Ruined King: A League of Legends Story is Riot Games first foray into RPG. Hopefully one of many as this game brings new ways that we get to look into the world of League of Legends. Did Riot Games do this game justice? Let’s find out.
Ruined King: A League of Legends Story tells the story of Captain Fortune as she tries to take over Bilgewater after she has defeated Gangplank. Little did she know Gangplank survived and sought out the Blade of the Ruined King and unleashed the black mist onto Bilgewater. Captain Fortune then enlist a ragtag team of characters including Illaoi, Braum, Ahri, Yasuo, and Pyke. Each having their own agenda as to why they want to join up with Captain Fortune.
Fans of League of Legends will truly nerd out over this game as it brings their favorite champions to life. As a fan of League of Legends myself, I can’t help but feel nostalgic and hyped by the fact that I get to explore a world that was only told in stories. It was also fun seeing the champions interacting with each other and seeing worlds collide for the first time.
The gameplay is reminiscent of turn based style RPGs. Where you and your enemies take turns to execute an action. What’s unique about their style is the addition of a waitlist meter they call “Lanes”. The Lanes is divided into three sections which are the Top Lane or Speed Lane, Middle Lane or Neutral Lane and Bottom Lane or Power Lane. Taking an action in the Speed Lane allows your characters to act faster than usual but inflict lesser damage. Taking an action in the Power Lane allows your characters to inflict higher damage but take more time to act. The Neutral Lane is the standard action.
Now you would think going Power Lane is the best way to go so that you can end a battle quickly. But there are other factors involved that could be detrimental to your team. One of which is the ability to stagger an opponent which could also happen to your characters. Staggering will place any character further down the timeline allowing other characters to act first before you. This will also sometimes push you in areas in the lane that will have hazards or buffs. Hazards can be anything from inflicting damage or causing stat debuffs and sometimes even cause you to cancel your actions. Buffs can heal or add defense points to your characters.
I really like the way they added this element to the game. This is very unique from the usual turn based games and adds an element of strategy to what could have been just a straightforward fight. It keeps you thinking on what strategy works best for different enemies, allowing you to always have a unique battle everytime. Even the bosses in these games have their own uniqueness that just hacking at them won’t really work.
Each of your characters have their own skills and abilities that can be useful in any type of situation. For example, Illaoi and Braum are best suited as Tankers and Healers, while Yasuo and Pyke are best suited as attackers. Mixing and matching the right combination of characters can be the key to your success in this game.
The art in this game is very beautifully done. The world is reminiscent of that when you are fighting in League of Legends lending its top-down approach in exploring the world. The conversations between each character are being illustrated by hand-drawn art and the details are just very beautiful.
The musical score is also really good and keen League of Legends fans will quickly notice that some of the music comes from the game itself. Hearing it being utilized in this game just adds more to the nostalgia and hype making this game fun and enjoyable.
However, even though the game is great and all. There are still some issues here and there that I wish they could fix in the future. For one, the game randomly crashes for some reason. I don’t really know what causes the crash but I would find myself just exploring an area and suddenly it crashes. It’s frustrating enough that it happens at the most inconvenient of times. It sometimes even happens after a boss fight and you don’t even have the luxury of it auto-saving after a boss fight because it already crashed. Hopefully this gets fixed in future patches.
Overall, Ruined King: A League of Legends story is a great game that has a beautifully handcrafted story that ties up the lore of your favorite League of Legends characters. An interesting combat that will keep you on your toes. A very rich and thriving world full of adventure and secrets for you to discover. It’s a must have for RPG fans and League of Legends fans alike.