King's Bounty: The Legend Impressions?

marcusjm · Post by **marcusjm** » Sun Sep 28, 2008 7:29 pm

Well my experience is based on the fact that I have my computer 500 km from the source while you sit an Ocean away so
that might play in. I get better speeds on GG than on Steam but to me it doesn't matter, I usually put these downloads on before going
to work or something.

And typically you can burn the games bought on GG on a DVD, similar to the games bought from Stardock. Note that it can differ from game to game,
each publisher sets their own rules.

One thing I think is better compared to Steam is that you can play all the games offline as well.

malichai11 · Post by **malichai11** » Sun Sep 28, 2008 8:27 pm

It took me about 80 minutes to download this from GamersGate on Tuesday evening. I've had good luck with GG so far, also buying a number of Paradox games from them.

Skinypupy · Post by **Skinypupy** » Sun Sep 28, 2008 9:33 pm

2.5 hours later, 90% finished, still 25 minutes to go.

storz · Post by **storz** » Sun Sep 28, 2008 9:49 pm

After reading the problem with GamersGate, I went to Best buy and Fry's, but both don't have this in stock yet. The good news is according to Cheapassgamer, this one will be on sale in Circuit City next week for $29.99.

Skinypupy · Post by **Skinypupy** » Sun Sep 28, 2008 10:05 pm

storz wrote:After reading the problem with GamersGate, I went to Best buy and Fry's, but both don't have this in stock yet. The good news is according to Cheapassgamer, this one will be on sale in Circuit City next week for $29.99.

You're not making me feel any better about my decision, you know.

On the positive side, the DL is finished and it's installing now.

lch · Post by **lch** » Sun Sep 28, 2008 10:41 pm

I didn't have that many problems downloading from GG. I even downloaded the game at a friends comp, transferred the files to a USB thumb drive and then finished the installation on my own computer, without trouble.

Skinypupy wrote:Out of curiosity, if GamersGate goes belly-up tomorrow, we're pretty much SOL on the games we purchased from them, right?

First, I don't expect that, and second, like marcusjm already said, you only need to authenticate during installation. If it's installed, you can play the game as much as you like. Nice that you can install more than once and have a pool, too. Probably too late to tell you all about my GG ref-code, huh? ...

Lee · Post by **Lee** » Mon Sep 29, 2008 12:08 am

Are there timed missions? Early in the game there is the hut of a guy who wants you to kill some stuff before a full moon (trying not to give too much away). Since I don't see anything about phases of the moon, I am guessing that it's not timed and just for ambiance?

malichai11 · Post by **malichai11** » Mon Sep 29, 2008 12:39 am

I must've skipped that mission, Lee, but I never ran into any timed quests.

Lee · Post by **Lee** » Mon Sep 29, 2008 12:49 am

Good to hear there aren't any, thanks malichai11.

Spoilers for the mission I am talking about below, although it's pretty minor.

Spoiler:

Turin Turambar · Post by **Turin Turambar** » Mon Sep 29, 2008 3:58 am

Have ne reached Freedom Islands? They are kicking my butt there!. "Overpowering" stacks, "Imposssible" stacks, etc.
Just playing in normal difficulty, but it's clear this is a russian game, it's more on the hard side than on the easy side. I am back in the first island, having to grind to level up before coming back,

Zork · Post by **Zork** » Mon Sep 29, 2008 12:55 pm

Turin Turambar wrote:Have ne reached Freedom Islands? They are kicking my butt there!. "Overpowering" stacks, "Imposssible" stacks, etc.
Just playing in normal difficulty, but it's clear this is a russian game, it's more on the hard side than on the easy side. I am back in the first island, having to grind to level up before coming back,

I think it's one of those situations where if you just follow the main storyline quests, you will not be high enough level to handle the encounters.

Personally, I didn't hit Freedom islands until I was level 8. So far the monsters range between slightly weaker to slightly stronger.

Turin Turambar · Post by **Turin Turambar** » Mon Sep 29, 2008 1:51 pm

Zork wrote:
Turin Turambar wrote:Have ne reached Freedom Islands? They are kicking my butt there!. "Overpowering" stacks, "Imposssible" stacks, etc.
Just playing in normal difficulty, but it's clear this is a russian game, it's more on the hard side than on the easy side. I am back in the first island, having to grind to level up before coming back,
I think it's one of those situations where if you just follow the main storyline quests, you will not be high enough level to handle the encounters.

Personally, I didn't hit Freedom islands until I was level 8. So far the monsters range between slightly weaker to slightly stronger.

