You have been chosen, Tribunus of the fallen legion of Roman warriors to escape Tartarus and re-establish Eternal Rome in Avalon, the mystical world between life and death. But this will be no simple feat. Your army is lost, and the world does not care for your demonic following. So pick up your swords, swear allegiance to Emperor Sulla and prepare to strike fear in the hearts of men. For you are Gaius Julius Mento, more powerful in death, and the world will come to fear your name.
King Arthur Legion IX is a standalone tactical RPG from the minds at Neocore Games. It may be prudent to preface this review with the fact that I haven’t played the previous title in the King Arthur series, and as such I came into the experience blind and unfamiliar with the world and its mechanics. Despite this, Legion IX did a great job of easing me into the gameplay with its fascinating lore and deep grid-based combat system.
While you have free reign to move around the maps to explore and discover secrets, before long you will be thrust into the midst of combat. This is truly where Legion IX excels. It would be foolish to run headlong into this experience guns blazing. No, instead the game rewards you by taking it slow, thinking before you act and planning out your war strategy 3 moves ahead.
You are given 6 heroes to work with, each specialising in different fields: Mento wants to get up close and stab his opponents in the back, Remus will taunt your foes and soak up the damage while Virgila will scorch the earth and wreath your allies in flame from afar. Much of the joy derived from this formula lies in the AP system and the positioning of your heroes. Use strategic cover, fight from the shadows, get up close and personal or even let the enemy come to you. Depending on how you like to play, you can spec your characters into different skill trees that reward different playstyles. While these trees aren’t exactly exhaustive, you can respec anytime and it gives just enough variation that each hero never gets boring to play.
Even though the story is a little lacklustre, the world here is rich, full of monstrous creatures, noble knights and interesting lore. This title takes a lot from various legendary stories and mixes them into an enchanting fantasy. You’ll get bits of Roman history combined with the adventures of the Knights of Camelot and a morality system to appease even the gods themselves. However, at times the dialogue of the characters can be a little jarring, and the voice actors sound a little tired and monotonous. This isn’t the end of the world of course, just something that could use a little polish.
Make decisions that impact the outcome of the story and gain rewards based on your loyalty to specific factions. There’s so much mixing and matching you can do to give yourself the edge in battle, whether it’s utilising specific Lars, upgrading Nova Roma’s buildings, using scrolls and potions or upgrading your equipment. At the beginning, it may seem a touch overwhelming, yet by the end you will come to enjoy the relaxing management that comes between missions, giving you some respite from the action.
Unfortunately that end, for some, may come a little bit too soon. Understandably, for a $20 game, the base story doesn’t last that long, but the ending comes out of nowhere, feeling like you were stopped short of a triumphant grand finale. Instead, you are left sitting there, slightly confused thinking “Is that it?” Now there is an endless mode, but this doesn’t quite capture the intrigue of the story, and as such, it’s difficult to feel motivated to continue.
Of course, while the story is just about enough to keep you engaged, the missions are somewhat less inspired. The reason the combat carries this game so much is illustrated in the missions themselves: Destroy 5 totems, destroy 3 crystals and light 5 beacons. It isn’t the most imaginative quest design. The majority of maps simply have you traversing from one side to the other, fighting waves of enemies. And while this isn’t bad, it definitely feels a little undercooked.
They could do a lot more with the formula if they wanted, like with more inspired terrain, or larger and more intricate bosses. Maybe by using the environment in more creative ways with the weather or the ocean, or by having more characters join your team and having to pick and choose who is right for various missions. Or how about having to make more difficult decisions instead of simply good or bad? The loyalty system is a good start, but I think this could be expanded with more characters and a smaller, more tactical team.
In addition, while Nova Roma, your hub city, is the seed of something interesting, it’s really just a glorified menu screen. If you could walk around, see the improvements you’re making and interact with the people as it grows and becomes more prosperous, I think this would add a lot to the experience and add to the immersion.
While King Arthur Legion IX is treated as a standalone title, I can’t help but feel that it’s more like a DLC. Or rather something that was originally planned to be DLC but was made into a full release. While the core of the experience is great, it feels like the skeleton of a larger project that could be formed around it, given the proper time and investment. The foundations have all been laid, the walls erected, now Legion IX just needs a roof and a coat of paint.
Despite this, I would recommend this title to anyone unfamiliar with the Tactical RPG scene. It’s simple to learn and rewarding to master, with various difficulties that cater to every audience possible. If anything, I recommend switching the starting difficulty to hard, rather than normal, as this mode won’t challenge you (apart from some weird difficulty spikes near the end). So if you’re interested in history and fantasy, or even just want something that’ll make you think, King Arthur Legion IX is a great place to start. And on that note, It’s time to dive back in and give myself fully to the demonic path. The Ninth Legion will rise again!
