King's Bounty: Crossworlds GOTY

I picked this game up on a whim after hearing a YouTuber saying it was good. And he was right. A strategy game done in the style of Might n Magic, you are a princess that has traveled back in time to stop a demon invasion before it happens. How do you do that? Build an army and roam the land destroying other armies. Although I didn't get that far, the sheer variety of units you can recruit is hilarious. My army was being lead by a bunch of giant cobras by the end of the first area, with pirates backing them up later on. Your units can range from standard rank-n-file infantry to animals to giants to demons to even dragons. All you are limited by is the amount of gold you have as some of the more awesome units are more expensive and take up more "slots" in your army. So it comes down to a balancing out your army that covers all situations yet is a good value for your limited funds. Also when units die, they're dead. So you have to replenish your army every now and then to deal with the challenges and that requires more gold. And the best way to get gold is by defeating armies and here's where I ran into a problem. See there are no respawning enemies in this game which can be a good and a bad thing. It's good because it means running through areas you've already been to is easier and less tedious. However, because gold is so important in replenishing the lost troops it means that you can't grind weaker troops for important resources. And that can be a problem because you can run into armies with units that you can't beat and you don't have the resources for the appropriate unit type. And on top of that, I can't seem to find a decent walkthrough on what armies you should try to beat first, what's an ideal unit composition, etc. So for the most part you are on your own. All in all, this game is fantastic. If you are looking for something in the style of MnM and Ubisoft has been disappointing you lately, pick this up. Just prepare for to be challenged.

I missed out of King's Bounty in its primetime, but exploring it after all these years proved quite fun. The game offers a pretty unique, very open-ended variation on the strategy game and RPG hybrid. It's very close to Heroes of Might and Magic in its core mechanics, but instead of shorter missions or scenarios it's a massive campaign where you explore the world and build alliances, sourcing your army and resources from friendly and neutral strongholds and shops, while leveling up and upgrading your only hero. This pushes the game more in the RPG spectrum, while also forcing you to manage you resources carefully and adapt your strategies to minimize losses, as troops both cost money and (beyond most basic ones) are a finite resource in the NPC towns. If you can suffer through some grinding and repetetive battles within specific regions, there's quite a lot of depth and fun min-maxing to the found here, along with a decent story and an eye-pleasing world.

There is so much TLC and out-and-out WOW in this game, from the awesomeness (awe is a good word for parts of this game--but no spoilers, sorry) and details in the visible world, to the easy-to-learn yet FULL ON turn-based strategy mega-fest, that I won't go any further than to say GET IT!

~~~ Good ~~~ Nice art direction | Good sound | Fun battles ~~~ Bad ~~~ Completely random itemization: Your hero may miss out on many powerful items and remain a simp forever | Grind! You will have to move past enemy stacks and come back later many times | Banal storyline

I played a lot Heroes of Might and Magic growing up, it was one of my go to strategy games. When King's Bouty: The Legend came out and I picked it up on a whim I instantly fell in love. Armored Princess/Crossworlds (and you should definitely be buying Crossworlds, as it contains all of Armored Princess plus more) took what was great about The Legend and expanded and improved upon it. It has bright, colorful graphics that really look quite good for a non-AAA game, good music, and hours upon hours of content. If you were a fan of HoMM or are a fan of tactics based games with hero leveling this game is one you should not miss.