League of Legends and me, it's a love story that's been going on for a decade already. A love as intense as it is destructive, since the game will have made me see all the colors. However, despite his community, I never stopped loving him, and getting attached to the (many) characters animating the Summoner's Rift. During the 10th anniversary of the title, Riot announced the creation of a label - Riot Forge - which will commission different studios to work on titles exploiting the universe of League of Legends, a universe denser than it seems, as long as we are interested in what revolves around the MOBA star.
A Ruined King highlights some LoL champions. Here, the beautiful Miss Fortune!
A Ruined King : A League of Legends Story is one of the first titles announced, and also the first to be released, alongside the Arcane series (available on Netflix since mid-November)! However, we are not interested in the same character from the animated series, since the action takes place in Bilgewater, a port city where it is quite difficult to enforce the law. We understand from the beginning of the adventure that Gangplank, the self-proclaimed king of the island, has been struck down, and that it is Miss Fortune who takes up the torch, trying as best she can to put an end to this reign of terror. , but keeping a firm grip on all belligerents on the island. However, she will soon have to dedicate herself to a completely different task by joining forces with other heroes well known to League of Legends players (Braum, Illaoi, Pyke or even Yasuo), to repel the threat emanating from the obscure islands.
A long-term quest, which will take you around Bilgewater and the Shadow Isles from coast to coast, and will offer a number of side quests and bounties. Enough to keep you occupied for at least thirty hours! A Ruined King completely moves away from the MOBA side to offer a not so classic turn-based RPG! Of course, we will fight many battles, we have a system of levels, skills to unlock and then improve, then equipment to recover to equip and strengthen the statistics of your character... Until then, nothing good "new", but the fights themselves are really interesting! Our characters all have predispositions, a Miss Fortune or a Yasuo are more likely to do damage than a Braum or an Illaoi (although, for the latter, it's much more mixed!). This is felt in the skills, and it will be important to mix your team correctly (especially when increasing the difficulty) to avoid ending up with a "Game Over".
It's a pity that a blur effect comes to spoil a good number of decorations... because the game knows how to be pretty at times.
Most of the title is played in 3 against 3, except that enemies can sometimes arrive in waves (the indication will appear above the enemies on the ground). As soon as the fight begins, a frieze appears at the bottom of the screen, indicating who will attack next. This information is as interesting as it is crucial, since it allows you to adapt your style of play according to the needs of the moment. Indeed, when you choose to use a skill (not a basic attack), you can channel your spell more or less long to increase its power. The fast mode will have less impact, but can put your turn before that of an enemy, the mixed offers a decent cast time/effectiveness combo, while the slow will considerably increase the effects of your spell... but you will probably make you more vulnerable to enemy attacks. A rich idea that takes on its full meaning as soon as you play in a fairly high difficulty. The first two modes offer a relatively weak challenge, while the others will require you to do some side quests to recover equipment and levels... in addition to more thought so as not to pass the weapon to the left.
A real good game system, which surprised me a lot, for good! The artistic direction is no exception. As a fan, it's a real pleasure to have other things than artwork. We can finally explore areas that we have been hearing about for years, what a joy! On the technical side, it spoils a bit. I played on Nintendo Switch, and we are on a fairly weak resolution, which generates a blur that is too often present on the sets and which prevents us from taking full advantage of the details present here and there in the different areas we visit. I also noticed a few hitches in "TV" mode. Nothing annoying, but it's noticeable, especially in fights. Moreover, on the positive side, you can approach the champions, all superbly modeled, for your greatest pleasure. You will also be happy to hear the French dubbings which are the same as those of the game... enough to further strengthen our attachment to these characters! The music is not left out, despite a loop in the city of Bilgewater which somewhat exhausted me in the long run.
The combat system is very interesting!
You will have understood, I frankly liked A Ruined King : A League of Legends Story. Maybe I'm not the most objective man in the world given my attachment to the world of Runeterra, but it's really fun to discover the regions in more detail, to learn more about these champions, to follow their stories and evolutions, all with a game system deeper than it seems. A Ruined King is a very good turn-based RPG, which can be consumed even if you have never played League of Legends, and which becomes a must-have for any gamer fond of learning more about the extended universe of the most popular MOBA of the moment.
