ROYAL PAIN

KING’S BOUNTY II does both tactics and RPG, but neither very well

- Jon Bolding

King’s bounty is an odd series, always more strategy than RPG, more a game of tactics, cash upkeep, and combat maneuvering than one of epic roleplaying and exploration. In theory, King’s Bounty II wants to change that, to make it a story that follows the main character whose choices affect the world. King’s Bounty II does just that, and it sucks the fun right out of it. Though it has the occasional joy, it simply wastes far too much of your time.

In King’s Bounty II you pick one of three characters to take through the main story, each of which follows the same plot. Having been released from prison your character takes on a bog-standard fantasy magical apocalypse because a wizard told you you’re the chosen savior. It’s nothing you haven’t seen before.

You then go out and wander the world, doing lots of sidequests and fighting battles. You don’t fight the battles, mind, you stand on the sidelines like a kind of cheerleader and direct your troops around. Those troops fight in tactical battles, with five units dancing around tight hex-based arenas. It’s serviceable combat, but the UI does it no favors and the details are predictable systems: skeletons take less damage from arrows, fire attacks burn enemies over time, and spirit creatures are resistant to non-magical attacks.