Ruined King: A League of Legends Story review: the perfect popcorn RPG

The Ruined King: League of Legends StoryThe odds were against it. It was a stand-alone RPG that had been established in the real world. League of LegendsThis must be appealing to both the hardcore and softcore. LeagueFans as well as players that have not touched the game. That’s no easy feat, and it would be easy for The Ruined KingTo oversteer in the wrong direction. Airship Syndicate is a developer who keeps a tight grip on the wheel, guiding players through a fantasy RPG that’s full of personality.

The Ruined KingAs the captain of an elite team of champions, LeaguePeople of lore borrow tools from the original MOBA design. Illaoi (a Kraken Priestess) increases her power by summoning more spectral tendacles which she can then use for healing her friends and crushing her enemies. Braum, a friendly fellow with a massive shield and bigger biceps, serves as my team’s tank. Meanwhile, offensive characters like Miss Fortune — a pirate captain with a pair of pistols — focus on dishing out damage from the back line.

Image by Airship Syndicate/Riot Forge

Longform, turn-based RPGs have two pillars: building a party and trying out different combinations. The Ruined King doesn’t disappoint. It’s easy to get into a rhythmic, but still comfortable, combat style of going back and forth. I can snap off an instant ability, like a taunt, a shield, or a standard attack, or I can choose a more powerful “lane ability.”

Once I’ve chosen my lane ability, I can choose between three options: a Speed, Balance, or Power attack. The labels are pretty self-explanatory, but what’s interesting is how they affect the character’s position on the “initiative” grid. Although a power strike might feel strong and make my character happy, I could be left in the dead zone of poison mire. Certain attacks are more vulnerable than others. A Speed attack could disarm a bomb. Combat is a complex dance because of all this.

My time is spent in the kitchen. The Ruined KingIn combat but much more in the overworld. The Ruined KingThe story is set in two areas: Bilgewater (the pirate city) and Shadow Isles (the mysterious, spectral Shadow Isles). Talk to the inhabitants. I collect legend documents. Solve puzzles. And explore richly-detailed environments. It’s typical RPG fare, where exploring the overworld is half the pleasure, and I pore over every inch of both worlds in search of secrets. Airship Syndicate gives the impression of a thriving, cutthroat port. They rarely appear in League of LegendsProper, but The Ruined KingIt makes them feel as if they are in real places, with their own history.

Image by Airship Syndicate/Riot Forge

Although the world is lively and inviting, The Ruined KingPlays it too safe on its narrative side. Every League A brief biography is given to champion, League newbies can get caught up, while veterans don’t have to watch cutscenes about revelations they already know. Although some of these characters do have interesting stories, most of them are just color commentary.

Sure, it’s fun to watch the gang banter and get to know one another, but if you’re looking for the character choices and deep, philosophical conversation trees that you might get from a Divinity: Original Sin 2Or Baldur’s Gate 3, The Ruined KingNever dive so deep. Some cast members enjoy a fulfilling story while others are left in stasis during large chunks of game.

This isn’t helped by the fact that the overworld dialogue largely remains the same no matter which party member I inhabit. Braum can toss a little poro beast down a small corridor once in a while, or Illaoi can read her people’s language on items, but anytime I talk to a quest giver I’ll get the same polite — and limited — dialogue trees. However, written legends from around the globe tend to be more adventuresome. There were documents that ranged from urgent messages from doomed adventurers and sapphic poetry.

Image by Airship Syndicate/Riot Forge

The Ruined King is also filled with side quest content — including a fishing minigame — but on lower difficulties much of it is redundant. If you’re playing on Normal or Story difficulty, you can simply ignore a lot of the Lane mechanics in non-boss combat, and overworld systems like crafting and cooking quickly become unnecessary as well. On Normal, I’m constantly picking up dust and leathers I don’t care about as I raid temples and ruins.

Then there are some little, cloying issues, like having to watch the same short cutscenes play out every time I use a character’s ultimate, or having to constantly tell the game I don’t want to go through a map tutorial. It’s not difficult to learn how to use maps. I also found myself sighing every time I sat down because I had lost a couple of battles’ worth of progress despite manually saving, or I had to manually increase the speed of combat every time.

But these issues don’t detract from a fantastic RPG adventure that’s full of beautiful creatures and enjoyable pulp. Sure, there are some ancillary systems that come off as filler, and the narrative isn’t the most impressive piece of writing, but that’s OK. The Ruined KingIt’s a great way to have fun in beautiful environments and with some likable misfits. Airship Syndicate doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but it didn’t need to — The Ruined King Still, it serves as a wonderful on-ramp to both League of Legends Lore and RPGs, in general.

The Ruined King is a League of Legends Story November 16th, 2009. Epic Games Store provided a code for the download of this game. Vox Media also has affiliate relationships. They do not affect editorial content. However, Vox Media might earn commissions for products bought via affiliate links. Find out more. additional information about Polygon’s ethics policy here.