King Arthur: Legion IX review

The standalone follow-up to Knight’s Tale shines on the battlefield. But off the frontline, the game can struggle with storytelling and stability.

For a valiant Viking who died in battle, the afterlife might have permitted a trip to the hallowed hall of Valhalla. But for Roman legionary, Gaius Julius Mento, death provided little reprieve. In King Arthur: Legion IX, the Tribunus was originally banished to the underworld of Tartarus. But miraculously, Mento and his undead subdivision managed to escape, arriving at the isle of Avalon.

True to Arthurian legend, the island embodies an opportunity for rebirth. But revisiting the same the grimdark atmosphere of Budapest-based developer NeocoreGames’ King Arthur: Knight’s Tale, players can expect also plenty of turn-based antagonism before being able to establish a colony called Nova Roma.

Decent Dialog, But Disappointing Delivery

Undoubtedly, NeocoreGames’ understands the potential rooted in a party of reanimated Romans trekking through an Arthurian purgatory. Much of the time, the writing is rousing with plenty of pulpy disputes, quick allegiances, and a bit of in-party bickering, making Legion IX feel like a second-century WWF match. Sure, there’s the occasional conversational clunker, but fortunately, these aren’t widespread enough to ruin the experience.

However, the voice acting is another story – with secondary NPCs voiced by a handful of amateurs. Their slipshod performances might just be bad enough to prohibit a sense of immersion, with their oddball delivery. Please, Neocore, look into hiring some professionals next time.

Man or Monster, There’s No Middle Ground

Although not a complete misfire, Legion IX’s morality chart system could use some sophistication. Sporadically, Mento encounters ethical dilemmas, and your menu-based responses carry consequences. Decisions affect the loyalty of individual party members, leading to statistical bonuses or penalties. Possibly, a rift can cause a character to refuse to help out on a mission, so you’ll wrestle with keeping contentment.

But there’s never any ambiguity, as Mento embraces either a human or demonic posture, earning the associated rewards. As such, the protagonist is one-dimensional, rather than a complicated character caught between a persistent pull of two oppositional ideologies. But that’s not the only problem with the plot. Legion IX’s endgame feels unmistakably rushed, perhaps to meet a target release date. When it comes to performance, a bit more bug-testing would have been beneficial. Across 13 hours of playtime, the title crashed four times.

Outnumbered But Not (Usually) Overpowered

Yet, the zombified roman nearly redeems himself on the battlefield. Encounters commonly pit your party of up to six teammates against significantly larger quantities of foes. This design helps make Mento and his mates feel like powerhouses, able to slaughter scores of adversaries with their cool, character-driven powers. From Albina Virgilia summoning self-directed firebirds to Plutonius Nerva’s aptitude for binding two enemies, effectively duplicating your offensive output, Legion IX provides plenty of noteworthy abilities for players to draw from.

The game gives pre-made characters instead of ‘roll your own’ types, providing the potential for synergistic combos and different types of strategy. Each turn, characters are allotted Action Points (called AP) that can be spent on movement, attacks, item use, and skills, with the possibility of banking unused points at the end of your turn. For defensive-minded players, advantages can be found in everything from the use of cover to XCOM-style overwatch maneuvers that can catch creeping opponents. Meanwhile, offensive-minded players can seize the benefit of attacking enemies from behind or augment their tanky characters with items and gear them to allow them to tread across the trenches like the Grim Reaper.

All Roads Lead to Nova Roma

When you’re not fighting off pugnacious hoards, you’re using your war winnings to build up Nova Roma. Streamlined into a menu-building component, your growing city will help your characters gain additional skills and acquire stat-boost equipment. And likely, you’ll need to glean every available advantage. Although Legion IX’s default difficulty setting is balanced for intermediate strategy fans, a few missions are aggravating enough to turn tolerant players into seething demons. Gaius Julius Mento, I truly understand your predicament.

King Arthur: Legion IX was played on PC with review code provided by the publisher.