I also didn't hit the islands until level 8, i already did most of the side quests in the first area (4 maps). Perhaps is the randomization of the game, playing here a bit of chaos? Dunno. I got 2 levels more completing everything i could and now i am a level 10, also with a new runic sword. Now it's a more even fight.

EddieA · Post by **EddieA** » Mon Sep 29, 2008 3:14 pm

According to Cheapass Gamer, Circuit City will have King's Bounty on sale for $29.99 starting 10/5.

Demonix · Post by **Demonix** » Mon Sep 29, 2008 3:33 pm

I think it depends on the quest...I got a quest in the forest south of greenburg (starting continent) that had HUGE encounters...i'm talking 110 ghosts in a stack, stacks of 300 skells, etc. that were WAY outside my ability to power through. I'm in the freedom islands now, went there at level 7, i'm level 9 now.

One thing that really helps is unlocking your rage spirits. the evil shoal of the first one is an INCREDIBLE power, but the recharge times are killer. fortunately, the cost and rest periods can be reduced as the spirit levels up. Also, evil shoal levels him up really fast

The poison storm isnt bad either, but your own units can get caught, so beware.

So far, I think my favorite units are the sea dogs (bless + cleave 3 hexes, yes please!), griffins (ultimate mobility), and snakes in general, especially the royal snakes (no retaliation and good HP wheee!) I find the dwarven alchemists -interesting- but you cant get enough in a stack to have REALLY good damage.

always save before you try to upgrade an item, however! those armies in there are NOT TO BE TRIFLED WITH, especially with the gremlins throwing spells around. I mean really...6 stacks of 100 swordsmen each? -cries- I need me some cannons!

JonathanStrange · Post by **JonathanStrange** » Mon Sep 29, 2008 4:07 pm

EddieA wrote:According to Cheapass Gamer, Circuit City will have King's Bounty on sale for $29.99 starting 10/5.

Thanks! Now that's more like it. The unwary game, sensing no danger, approaches the watering hole...

Profanicus · Post by **Profanicus** » Mon Sep 29, 2008 5:03 pm

Lee wrote:Are there timed missions? Early in the game there is the hut of a guy who wants you to kill some stuff before a full moon (trying not to give too much away). Since I don't see anything about phases of the moon, I am guessing that it's not timed and just for ambiance?

Hi everyone,
this is a seriously great game; I played the demo and had to force myself to stop to await the day one purchase. Since that day I now have to force myself to stop and go to bed at a reasonable hour.

I just thought I'd mention that this particular quest at least IS timed - I went back after neglecting it for some days to find it failed.

Spoiler:

DonD · Post by **DonD** » Mon Sep 29, 2008 5:22 pm

For those of us who are old enough to remember it, is this a refresh of the old King's Bounty or did they just recycle the name?

SlapBone · Post by **SlapBone** » Mon Sep 29, 2008 7:40 pm

DonD wrote:For those of us who are old enough to remember it, is this a refresh of the old King's Bounty or did they just recycle the name?

The concept is generally the same. The city-building aspect didn't come in till Heroes of Might and Magic.

rrmorton · Post by **rrmorton** » Mon Sep 29, 2008 9:57 pm

I bought this the day it came out and loaded it up just long enough to check out the tutorial. I was really impressed. Then I turned it off to play Warhammer Online. So that's all I got so far. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go play Warhammer Online.

JonathanStrange · Post by **JonathanStrange** » Wed Oct 01, 2008 11:57 am

rrmorton wrote:I bought this the day it came out and loaded it up just long enough to check out the tutorial. I was really impressed. Then I turned it off to play Warhammer Online. So that's all I got so far. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go play Warhammer Online.

Ok, sorry for bothering you.

JonathanStrange · Post by **JonathanStrange** » Wed Oct 01, 2008 11:58 am

Double post sorry

Jag · Post by **Jag** » Thu Oct 02, 2008 1:16 pm

Hey! Page 2. Impressions?

Quitch · Post by **Quitch** » Thu Oct 02, 2008 2:00 pm

The game is sucking me in, certainly has that "just one more..." thing going for it. It's not a very complex game, but it's addictive at what it does. I love that you have to talk to the rage chest creatures, plus all the little touches like the Horsemen moving out to get a longer charge for you, or the genuinely useful tooltips.

If you haven't already, press ALT on the battle screen to get health and initiative bars.

