Test Ruined King : un RPG League of Legends complexe mais addictif

Riot Forge stunned everyone on Tuesday, November 16, with the surprise release of Ruined King: A League of Legends Story. While Riot Games' MOBA universe is currently experiencing a new phenomenal success driven by the Netflix Arcane series, the game developed by the studio Airship Syndicate Couldn't have had a better launch window! But does it really have what it takes to please players?

On Tuesday, November 16, we announced the release of two new League of Legends games, including the highly anticipated Ruined King. This turn-based RPG takes us far from Piltover, the city of progress where the events of the Arcane series, produced by Fortiche Production, take place in part. This time it is to the east, beyond the Sea of the Guardian, in the anarchic port city of Bilgewater, that begins the dark story that will lead us to the Obscure Isles, lands covered by a dangerous black mist...

Test Ruined King : un RPG League of Legends complexe mais addictif Lire la conclusionRuined King: a League of Legends story

Effective combat system
Great freedom in the creation of builds
Pleasant graphics
Immersive music

Lack of artistic consistency on ultimates
Automatic backups too far apart

Test carried out on PC from a code provided by the publisher

Ruined King: a solid scenario for the RPG League of Legends

Ruined King: A League of Legends Story begins with a rather dramatic cinematic, which immediately sets the tone of the game. became the Fallen King of the Shadow Isles, after causing a magical catastrophe known as "The Ruin" as he attempted to bring his beloved back to life. Despite his failure, the now eternal sovereign persists in wanting to bring his wife Isolde back from the dead, even if it means destroying everything in his path with the Black Mist that spreads from his broken and cruel heart.

Heroes to roam Bilgewater and the Shadow Isles

Ruined King thus offers a strong and well-crafted story within the League of Legends universe. It should also be noted that it is not necessary to be a connoisseur of MOBA from Riot Games to enjoy the game since Ruined King is designed to gently immerse neophytes in this universe. LoL fans are not left out and will be able to obtain small bonus information to complete their knowledge.

If there is obviously no question here of spoiler the events that take place in Ruined King, we can however name the characters who make up this excellent adventure. It all starts with Sarah Fortune, better known as Miss Fortune in Riot Games' MOBA, as she still tries to cover the tracks of the previous Captain of Bilgewater, Gangplank, from whom she took over the city. port.

It is with this character that the mechanics of the game, devilishly complex, are presented to us. Later, we are invited to control a group of champions made up of Illaoi, priestess of the Kraken and apostle of truth from Nagakabouros, and Braum, hero of the Freljord admired for his great physical strength. We then approach the Ionians, Yasuo the Disgraced and Ahri the Vastaya with fox-features, as well as Pyke, the Ripper of the Abyss. Connoisseurs will recognize the interest of these champions: enough to tank, heal or even cause area damage.

A wonderful tale for the eyes and ears

We won't go overboard: Ruined King is a very beautiful game. Bilgewater, the sets, the champions in isometric 3D view and the cutscenes... Everything is visually very successful. There was certainly a hiccup when launching the game in terms of movement, with the impossibility of effectively modifying the controls set by default in qwerty. However, a patch was very quickly deployed to correct this small inconvenience, which was not really one since Ruined King allows the control of champions with the mouse like in League of Legends.

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With the mouse, the right click allows you to move the character towards the target point and the left click to interact with the environment. In addition, we welcome the fact that the Airship Syndicate studio has simplified travel as much as possible, because Bilgewater is a real labyrinth in which it is not always easy to find your way! The atmosphere is underlined by dark and catchy music, always perfectly in tune. Connoisseurs will also recognize some MOBA tunes, effectively rearranged for the occasion.

Supported by amusing and instructive dialogues between the characters that make up our group of champions, the whole thing is particularly immersive. Rest times, for example, which allow you to regenerate life and mana points, are also an opportunity for our heroes to exchange a few anecdotes.

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We regret, however, that the triggering of the automatic backup system is sometimes late. Dying in combat can then cause you to lose long minutes of progress in the game, the last save not always being recent enough... It is still possible to save manually, but you still have to think about it!

Insanely effective complex combat system

Ruined King is in the vein of League of Legends: easy to play, hard to master. The fights are very numerous, since it will be necessary to clear the paths of the vile creatures that came with the Black Mist, before rubbing shoulders with some very angry bosses, but they are very pleasant, and fortunately, because a confrontation takes time. A lot of time, sometimes. We must first think of an action plan, rolled out turn by turn between our champions and the enemies requires, keeping in mind that each action takes more or less time.

