Note: Although I am familiar with League of Legends, I have actually not played the original multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) version. I kind of know who the most popular characters like Ezreal, Leona, and Miss Fortune are but I am fairly unfamiliar with the game’s lore and other such. So I will be treating this as its own standalone game.
A game as hugely popular as League of Legends making a spin-off game in lieu of its regular MOBA genre and making a story-driven turn-based RPG is kind of a surprise, but it is a fairly welcome one — especially to those who have never played it and may want to learn more about the series like myself for example.
Developed by Airship Syndicate and published by Riot Forge, Ruined King: A League of Legends Story was released for PC via Microsoft Windows, the PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch and Xbox One. It has backward compatible with the PlayStation 5 as well as Xbox Series X/S with free graphic upgrades possible in the near future.
The aftermath of revenge
Allow me to quote the intro movie to give some backstory, especially for Miss Fortune:
“In Bilgewater, monsters are real. When I was a girl, my mother was murdered by a low-life coward named Gangplank. He shot me and left me for dead. There was no trial. In Bilgewater, he was the law. I hunted him. I killed his men. And then… I watched Gangplank die, washed away on the burning tide. But there are still monsters about.
For centuries, the Buhru people have protected these islands from the worst of them. But even they fear the Harrowings. Attacks in the form of a lethal Black Mist, courtesy of our unliving neighbors on the Shadow Isles. Each time, the Harrowings return stronger, while the Buhru grow…distant.
How long can we rely on prayers and magic? My monsters are flesh and blood. They don’t frighten me. Only one thing does. Becoming one of them.“
We are the Champions
Products of your environment
Comic-infused cinematics
Intricate battle system
The battle system of Ruined King: A League of Legends Story is slightly more complicated than your traditional RPG. First, you encounter an enemy via symbol-encounter or via progression in the story like you would do in a boss fight via a traditional RPG.
Let’s discuss the screenshot above:
Miss Fortune’s level (the max level is 30), current HP, and Mana are indicated by her character icon on the bottom left known in the game as a Fighter Card.
Above that are the following options:
Inspect Mode: Check buffs and debuffs of enemies.
Quick Strike: A standard regular attack that does not cost any Mana. It uses the character’s base Instant Ability.
Combat Speed: Adjust the speed of battle to x1, x2, etc.
Flee: Run from battle.
Notice the ATB-like bar at the bottom of the screen. This is the turn order. A neat thing implemented is something called Lane changing. In the screenshot above, both Miss Fortune and the enemies are in the middle Balance Lane. The top Lane is the Speed Lane while the bottom is the Power Lane. Switching Lanes is beneficial to avoid hazards and counteracting enemy buffs.
If you do not use a quick-strike which is done by holding a certain button, then you have the option of using either an Instant Ability or a Lane Ability. Instant abilities do no cost Mana and are performed immediately. Lane abilities on the other hand do have a casting time delay as well as costing Mana, but are generally more powerful.
Performing Instant abilities generates Overcharge which is the furthest red number on the Fighter Card and can be combined with Mana. It lasts only as long as the encounter.
The red rectangular covering the turn-order bar. This is called the Initiative Hazard Bar Region. If you get targeted while in the region and reach the end, the effects of the hazard will be applied. You are able to avoid this by switching Lanes.
One last thing to discuss is the Ultimate Meter. The Ultimate meter is built up by using Instant abilities and Lane abilities similar to a limit gauge other traditional RPGs have. Once the limit bar is filled, an Ultimate Ability can be unleashed instantly by a character.
Items can be used from the Potion Bag.
These above are just the very basics of battling in Ruined King: A League of Legends Story.
Deadman’s switch
Dungeon abilities
All fun and games?
One thing Ruined King has is a fishing minigame. One place you can fish is at Aguas Estancadas docks. You need to get a fishing rod and some bait to start fishing. The better the rod and bait, the odds are the better the fish you can catch. Fish can be exchanged for Black Marks. Black Marks can be used to get exclusive knowledge, equipment, and even character skins throughout the game.
I have way to many crashes on my PS5 with this game. In combo with the lack of Autosaves after each fight i stopped playing this. Furthermore way to many loading screens, even a small room with only one person and a little talk/writing is loading for 2sec. So annoying if you just walk through the city and constantly looking at loading screens.
Hi, I played the PC version so I can’t comment on it (The PC version was relatively smooth) sorry to hear about the bugs on PS5.