A few weeks ago, I was intrigued by the look of Lord of Destruction, a spin-off turn-based single-player game set in the League of Legends world that unexpectedly released in mid-November. I’ve never played LoL, but to my surprise, I’m hooked.
As you probably already know, the main LoL games are MOBAs, and Ruined King is a narrative RPG set in a port city…Bilgewater (?) and the creepy Shadow Island (?). Your mission is to help Illaoi(?), Miss Fortune(?), the inhuman Ahri(?), and others in their fight against the mysterious and deadly Dark Mist(?). The Black Mist is some sort of “thing” that disturbs the whole area, bringing in shadowy creatures that seem to just kill everyone.
Those question marks are my ignorance of this non-movie universe, as some of these names have apparently appeared before the series (in fact, look it up, all of them except Black Mist). I had no idea what to expect until I loaded the game, and I have to say, being a LoL idiot, I found myself immersed in the Ruined King lore and atmosphere. The story is an interesting adventure.
After the opening cutscene, we’ll discuss the basics with Miss Fortune, who decides to avenge the death of her mother on Pirate (and another League of Legends champion) Plank, and in the process takes the helm of Bilgewater itself . We then turn to Illaoi, Plank’s ex-lover on the Buch faction who, thanks to her supernatural powers, becomes aware of the eerie black mist and vows to stop the expected torment of the area.
First of all, I just want to say that the Ruined King looks great. The art has a cartoon-like quality and is instantly appealing. Second, the gameplay – after a few guided battles – is simple and easy to pick up. Each character has the opportunity to make instant moves, such as low-power attacks or temporary defensive shields, or more powerful “lane” moves that will occur further in the battle and are helpful in the visual timeline. There are also “Ultimate” attacks, but these are few and far between. These combat strategies, healing potions, and different types of armor are things you can upgrade and buy as you progress, thanks to the gold you earn along the way.
Typical of the genre, each character earns points after each victory, which ultimately leads to their leveling up and the opportunity to increase the effects of these instant and lane abilities in turn. You’ll also need to upgrade your gear, including different rings and trinkets that each character wears, and this requires some simple tradeoffs: they might increase your attack power or stamina, but negatively affect your character’s other skills, Such as magic and physical defense. There aren’t strictly character classes, but there are more of these RPG staples, like managing your mana through combat.
Fights can happen anywhere, as humans and supernatural beings will spot you as they roam and won’t stop chasing you. Due to this ruthlessness, these battles can happen too often, and combined with some backtracking and roaming in some areas, this can become an annoyance, although it’s a good excuse to appreciate the developer Airship Syndicate for the Build the world of work that Ruined King’s does.
The voice acting is well done and helpful too, to the point where I wish there was more. For example, as you explore, in addition to picking up these random gadget items that the game loves, you can also collect lost notes and journal entries that provide much of Ruined King’s lore and backstory. It reminds me of games like Trinity, which is another fantasy world where only a slice of someone else’s life is narrated, unlike here, by an old, whimsical male voice, and with publisher Riot in mind Games’ nearly endless resource, it might be nice to hear some of these doodles read aloud, rather than having you read like an undergrad in a library.
During those 20 hours or so, I also experienced several real hiccups. First, load time. As beautiful as Ruined King is, it’s not enhanced, polygon-heavy, ray-traced showcase, etc, especially considering the loadability of the X series, I don’t know why it sometimes takes some solid beats to load between different parts of the map The next screen when moving. Likewise, even wanting to check out the map brings a hellish buffer vortex from time to time. Airship Syndicate has promised an upgrade in the new year, with native Xbox series and PS5 versions, so hopefully this will be resolved there.
Also, while there’s a sprint option to help you move faster, I feel like the Ruined King is still slow. I’m currently addicted to the super slide-friendly Apex Legends, which doesn’t help the comparison, but it’s still slow for any kind of game in 2021. There’s also the crucial issue that the publisher’s lingering workplace discrimination lawsuit, Riot Games, remains unresolved and difficult to ignore.
Still, prior to this review, the closest I’d come to playing LoL was by watching the moments shown by YouTubers as they review different laptops, and developer Airship Syndicate has done a good job of delivering an awesome game for those of us. Pleasant single-player to bridge that gap. It’s never been closer to playing a MOBA. The gameplay isn’t overly complicated, and the story is dreamy enough without being overly dull, making it an enticing option even for someone completely allergic to fantasy. Think of me as a successful League of Legends convert — or at least someone willing to step into its world, if not the main game itself.