For The King II

So, I've beaten 4 out of 7 campaigns and had my fill. Don't take it as a diss, I've had a jolly good time for the whole 30 hours, it isn't something to scoff at. I barely played the first game and I repent, but I can't compare the two. All I know is that the sequel looks fancier, and what they share - hostility towards the unprepared. FTK won't hesitate to kill half the party in your first battle, then you realise the timer isn't there just for show. It's not so bad after you adapt to the game's pace. Before I did, I thought I was playing it wrong. Nope, while knowledge eventually dulls the edge, the game firmly insists on a thoughtful approach, at least in its proper roguelite mode (Master difficulty) that prevents manual saving and forces you to work for revives. I picked it to expedite the learning process and avoid making bad habits. It felt more organic, that's how the local emergent adventuring flows. I know "organic" and "emergent" are buzzwords, but they accurately describe this TTRPG roguelite extravaganza. To contradict myself somewhat, even on Master you can legitimately load an autosave created at certain points, going Bronzeman. For me it was the only way to keep the difficulty reasonable. I wish you could turn off manual saving on lower settings, it would be a more fair Ironman challenge, but no dice. [h3]Hustle & Bustle[/h3] It's such a simple affair on the surface. The core mechanics are basic, the story is just an excuse. But it's not like I needed one for another run after getting the taste. Without lingering, runs last long enough for you to connect with the party and reap the fruits of its growth. Starting a campaign chapter, you create a motley crew of 1-4 classes and choose their initial loadout. Party generation is flexible, even allowing filling all slots with the same class. Then you rush off to a timed goose chase. Following a chain of quests, murder everyone you can, plunder a procedurally generated world, and roll the dice for every attack, move, or event. The goal is to grind as much loot and exp as possible before the doom timer runs out. It's a balancing act between rushing and power-creeping to be able to overcome a final gauntlet. Exploration under pressure seems like a bother, but otherwise it would be mindless farming. The added tension and alleviation opportunities make it work. So do dynamic maps. Enemies fade in and out of existence, secret locations get discovered by chance, random events fluctuate according to their hidden logic. A chaotic logic that makes FTK unpredictable, there's no boring "balance" to curb your expectations. You can get nothing of value from a boss or an overpowered artefact from a randomly appeared corpse. A sudden game-changer can save the day when you least expect it. This turns dolling up your miniatures into an inherently engaging hassle. Quite varied, too. Want a farmer with a ship cannon? A friar sporting a magic wand and a shield? Your options are plentiful. There're rows of pies and it's important to have fingers in most of them. That's when individual control over every companion comes into play. Your movement isn't restricted by the slowest guy. A nimble bowman can complete a fetch quest or resupply in a town in the time it takes your bulky knight to get to the next point of interest. You sprawl like ants, grabbing everything that isn't nailed down, then clench into a fist when it's time to kick ass. Naturally, you can freely exchange items between companions if they're close to each other. But they don't have to be that close to participate in combat. Complemented by other mechanics, it's a cornerstone of this game's appeal. Battles happen in a zone encompassing multiple hexes, making positioning much less of a pain in the ass than it could've been. You still gotta think ahead, only with a leeway. Don't relax, though, this goes for enemies as well, engaging everyone in the vicinity. [h3]Nerf the Landboat[/h3] The JRPG simplicity of combat should be self-explanatory. But man, is it chaotic! That RNG can be a source of joy and devastation alike. Sure enough, you're provided with tools to mitigate the risks, like the ability to single out one unit if you're lucky. If you don't trust luck alone, and this is a correct mindset, trust the process. There are buffs and abilities to boost your chances, and more so - a focus point system that allows you to ensure at least some of the dice won't screw you over or move further on the overworld. The points are limited yet renewable, making RNG mitigation another thick layer of strategy. I appreciated how the gambling ardour that comes with it created tension, turning every commitment impactful. Wait, this review gets too sugary. Don't fret, it's time to complain. See, all the compelling micromanagement constitutes a fun loop... until a part of it breaks. I take issue with the landboat introduced in the 2nd campaign, a mode of transportation that allows each party member to move your whole party as one unit each turn, as well as gathering them in one click at long distance. Thereon, using it is optimal when it's available, for its downsides don't match the efficiency. I ignored it whenever possible, but I'm still baffled by its inclusion. Way to castrate the best feature of your game! That said, it isn't a fatal flaw. Let's examine what other reviewers consider such: the RNG is infuriating, generic designs and sound, people report multiplayer problems, combat UI could be more informative, could use a mini-map, some say items aren't as interesting as in the first game (no idea), semi-arbitrary party placement at the start of combat serves nothing. And I also can see why people think Master is unfun. Still... eh? I get the landboat fiasco, but these are your deal-breakers? I think FTK does a lot of things right to compensate. The free updates are massive. Sure, character DLCs are overpriced, yet their existence doesn't negate all the work that has been put into the game for free. Like a couple of separate game modes. The newest one brings it closer to a traditional roguelite dungeon crawler! It doesn't seem like the devs are ripping us off. Seeing the amount of effort invested, I was happy to reward their dedication. I didn't even need these characters, there were plenty to unlock. Yes, the meta is also done right. You're in control of progression, getting to choose what to unlock. And there's an array of options - from locations and characters to traits and cosmetics. Don't want it, don't take it. [h3]Happy Loser[/h3] For these reasons, I say FTK2 is a good time and stand by it. Sure, sometimes mistress fortune suddenly decides to peg you, what of it? That's tabletop for you, a game of chance. A deceptively deep one despite it. No matter how it treats your sorry ass, you could recover from almost anything when you get to know it. As its tables turn on you, look for a way to turn them back. You'll see that half the time a desperate situation isn't a point of no return. As soon as I threw hands, starting to act with reckless abandon, I got rewarded for being an idiot. When I thought my plan was foolproof and safe, a costly reality check ensued. More often than not, there was no clear pattern at all. Sometimes I cornered myself and no amount of cheesy savescumming could save a botched attempt if I failed strategically. Didn't bother me. You seldom lose to nil in this genre, getting an opportunity to try out a new unlock almost every time, and getting a lucky break every once in a while wouldn't feel as precious under fair conditions. Winning or losing, I had a lot of fun in the process. Think about it, what a psychotic obsession with winning has to offer? The fear of losing progress and infantile resentment caused by the injustice of fortune? It pays to be a happy loser, I say. To boot, look at the size of this game! It pays you back tenfold. My curator [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/35305390/]Big Bad Mutuh[/url]

