KA2 - first impression fro a seasoned KA1 gamer

[unmerged(81995)]

Having played KA1 intensively and enjoyed it very much, KA2 was an (initial) diappointment.

Having bought the game after it was clear that the majority of bugs seems to have been improved, a first impression in the middle of chapter 2 of the campaign:
- Much more RPG than RTS, while KA1 was a near perfect mixture
- Watered down battle difficulty on "normal", most visible for the early battles (which were really difficult in KA1)
- Much more "linear", because of story driven campaign, most likely not worth replaying
- Near to zero empire management
- Highly imbalanced army opponents in exactly those cases where you can´t avoid a manual battle using auto, often rendering 1 element of a balanced army near useless or threatened by extinction
- One unit exactly useless which was of high value in KA1 - light infantry
- Melee heroes much less useful than spellcasters and/or warlords, rendering these to lame ducks in reserve

The initial disappointment was less pronounced after the first gameplay experience, but still ... A huge mistake from the developer with an eye to the people that really loved the first instance of the game. If it was the developers intention to appeal to a completely new set of customers, the decision was fine. For a sequel though it remains a disappointment. It IS a good game, but at the same time no King Arthur any longer.

Regards,
Thorsten

 

[unmerged(81995)]

Some additions

Reached Chapter 5, still playing on normal, some more observations:

- Battles get boring. Magical shield is taking a lot of the excitement of KA 1 out of the equation, the enemy has sometimes ridiculous setups (all fast units?), the battlefield is (to counter the tactical AI flaws?) most always heavily tilted in the direction of your opponent (strategic locations).
- Beasts and golems are exactly useless except 2 units - Talonfolk and Gargoyles. Nothing else makes much sense, these guys own the battlefield as long as they get not in reach of archers. Need a WMD? Take a Talonfolk! Cavalry, beasts, enemy fliers, heavy infantry, light infantry - 1:3 and the Talonfolk loses max. 10 out of 40. Unbeleivable ...
- Available diplomatic actions in chapter 4 drive you even further to the best and most versatile unit - heavy infantry. You get them at level 15 (highest) from scratch if you pay attention.
- Artefacts in droves. There are only 4 kinds worth attention though - those boosting mana and mana regeneration, leadership (used for everything not human), magical shield boost or shield break.
- Still a shitload of equipment sets wothless as you will only get 1 or 2 of sets comprising 4 or 5. Used these for forging meanwhile.
- Developers did not use their setup well. All units (Formorian etc.) behave generally the same, no real specific abilities (spreading fear, inate magic, whatever).
- Archers would be pretty useless - IF the enemy would not have the predictable behaviour to focus on those, especially with fliers.
- Forging - what gives? You´ll never have the ingredients for any recipe available and the output of 3 items forged for one is questionable. often it either combines some values of just 2 of the input items or it gives unpredictable, but useless, results. Often enough omitting the one result hoped for (2 items with magical shield boost. Result is at best a boost reflecting the better of the 3 ingredients?).

I really wanted to like the game and it got me addicted in the first 3 chapters before repetition set in. But expecially late in the game you feel the missing empire management tasks heavily. Just moving armies around and forging artefacts is not particulary exciting. Boy, the devs really missed the potential of the first instance by trying to develop something "new" instead of building on the predecessor. Too young to know that you "never change a running system" I guess.

Regards,
Thorsten

 

[unmerged(81995)]

And before I forget:

City attack and defense. The one already ridiculous point in KA1. Already there it was very questionable if the defender was in the better position, but the victory locations which started to clock for the enemy up gave defenders still an edge with their easier access.
But without the victory locations towards a "victory by points" and the demand to hunt down the last remnant of an army it is extremely questionable if as a defender you still have ANY advantage over the advancing attacker. Most likely the opposite is true, even would the defender be commanded by a human.

Now this is moot as there are only 3 city fights in the whole KA II - London, Eboracum and the emperor Sulla´s fortress. But at the same time the devs missed an opportunity to make castles/towns more useful than as decorative elements on the map. TW II had already shown how it is done . Several years ago.

Regards,
Thorsten

 

[unmerged(81995)]

Summary:

What a shitload of missed opportunities ... Who was the responsible project manager for development :laugh:?