Demonix · Post by **Demonix** » Thu Oct 02, 2008 2:33 pm

Impressions: I was never a fan of the HoMM games, but king's bounty sucks me right in and keeps me there. Very good game, does not disappoint. I'm playing through as a paladin now, and I'm sure that it would play differently if I was a warrior or mage.

rrmorton · Post by **rrmorton** » Thu Oct 02, 2008 7:58 pm

This is a very fun game. Gorgeous graphics and extremely addictive gameplay.

My only complaint is that there's way too much reading to be done in the dialogue and quest windows. The writer thinks he's more clever and witty than I do.

Oh, and the main character portraits are a little too Fabio.

But those are minor issues at best. This game is a real gem so far. Plus it's massive.

DonD · Post by **DonD** » Fri Oct 03, 2008 9:24 am

Fun and addictive game. My only complaint is I feel like the game progression is a bit slow. After a couple of hours playing, I don't feel like I have a significant amount of progress.

Levelling up is a pretty slow process. XP from battles seems kind of low in comparison to what is needed. XP from quests also seems low.

I'd prefer to have 2x xp rate and 1/2 the playing time, quite frankly.

But no question it is a fun game that sucks you in and keeps you there.

Wilco · Post by **Wilco** » Sat Oct 04, 2008 10:46 am

Levelling up is a pretty slow process. XP from battles seems kind of low in comparison to what is needed. XP from quests also seems low.

I'd prefer to have 2x xp rate and 1/2 the playing time, quite frankly.

I think it was on the QT3 forums that I read that the experience gained from combat is tied to the enemies relative strength. So, if you attack a much weaker stack the xp will be smaller than if you attack a stronger stack.

I haven't had a chance to play around with this yet, so I'm not sure how great the xp difference is. This would also bring up the issue that by attacking stronger stacks, you'll be burning through troops and gold much quicker, leading to shortages of one or both.

I'm having a blast with this game, but I do see where there could definatly be some balance changes made.

Lee · Post by **Lee** » Sat Oct 04, 2008 2:09 pm

Loving the game, very addictive.

A couple of questions:

Obelisks, what do they do? I get a little message, and that's it.

One of the loading screens tips mentioned reserve troops that can't attack. Huh? What reserve troops? The load screens are usually too quick for me to read the whole tip.

malichai11 · Post by **malichai11** » Sat Oct 04, 2008 2:22 pm

You can get reserve troops with a second tier mind talent. I highly, highly recommend doing so. Reserve troops aren't limited, so you can pick a load of "reserves" for your favorite troop there (a little trick I didn't figure out until I was almost done with the game).

When you get all 12 (16?) obelisks clicked, it'll open up a pyramid on one of the last maps. I never did get all obelisks, so have no idea what's in the pyramid.

Quitch · Post by **Quitch** » Sat Oct 04, 2008 3:11 pm

I don't see the point of breaching leadership on reserve. I couldn't split the troop and I couldn't move them into my army due to leadership. What am I missing?

IceBear · Post by **IceBear** » Sat Oct 04, 2008 4:48 pm

Well, if you have an empty reserve slot you can pick up friendly troops when normally you couldn't due to no space in your army (like when you are clicking on the graves in the Marshes). While you can't swap in armies once combat starts you can before starting combat in case you have some troops that work better against what you're about to fight. Mainly, however, I just use them to carry extra troops so I don't have to go back and stock up as often. Yes, I can't take more of the same type (wish you could), but, for example, in the Western Islands Sea Dogs can be recruited from a Horde stack. However, if I'm later in the dwarf lands, bears are easier to come by for restocking purposes so I'll take the bears out of reserve and put the sea dogs back in. Later, when I'm back in the islands I switch them back.

Quitch · Post by **Quitch** » Sat Oct 04, 2008 5:15 pm

Yeah, but if you take more troops in reserve than your leadership supports, you can't swap them into your army, thus I don't see the point of being able to do this.

malichai11 · Post by **malichai11** » Sat Oct 04, 2008 6:58 pm

I'm not sure I'm understanding the issue. Say you have 7 green dragons. You find a location that stocks 16 green dragons. You stick the 7 you have in reserve. You recruit 7 more green dragons. You stick those 7 green dragons into your reserve. You now have 14 in reserve. You then recruit 7 more, so you have 7 active and 14 in reserve. Every time one of those green dragons dies from your regular army, you move 1 more from your reserve to your active stack, or when your leadership grows you can add more.

I didn't use reserve for different stacks, but to have reserves of my active stacks.

