Exclusive review on King’s League II demo build

A few months ago we tried out a short demo on King’s League II, and recently we are lucky to get another chance to try out the demo build version that allows us to explore the game in detail. For those who are new, the game is a sequel to King’s League: Odyssey (2013), developed by Malaysia’s very own indie studio, Kurechii, who brought us Postknight, Tiny Guardians and more. Without further ado, here are our impressions on King’s League II demo build!

Story

Like we mentioned last time, King’s League II is still a single-player game but now with a full-written story. The cheerful story focus on Maxwell’s adventure, who left his hometown trying to prove himself and learn from past mistakes. Fighting his way up to the King’s League, he will meet a lot of friends and foes, as well as starting to realize the importance of his team members.

As you progress the story or exploring dungeons, the game occasionally asks you to make choices. These choices have consequences, for example, some give you a chance to recruit extra characters, while some take away your team members’ HP instantly.

Gameplay

The gameplay is simple and very similar to the previous title. You recruit units, bring them to battle, then try to win as many matches as you can to get better rewards and get promoted to a new league. Up to 5 units can be brought into a battle, where they will stand in the position you assign and battle automatically. Every unit has a unique skill that you can release as long as the gauge fills up.

• Unit Recruit

Units are available in a few rarities – Common, Rare, Epic, Legendary (Maxwell) and types including Thief, Witch and Warrior. Recruiting a new unit requires a number of golds depending on the level and rarity, while some of the units will join your team as your story progress. A few characters appeared in the story would be available to be recruited eventually too. Interestingly, we also noticed that every unit has their own biography so you can get to know more about them.

• Unit Management

You can select up to 5 units to display at the main page for easier management. You will be able to assign training to the units to improve their stats, however note that all these units have their training preferences (you can observe from the words they say). It doesn’t hurt to assign them a wrong training, but it won’t be very effective or useful on them. A little side note, there are animations when the units train and we find that adorable.

• Unit Upgrade and Class Advancement

Aside from training, you can level up your units and equip them with items to boost their stats. Class advancement will be unlocked once the unit reached level 5 and 10. Most of the units you get from recruitment will have 2 options for class advancement, while unique characters only have one.

Advancing to the next class categorise the unit into a more specific usage. For example, you can advance a Warrior into a Knight (high defence type) or a Gladiator (high damage type). Make sure you choose wisely because you can’t undo your decisions.

• Facilities / Unit Upgrade

You can invest your golds and crystals in facilities and unit upgrades too. Depends on your strategy, you can purchase the relevant upgrades to do quests more efficiently, get greater stat boost on training, recover health after battles and more.

• Quest and Factions

Talking about quests, this would be one of the easiest ways to earn golds and crystals in the game. Some quests also let you gain reputation from one of the 4 factions and raise their trust on you. Higher trust level means more perks for you, such as being able to view the opponent’s units level before a league match starts or unlocking higher rarity items in the market.

• Dungeon, Warden and Tournament

These three act like side missions. They aren’t compulsory to complete, but grant you great rewards once you complete it. Progressing in the story unlocks some dungeons for you to explore, each of them consisting of a few stages, a final boss and a treasure (such as rare items). Units that participated in the dungeon run can get some bonus increment on their stats too.

Meanwhile, defeating the Wardens are pretty important as it generates monthly tribute, which you will need them for levelling up units, buying items and more. It also unlocks more area to challenge. If you want to test the strength of your units, you can challenge the tournament as well and get massive rewards in return. However it will be really difficult, so make sure you are fully prepared before you head on to the challenge.

Verdict

Although King’s League II is still under development, it is already a well-made strategy simulation RPG with immersive storytelling and amazing artwork. The gameplay is unique and fun. It requires a lot of strategic thinking too, as we find it challenging in managing time and resources.

King’s League II is releasing on mobile devices and Steam in Q4 2019. Be sure to keep a look out for the game if you are interested! For more info on the game, you can visit the official website.

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