim . The game environments, while presenting a good graphic detail, do not scream a miracle: what is most felt is the lack of real interactivity with the setting.

Compared to previous versions of the game, the variety of elements to investigate has slightly increased: occasional NPCs, who can entrust us with secondary objectives, and bonfires and temples, to heal us or get temporary buffs, are still present; now we will also be able to find remains of ancient battles or coffers to plunder and, sometimes, letters from people who will provide us with some insights in terms of lore. Nevertheless, the environments to be explored offer few points of interest: in addition to appreciating the ghostly scenario in which we will be immersed, we will not be able to do much else. To help us navigate the various areas we will have a minimap, which has come in handy on more than one occasion in suggesting the direction to go. The possibility of having a wider view of the playing area, in addition to the present possibility of rotating the frame, would perhaps have made exploration easier: more than once we found ourselves retracing the same dead end in an attempt to continue in the mission, having relied on decorative elements of the map which, however, tend to repeat themselves slightly.

On the battlefield

It is in turn-based tactical battles that the game comes alive. Navigating through the mission maps we will encounter blades with enemies of different nature . It is not necessary to fight all the battles that we will encounter, but once the fight phase has started, there is no way to back down. The inspiration for XCOM is clear: our heroes can move within predetermined areas defined by a grid of squares, in which it is necessary to spend action points to attack, use skills and move (here is the review of XCOM 2).

The similarities with the Firaxis series do not end there: it goes from the partial or total coverage system up to the overwatch mechanics, which allows us to attack an enemy during his turn if this enters our range, passing through the skills of counterattack and weakening of status. We will have a sufficient amount of skills that you will need to use to turn the tide of the clashes . Carefully planning each turn and positioning on the map, making the most of all our melee and ranged abilities, is essential to steer the outcome of the battles in our favor, which will see us constantly outnumbered.

Our party is made up of four heroes among those that we will be able to recruit during the missions, but we will often be joined by characters already present in the game map for the most disparate reasons. This allows you to get a good damage potential to overcome all the battles, but at this juncture it is useful to reiterate a concept already expressed in the previous paragraphs: the game will not forgive lightness, especially at the highest difficulties .

Better get used to the idea of ​​using a varied roster of techniques to effectively overcome each mission. Like it or not we will find ourselves using every class that the game offers us, given the extent of the injuries that our heroes will suffer. The game is not stingy with characters: the 30 recruiters are divided into 6 different classes , two for each type of attack (ranged, melee and magical), offering every lover of the tactical genre all the variety they need to prepare a strategy optimal.

A classic dark fantasy

Contrary to the abundant number of playable characters, the enemies are rather monotonous. Leaving aside a few more inspired sparse adversaries, both human and undead hostiles present themselves with characteristics that are not too original : ranging from heavy armored enemies to agile and stealthy scouts, passing through sorcerers and creatures of British folklore.

The excellent care in the models and animations of the characters collides with a character design that seems to lack distinctive reworkings, constantly drawing on a rather basic gothic imagery, in a form similar to what is seen in the mammoth boardgame Tainted Grail. Each hero, knight or wizard still has a commendable level of graphic detail, son of an artistic style with horror hues that gives the gothic reinterpretation of the Arthurian saga aesthetic and playful ideas of considerable interest. The curiosity to discover who is behind the forces that try to conquer the lands of Avalon has pushed us to continue with curiosity in the mission entrusted to us by the Lady of the Lake. our exploits (lasting more than 30 hours) was unfortunately undermined in the long run by the visual variety of environments and enemies that we found ourselves facing.

Considering the amount of content, the effort by the Hungarian team to propose a fully dubbed product is commendable, despite the lack of an Italian localization in texts and dialogues .