Ruined King: A League of Legends Story Review (Sinful Sorcerer)
As a long-time League of Legends player it was fantastic to be able to experience the champions and the world of Runeterra outside of Summoner's Rift. Ruined King allows players to delve deeper into the backstory of beloved characters and go on a new adventure with an admittedly strange band. As a story it delivers for the most part, and as an RPG it holds its own against similar titles like Darkest Dungeon, however it clearly could have used a bit more time to clear out some of the bugs that plague the game.
I do recommend the game with a few caveats. You may run into some nasty glitches and be prepared as such if you decide to pick it up. I've had quests not give rewards, chests and recipes not count as opened or received, quest markers point in the wrong direction or NPCs not be where they should, UI elements getting stuck making navigating menus and battles difficult, teleports not going where they say they do, passive effects not proccing when they should and items/boxes not letting me interact with them until I step away and try again.
And those are just the things I remember off the top of my head. Ruined King really feels like an excellent game marred by a rushed release. It was already delayed and didn't release during the planned Ruination League of Legends event but it could have used more time in the oven. If you are willing to look past these problems however, or you are less unfortunate than me and don't run into as many issues, I believe you'll have a great time with this game. When it works, it's fantastic.
+ Visually and aurally it's a treat. Both in-game and during cutscenes.
+ A story that delivers what the League of Legends Ruination event did not.
+ The combat encounters are for the most part interesting and challenging, at least on Heroic.
+ All the little campfire and side conversations flesh out already great characters.
+ Abilities and Runes allow you to mix and match (almost) whatever party you want, you'll still need a tank on harder difficulties.
+ There's enough side-quests and fishing to satisfy people who want more.
- While I did find the dungeon abilities interesting and they did add to the exploration aspect, needing to have a specific character in your party at times added a bit of unnecessary backtracking.
- The story does have some potential plotholes and doesn't always make sense.
- Plagued by a lot of bugs, most minor but some rather big ones too.
- The map is confusing at times and quest log limits you to 5 tracked quests.
- Can feel a bit grindy near the end, especially if you want to 100% it with all costumes and Bestiary entries.
All in all, I recommend it to RPG fans and/or fans of the League of Legends universe.