What happened to this game? Worse than AP/CW in every aspect.

[rickah88]

Since I've been holding out for a physical release, it sounds as if I'm missing out on a lot of frustration.

[BB Shockwave]

Well said. Btw, the developers are on this board. I'm waiting for them to finally come out and tell us A: why this game is such a mess when it is built on an existing code, IE not much had to be changed, and B: when can we expect all bugs to be finally resolved? I honestly stopped playing after the 10th time the game crashed when I wanted to cast "Justice", and went back to play Crossworlds.

This is bad news - KB had bugs, sure, but never on this level, and they were all fixed eventually. KB was never like other TBS games that failed horribly of late -I'm thinking Elemental: War of Magic (or should I say Tragic?) that had a 500 MB patch released the DAY the game was released, and which had a terrible linear campaign you could finish in 8 hours, or Warlock: Master of the Arcane which was released as basically a sandbox, and a bad one at that - yes, I'm not kidding, for 25$ you got a (bad) random map generator game with no multiplayer or even a campaign. KB really, really shouldn't sink to this level. Especially now that Age of Wonders 3 is coming. While a different breed of TBS, it will certainly be a rival to not just Ubisoft's Heroes franchise, but KB too. 1C should really start taking itself seriously and not release something that is barely alpha-tested as a final game.

I mean, heck we have been basically alpha/beta-testing this game since 2012 Nov. Look at the bug thread - more then 110 pages. And look at the bugfixes thread. If anything, the names of those people who provided bugfixes should be in the next patch's credits.

[jake21]

Its not quite that bad; I think what happened is they made it very large - I think it is nearly twice as long as the first game; and this magnified the issues seen in the previous games and efforts it take to fix. Both previous games (legend and crossroad) had serious balance issues between start and end and minor gltiches that were mostly resolved.

With this game there is still at least one serious quest bug; and the balance is quite bad (similar to other games but magnified by additional length). There is also (and this is a personal opinion) the new mechanics are less interesting than the old ones (esp the lost in number of items you can use at one time).
-
To be honest I like the first game from a story perspective best (most people seem to prefer the second). I do keep hoping they will fix the quest bugs and some of the balance issues though I have my doubts this will happen. I have no clue if this game sold well but I also suspect this one will kill the series


[Technically there were three gmes but I mostly consider AP and crossroad to be the same game - in case this is not obvious in the above text]

[hippo]

Originally Posted by BB Shockwave

when can we expect all bugs to be finally resolved?

I think there will be no patches, whoever had to buy the game already bought it so developers took the money and ran away.

[kbounty1]

The game has been released way too soon, and is obviously not finished. So its not balanced. We cant even access part of Demonis or the Marsh. Probably not the devs fault, but the publisher.

On the bright side, i liked :
- the LoTR/pirates story line influences
-the Orcs dialogue/quests pretty comical (like the museum)
-the peacefull Elves and Dwarfs in the cities! good call! less combat, more adventure
-the Viking theme and units! especially Bersekers, Warriors Maidens, Soothsayers..

It just lack balance; like The Eric fights where you have to control troops of esch race.. good idea but too easy (played on hard). Not enough troops avalaible if you wanna switch after Guilford. I miss the Lizards and old units like Gorgons..ect.

Rezo tower fight was great.. but then he got like 25 archmages.. do i really have to use Sacrifice for every troops to get full stacks (and forced to learn Chaos magic). My game had 3 archdemons only. And not enough items to sell to get a full set ever or more choice. Glad i was Pal and not Mage, or i was in trouble. Balance again..

And the game has been slightly dumbed down; a mistake! it have to be hard to be interesting!

An Add-on could solve all this..

Overall i liked the game (dont forget to press F5 often). Like usual with King Bounty : once you start you cant stop playing!

[F-kid]

Originally Posted by kbounty1

The game has been released way too soon, and is obviously not finished. So its not balanced. We cant even access part of Demonis or the Marsh. Probably not the devs fault, but the publisher.
(...)

Like usual with King Bounty : once you start you cant stop playing!

Agreed.

Despite my disappointment with the game, I can't deny that it's still very addictive.

It would not be a bad game when compared to other strategy games, but it is waaaaaaay inferior than AP and CW in almost every aspect.

I wonder what happened in 1c to allow such a drop in quality.

[Specaz]

I agree to most of OP arguments.

But i would like to point the best thing in KB series in my opinion: after Giant Spider boss fight when you lost all you army, and have to build from scratch in current area. I sooo would like this to happen in every area, to force to use units from every race. Or even to force use units like neutrals (crappy hyenas and stuff).

[DGDobrev]

Now you know why many dedicated KB players (myself included, I must have clocked over 500 hours in it) who bought all the games since KBTL felt downright disappointed and maybe a little betrayed by this release. The game is utterly repetitive in the beginning, easy when you set up your ideal squad and boring towards the end.

I am so sorry for this franchise. After brilliant games that really put the player through hell like KBAP and KBCW, this successor looks like a poorly thought out offspring. I guess all we can do now is hope for it to return to its former glory.

[kbounty1]

[QUOTE=F-kid;501165]"Agreed.

Despite my disappointment with the game, I can't deny that it's still very addictive."
--

Addictive indeed. And high replayability value. Just enjoyed Crossworlds campaign again (on impossible).

My favorite game was Heroes M&M 3, then it lost his "magic". Now it is King Bounty, it succeeded brillantly in capturing the Magic from the old New Wolrd Computing games with colorful graphics and great design.

A though while playing my campaign : a race (units) that would desserve maybe more attention is the Pirates. I'd love to see a full Pirates race with lvl 4/5 units.. wooden leg, eye patch, parrot.. and rhum!
From Tortuga bay to Dead Chest island. From Long Jhon Silver to Blackbeard.. there is so much materials, myths and legends (enjoyably already present in the game) that would fill very well a full KB story. Just an idea.

Perhaps a theme for a future KB game.

KB:WOTN release was clearly not polished and way too rushed.
But i dont feel the devs should re-invent the wheel. KB is good as it is. I'd just like a new adventure (islands/dungeons) theme and additional units.
Take ALL the units from the KB serie into a huge new adventure, that would be great.

[Darkeonz]

I have 2 big complaints about this game

One is that a huge part of it is reused maps from Legend. I was hoping for completely new lands to explore, and probably a lot more new units then what is in it.

the other one is the fact that randomization of the game seems a lot less then in crossworlds. It really REALLY kills the replay value of the game. I know I'm going to start out on 4 islands where I can get the same old vikings and nothing else. Also I agree. The flying horse makes it really easy even on the hardest. I almost wish flying horses wern't a part of the game. You can basically loot any map completely before fighting anyone. The good thing about crossworlds is the fact that you get the flying horse late in the game, so you have to fight a ton to get to that level.