It’s probably just my ignorance talking, but I feel like it’s impossible to talk about a tactical turn-based RPG without comparing it to X-COM. The Lamplighters League? X-COM meets Indiana Jones. Phoenix Point? X-COM under a different name. Marvel Midnight Suns? X-COM with superheroes. Capes? X-COM with crappy superheroes.
And in the case of Crown Wars: The Black Prince? X-COM with medieval European history.
Admittedly, that’s a little simplistic. Crown Wars takes the real-world history of the Hundred Years War and adds in some magical bits about secret societies of occultists, so that it’s not strictly a retelling of 800-year-old history. But still, if you want to be reductionist, it’s X-COM through a medieval European history filter.
It’s also fairly decent at what it does, even if nothing about it feels very original. Since you’re controlling an army, you have a decent selection of fighter classes at your disposal, and because you gain resources as you win battles, you can also augment your forces with more expensive soldiers. Crown Wars also adds in plenty of room for you to customize your forces, whether you want to design your crest, build up your fortress, or name your soldiers.
Unfortunately when you get into the gameplay, there’s nothing very original about Crown Wars. You work your way across a map of Europe, engaging in turn-based battles that will look, feel, and play familiar if you’ve ever played any game at all like this. On the one hand, that means it’s very easy to pick up Crown Wars and start playing, but on the other, you’re not going to come away with it feeling like you’ve had a unique experience.
But that’s hardly the worst thing ever, I suppose. Crown Wars: The Black Prince is a competent tactical RPG that fits squarely within the confines of its chosen genre, so if you want more X-COM-likes in your life, and don’t mind feeling like you’d get the same experience playing any number of other, similar games, you could do worse than checking it out.
Nacon provided us with a Crown Wars: The Black Prince PC code for review purposes.
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