Admittedly, I didn't discover this trick until I was 75% done with the game, but it worked wonders for keeping me from rationing the deaths of my level 5 creatures.

Quitch · Post by **Quitch** » Sun Oct 05, 2008 7:46 am

I'll try that, I thought I had and that it didn't work.

Dan_Theman · Post by **Dan_Theman** » Sun Oct 05, 2008 9:40 am

Odd question -

This game seems to come off as a PC version of Fire Emblem with a grander scale in mind. Would that be a fair assessment? Also, how hard is it?

Wilco · Post by **Wilco** » Sun Oct 05, 2008 9:52 am

This game seems to come off as a PC version of Fire Emblem with a grander scale in mind. Would that be a fair assessment? Also, how hard is it?

I've never played Fire Emblem, but this game is an affectionate take on the original King's Bounty from, I think, 1990. New World Computing had relased the first two Might and Magic games at this point, and the first Heroes of Might and Magic came a couple of years later. Think Homm without castle building or competing heroes.

Regarding difficulty, I started on easy difficulty, and found that too easy, so I started a game on normal, I've just started the 2nd game area (freedom Isles) and am getting my butt kicked, running out of troops to recruit, etc/ I'm playing a warrior though, and I've read that that class might be the weakest.

Skinypupy · Post by **Skinypupy** » Sun Oct 05, 2008 11:36 am

Dan_Theman wrote:Odd question -

This game seems to come off as a PC version of Fire Emblem with a grander scale in mind. Would that be a fair assessment? Also, how hard is it?

I don't think Fire Emblem is a good comparison. FE (at least the GBA versions I've played) were all about the macro-strategy of managing multiple units on a world map, and there was little player involvement in actual combat. Kings Bounty is the exact opposite, in that you control a single character on the world map, and the meat of the game is how you actually micro-manage your units in the actual battles. I think a more apt comparison is Heroes of Might and Magic, with all the city building stripped out.

I'm a few hours in, and I'm not really liking my Warrior much. He cruises through most battles, but if he gets up against a tough enemy, there's really not a whole lot he can do to help (i.e. spellcasting). I'm debating whether I want to start over with a Paladin, just so I can have at least a little bit of magic skill. The only thing holding me back is spending the time to go through the starting level for the third time (demo, then Warrior). That just doesn't appeal to me at all. So torn...

Lee · Post by **Lee** » Sun Oct 05, 2008 11:55 am

I am a level 8 knight and I don't like the class much, really struggle with some "slightly weaker" battles, unless I can get my rage up first. If I can get 20+ rage before a tough battle, it's as easy as pie. Just finishing up some of the easier quests before I head off to Freedom Isles. Have the frog wife btw, which isn't a lot of help, but I like to do a little casting to supplement my fights (the air pole arm spell is a nice stack weakener and gremlin taker outer in item fights).

Luckily bowman and the basic swordsmen I have unlimited quantities of. I really wish I could find something a little more sturdy in decent supply. I did use up all the priests at one place and there were replaced with something better, but only 21 of them. Makes me wonder, if you use up all the troops at a place do they always get replaced with something stronger?

Demonix · Post by **Demonix** » Mon Oct 06, 2008 3:13 pm

I dont know where you can find more inquisitors, but being able to turn preists into inquisitors is a top tier mind talent. I love those guys, especially against undead.

Effidian · Post by **Effidian** » Wed Oct 08, 2008 11:53 pm

I'm playing a Warrior, and am finished with the first island (I'll have to come back for a level 14 fight, that I can't win). I'm at level 10, and looking at the Might tree, I realize that 50% of the skills benefit stacks that I don't carry. Is that going to change or do I need to refocus what stacks I'm carrying? I'm using Inquistors, Archmages, Evil Beholders, Royal Snakes, and Alchemists. I found a total of 7 Horsemen and 4 Knights on the entire island, so I couldn't use those, unfortunately.

Another question, my 2 rage abilities are around level 13. At first they were fantastic, but since getting into higher level fights, they've really started losing their power. Do I just need to keep plugging away at them to get them to level higher, or do the next 2 abilities take their place?

Lee wrote:Luckily bowman and the basic swordsmen I have unlimited quantities of. I really wish I could find something a little more sturdy in decent supply. I did use up all the priests at one place and there were replaced with something better, but only 21 of them. Makes me wonder, if you use up all the troops at a place do they always get replaced with something stronger?

As far as I can tell, shops get restocked (which can include different recruits) sometimes after completing quests. I cleaned out a few shops and they stayed empty, so I don't believe there is an automatic restock.