This morning, Riot Games surprised us all with the release of their newest turn-based RPG, Ruined King: A League of Legends Story.
In a move that surprised pretty much everybody, Riot Games has released Airship Syndicate’s Ruined King: A League of Legends Story on multiple platforms as of today. Originally only announced as “coming early 2021”, the decision to delay the game didn’t cause too much uproar.
We didn’t have a specific date to look forward to, after all. But fans are both delighted and surprised to find that alongside the release of Hextech Mayhem: A League of Legends Story, we’ve been gifted Ruined King now too.
Featuring the “art style of legendary comic book artist Joe Madureira“, this single-player, turn-based RPG looks sufficiently pirate-y. Set in Bilgewater, the “bustling port city” home to sea monster hunters and smugglers alike, this small slice of Runeterra’s world looks intriguing. Especially thanks to the “mysterious Shadow Isles” that players will also get to explore.
With six characters to choose from, you’ll get to put together your own party “and control an unlikely group of League of Legends Champions”. Miss Fortune, Illaoi, Braum, Yasuo, Ahri, and Pyke make up the list of your potential, motley crew. A wild combo if ever I’ve seen one.
Collector’s Edition is exclusive to the Riot Games store; both the Digital Deluxe and Standard editions are all available for purchase elsewhere. The going rate for them is either $44.95 AUD for the Standard Edition, or $59.95 AUD for Digital Deluxe. If you get them before December 16 2021, you get the Manamune weapon for Yasuo as a launch exclusive too.
The Digital Deluxe includes all the currently available DLC that you can get. If you’re only looking to buy one of the DLC and the base game, go for it. But you’ll get more bang for your buck and save around $5 if you get the Deluxe version, rather than buy it all separately.
Combat is, you guessed it, turn-based and ends when you’ve defeated all your foes. Health and mana pools for Champions carry over from one battle to the next. So you’ll have to play tactically around that system. Which is neat.
When a Champion’s health runs out, they’re knocked out and unable to perform any other actions until the battle ends or they’re revived. Health can be regained through abilities, item consumption, or resting, and mana works similarly (just without ability regen).
The game includes a whole range of other additions to its combat, such as; buffs, debuffs, ultimates, overcharge, initiative (aka turn orders), environmental hazards, and boons. Which seems pretty promising when you put it all together.
For those who aren’t interested in the gameplay, there’s an option to skip combat scenarios in the pause menu and just receive the loot and experience from encounters instead. Personally? I’d rather just play – it’s a pretty expensive story in that case.
🏴☠️ Attention All Bandits of Bilgewater: The PS4 version of Ruined King includes a free upgrade to the PS5 version, available at a later date. The Xbox version uses Smart Delivery, allowing access to the Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S title, also available at a later date. 🏴☠️
— Riot Forge (@RiotForge) November 16, 2021
Ruined King: A League of Legends Story is available now on various digital PC stores, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One and PlayStation 4. For Xbox and PlayStation players, a free digital upgrade for the game is included in each purchase. This will let you update your version when it becomes available on either Xbox Series X|S or PlayStation 5.
Time to set sail!