Overall it is a success. The combat system is effective and its complexity makes it possible to overcome any feeling of repetition that could arise from chaining mobs. It should be noted, however, that here, “complexity” is not synonymous with “difficulty”. The game also offers a “Story” mode, for those who wish above all to enjoy the story without suffering the sequence of battles. And of course, there are higher difficulty levels for veteran turn-based RPGs.

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Again, the graphics are sublime and the little combat animations, whether for our characters or the enemy minions, are just as magnificent. Everything is beautiful… Except the ultimate skills.

If for these most powerful attacks, we first benefit from a superb drawing of our comic book character, then it's a downfall. In a few seconds, we go from 2D illustrations to 3D animated assets that are out of step with the aesthetics of the rest of the game...

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The artistic coherence here frankly leaves something to be desired… What a pity, when everything else is fluid and contributes to offering a harmonious whole!

Way of speed, balance, power...

What makes the complexity of the combat system is the division into three temporally different paths of the skills of our champions. When it's their turn to act, they have three options: perform an immediate action, such as an instant attack or the consumption of a potion (for the selected champion or one of his colleagues in combat); activate his ultimate skill, which is also an immediate action that can only be performed when the ultimate gauge is full; or launch a skill, which consumes mana available in limited quantity, and whose start is delayed according to two criteria.

Each skill requires more or less time to execute, depending on its complexity, and its resolution depends on the player's chosen path. We explain: that of the haste allows a faster action, but generates less damage, while the way of the power takes more time, but for added additional damage. The path of balance is the standard option, which does not provide any bonuses.

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The Battle Time Scale features portraits of our champions and their enemies, visualizing the order of actions and when they will occur. We also notice the presence of hazard zones, which can be positive or negative for our heroes and their opponents. They allow, for example, to heal all the characters concerned by a given area, or conversely, to cause them damage by poisoning, etc. The temporality of the fights is therefore a very important factor, even more so as the game progresses and when you come up against a few bosses.

Runes and skill upgrades, like in League of Legends

Developing your characters will not disorient League of Legends players since Ruined King finds a fairly similar system, with runes and improving skills to unlock their full potential. The fights won will bring experience points to the champions and this will allow them to unlock skill improvement bonuses, by level levels, in order to increase the number of damage generated, healing, or even the duration of a associated effect.

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It should be noted that all of the skills available to a character are not unlocked at the start of the game, to do this you must increase the level of the champion. Then, beyond the skills themselves, it is possible to personalize the hero by assigning him runes in order to increase, for example, the amount of damage inflicted, healing applied or certain specific effects, and this, little does not matter which skill is used in combat. Moreover, the game does not prevent the modification of activated runes, and this, without incurring any cost for the player.

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At the end of a won fight, you can earn gold to spend with a merchant, to buy better quality weapons and armor, or even potions (and you really shouldn't skimp on these items! ). You can also get ingredients to craft enchantments, to improve a weapon or a piece of armor, and use items to strengthen them and apply bonuses to them.

We won't go any further, at the risk of spoiling the excellent story offered by Ruined King: A League of Legends Story. We will simply note that the end suggests a potential sequel to this game, which we are already looking forward to discovering! In terms of lifespan, it takes 20 to 30 hours of play, depending on the difficulty level selected and your experience in this type of game.

Ruined King : l'avis de JVFR

The turn-based RPG Ruined King: A League of Legends Story is a good smack. Its scenario allows us to explore the famous pirate city of Bilgewater and meet some emblematic characters from the League of Legends universe, but it is not necessary to know these elements beforehand.

Indeed, the game allows you to discover the whole thing quietly, while providing bonus content for MOBA enthusiasts. Effective, Ruined King makes us want to go ever further in this dark story to unravel the mysteries that our group encounters, and understand the characters who take us on this adventure.

Visually, there is no fault with it, except for a lack of artistic coherence in terms of the champions' ultimate skills. For the ears, it's also a pleasure: the music is dynamic and perfectly matches the atmosphere of the game and its different phases: travel, combat, rest. The combat system is a treat: accessible for neophytes, it will still challenge veterans of turn-based RPGs.

Ruined King: a League of Legends story

Riot Games' MOBA League of Legends universe expands in Ruined King, through a dark narrative that takes us to Bilgewater, then to the menacing Shadow Isles. The handling is easy, unlike its mastery, so that it will appeal to neophytes as well as veterans of turn-based RPGs. And you don't have to be a connoisseur of lore created by Riot Games to appreciate the work. In short: beautiful to look at, pleasant to listen to, it's quite simply a success with its complex but addictive combat system.