I think the only thing this game has over the first game is that it can be played with the standard 4 players instead of 3. In my opinion, the first game is just better, and simply making a 4 player version of that along with a new story and classes would probably have been better than this. It feels and sounds dull, looks worse, and the HUD is atrocious.

This game really didn't work for me. All the added kruft could maybe be warrented for the coop experience, but even then, you would be better served by games like sunderfolks and gloomhaven. As a solo experience, having to move characters individually on the overland map is just tedious and convoluted, inventory management is a chore and the UX is particularly bad. There are a lot of tutorial screens and they do a below average job at explaining the game. Character customization is ultra basic and unsatisfying. Finally, the controller support is opaque and unwieldy. Overall, I couldn't stick with the game long enough to get over the various usability issues. There are too many better games out there for this to be worth the time investment...

A decent successor to the original game. The balance is better overall, but the UI is worse.

This game has some of the worst UI and UX design I've seen in my god forsaken life, ♥♥♥♥ you would expect out of something from 2002 not ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ 2023. Game is mostly chill otherwise but ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ this is the most atrocious menuing I have seen in anything ever. If you can stand ♥♥♥♥ menus and like this kind of game you'll have a good time.

[list] [h1]The Good[/h1] [*]Easy to pick up, easy to learn. [*]Has co-op up to 4 players. [*]Charming artstyle, better-looking than the prequel. [h1]The Bad[/h1] [*]Worse than the prequel in every other—major—aspects. The overall feel of struggle, adventure, and climax from the first game was lost due to a variety of reasons. [*]Too easy compared to the prequel and the balance and pacing are all over the place. In the prequel, every decision mattered all the way until you fight the final boss which itself also provided an exciting and challenging experience. Here, you'll begin to steamroll once you have high enough level, good equipment, and basic party synergy—all these are a must in the first game or your adventure will quickly meet its end. The difficulty here felt like an untested and unbalanced afterthought. Harmless final bosses and killing mini-bosses in the first two turns felt silly and anti-climactic. [*]Maps are big and empty. The encounters you meet leave no room for roleplaying, they either gives you xp, item, or little else, no story and lore bits to immerse you in. The maps are practically just huge empty arenas for you to grind mobs until you're strong enough to finish the main quest. The core combat and rpg mechanics are too simple to prop this game up on their own. [*]The ost is good but has too little tracks in it that makes it irritable and banal. [*]Little to no build varieties among classes and their unique abilities are meh. There are 'fixed' ways to play each class and equipment to give them if you want them to be useful. Once you've seen how a class plays and fights in the beginning rounds, you've seen it all. [*]Lacking enemy variety. [*]Leveling up is uninteresting, only giving you hp and attack damage. [*]The campaign scenarios are not as engaging as the prequel's. [*]Unlike the first one, I didn't feel the 'roleplaying' part of this RPG game. [h1]Verdict[/h1] [*]Get it on massive sale if you truly must but I advise to play the first For The King instead for an overall better game and experience. [h1]5.6/10[/h1] [/list]

I think FTK2 got off to a rough start but honestly everything about this game is an improvement over the first. The extra party member, the new weapons, and the campaigns being split are all great QOL improvements. The DLCs have been great and I love the game for some co-op for or some serious grinding for Master difficulty achievements.

