King Arthur: Knight’s Tale Review (PC)

Although the name of the game, King Arthur: Knight’s Tale, suggests the iconic ruler of Britannia is the protagonist, Neocore’s take on the famous legend puts lesser-known characters front and center. Unlike most games that portray King Arthur in some capacity, in King Arthur: Knight’s Take you play as Mordred. Well, it’s a bit of a long stretch to say that you’re playing as Mordred, King Arthur’s archnemesis, since you’re in control of a much larger group of knights.

Despite the fact that only 12 of King Arthur’s knights became famous, the game lets you recruit a few dozen other less popular knights. Those that are important for the story’s outcome are typically recruited by completing main missions, while the rest can be added to the Round Table via side missions.

King Arthur: Knight’s Tale is set in a dark universe where a spell that was meant to bring King Arthur to Avalon went terribly wrong. Now, the Lady of the Lake, the ruler of the legendary island, has recruited Mordred, the famous black knight, to put an end to the nightmarish creature that has become King Arthur.

As you take on new missions to try and locate King Arthur, you’ll encounter vile monsters and magical creatures that must be eliminated. Throughout the adventure, you’ll meet new knights that you can recruit to boost your retinue. Each knight belongs to one of the six classes available in the game: Defender, Champion, Marksman, Vanguard, Arcanist, and Sage.

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But King Arthur: Knight’s Tale is not just about tactical battles in which the composition of your army and their skills matter, it’s also a game that let’s you actually manage Camelot. Throughout the game, you’ll be able to rebuild Camelot to its former glory by adding Training Grounds, Merchant, Cathedral, Hospice and other facilities that will help you and your knights prevail. Each building has its own upgrades that give various benefits to your knights or to your … coffers.

Between missions, Mordred must manage not just his newly formed kingdom, but also some of the events that will pop up like an intermezzo meant to add another layer of flavor to the story. Sometimes, the outcome of these events is immediate, while other times you must send a knight to solve a problem.

Interesting enough, the game also features a morality chart that unlock various bonuses for your knights and kingdom, depending on the choices you made throughout your adventure. Some of your choices might lean towards Christianity or Old Faith, while others might lean toward Rightful or Tyrannical. It’s up to you decide what kind of ruler Mordred should become.

Be careful though as your knights will remail loyal depending on whether or not their goals align with yours. Make too many rightful choices and your tyrannical knights might leave the Round Table. Of course, you can become a rightful ruler who remains a believer in the Old Faith without having any of your knights leave the Round Table, you just have to be very careful how you manage their loyalty bars.

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As far as the combat mechanics go, the battles are as satisfying as you’d expect from a Neocore game (Warhammer 40K: Inquisitor – Martyr, The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing). The fact that you can only take four knights with you on a mission adds another layer of strategy to the combat. Before you’re actually deployed, the game tells you what kind of enemies you’ll encounter, which will allow you to choose the right composition for your party.

Besides their skills, knights can be geared with armor, weapons, accessories, potions and spell tomes. Some of the weapons and armor give various bonuses that can lead to incredibly powerful combos against certain type of enemies. Having at least one ranged character in your party can make your life much easier, but it’s not mandatory.

The more you use certain knights in missions, the faster they gain experience and level up, so those that you don’t use remain underleveled. But there’s a solution for that too. There are specific facilities in Camelot that can be used to train knights even when they’re not selected for a mission. That means that if you change your mind or any of the knights that you haven’t used in a long time are required for a mission, that knight is not too low-level for that mission.

The multitude of skills and actions that a knight can use makes each battle the Holy Grail of every turn-based strategy fans. It’s extremely enjoyable to find a way to beat the AI even when it throws throngs of enemies at you. It’s even more satisfying to do that without a dent in your armor.

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The Good

The Bad

Conclusion