На мой взгляд 2 часть лучше, во многих аспектах по сравнению с 1-ой частью. Игру проходил на средней сложности. 1. В игру добавили питомцев, которых нужно покупать и что самое главное, нужно покупать с умом, ведь разные петы накладывают различные дебафы или же пробивают броню противника. Добавили также наемников, но всего лишь на несколько ходов - не тестил насколько они эффективные. 2. Сюжет игры разделили на большое количество сценариев по 3-4-5 часов с последовательным повествованием сюжета. В каждом сценарии свои механики, например взорвать вагонетки, которые каждый ход ходят с игроком, тебе нужно качаться и взрывать вагонетки - иначе проиграешь. В отличие от первой части, которая проходится сплошной историей в 10-15 часов, где тебе приходится проходить каждый раз одни и те же локации/сюжет/бои. 3. Механика боев переделана, теперь сбежать из боя можно только с дальней клетки, юниты ближнего боя могут оказаться взаперти если перед ними кто-то стоит - они просто не могут сходить. Персонажи с щитом могут собой загородить стоящего позади них. При большом количестве мили-персонажей в пачке, нужно покупать питомцев дальнего боя, чтобы забалансить свои шансы. В целом теперь гораздо больше нужно думать насчет расстановки юнитов, хотя на мой взгляд не хватает планировки юнитов на поле боя, как в стратегиях. 4. Выкладку добавили на каждого персонажа, теперь перед началом игры предстоит за определенное количество очков набрать себе расходников/оружия/талантов. В целом неплохо нововведение. По минусам наверное наверное отмечу: 1. Все такой же всратый интерфейс, эффекты на поле боя накладываются друг на друга и ты не сразу понимаешь, что именно на клетке твой баф или дебаф врага. Неудобный интерфейс просмотра персонажа, который остался таким же, как и в 1-ой части. Во время боев почему-то не можешь посмотреть свой инвентарь и экипировку, зато видишь все расходники. В целом весь интерфейс в игре будто бы неудобно сделан, но тут уже каждому на свой вкус. 2. Всё такая же проблема из 1-ой части по части экономики. У тебя мало денег, цены в магазинах взлетают x3-x4 раза, у тебя 1-2-3к голды на руках и деньги некуда девать - в магазинах цены на уровне старта игры, можно скупать все что хочешь. Причем проблема была и в 1-ой части, вне зависимости на каком уровне сложности ты играешь. Как тут экономика устроена - для меня загадка, балансом и не пахнет. 3. Серьезный даунгрейд, как по мне получили книги знаний, которые даются за прохождение сюжета/убийство боссов, на них нечего купить в магазине. Играбельных и интересных персонажей мало, а оружие покупать нет смысла, т.к. по большей части они ничем не отличаются от того, что ты получишь в первые 5 минут, а событий - крайне мало. По итогу прохождения всех сценариев скапливается 500+ книжек, которые некуда тратить. 4. Малый выбор интересных персонажей, есть волшебник и куча статистов, которыми забиваешь себе пачку. В целом игра всё такая же веселая, интересная, много рандома, рад, что играется бодро, как и 1-я часть. В кооперативе особых проблем не было, периодически отлетали сервера и не было возможности поиграть в пати, но возможно проблема из-за РКН.

Не балдурс гейт 3, но в целом, вполне прикольная игра. Одному играть я бы не рекомендовал ибо надоест скорее всего, но вот в 2-3-4 человека опыт интересный, так как ты совершенно не контролируешь ситуацию и живешь в проклятом мире, что сам сотворил. Игровые механики и геймплей орчень простые, можно и поминмаксить и рофлобилды делать. Со всеми длс так вообще вариативность в партии расширяется.

相當失望，跟一代的玩法相差不多、作業感繁重、最致命的是 UI 與視覺效果較一代來得更小且更不直觀。 如果你期待的是玩法與一代類似、更多的角色、物品與內容的話，那這款遊戲還是適合你。