When Majesty 2 was just being created, and I went to visit the developers (by the way, they are from Krasnodar, so the trip is half an hour by tram), we discussed the future of the project for a long time. Like, the game is out, everyone is happy, and then what?? And then the publisher needs to make money. And in a variety of ways. A wild idea popped up to sell guilds and spells for online mode. Then it was funny to hear ideas, then it was sad to see the result. We also talked about additions, that with each “addon” new heroes, buildings, and monsters will appear.
Almost all goals have already been achieved. In online mode, you can use money to buy items that change the balance; you can use discs with add-ons to build a dog house. Majesty, which previously sounded like thunder, began to be pronounced casually, without aspiration. A large project was exchanged for small bills, and it is simply impossible to treat this pile of pieces of paper, crumpled and crumpled, as something solid and significant.
Ardania danger!
As expected, the supplement continues to tell us the story of the new Ardania. Our Majesty, having already suffered considerably during his rise to power, then holding the throne and protecting all the humiliated and insulted, must again fight for the crown, because it was taken away. And not animals — people!
So, in order to accomplish good deeds, we will have to control those on whom we previously did not even hang an attack flag to save money. These are ratmen, liches, goblins. In short, all the rascals who, at the beginning of a duel, sometimes come up to the castle and help the archer or warrior get at least half the level.
In the first mission, apologizing https://mrjonescasino.uk/ a little, the adviser says that we will again be able to save Ardania only if we lead such a not very attractive brethren. And each level begins with small jokes like “Yes, sir, it stinks, it looks scary and even seems to be alive, but now we’re eating it, sir,” and what appears before your eyes is not a majestic castle with peasant houses, but a half-broken fortress with a hastily repaired roof — well, so that at least it doesn’t leak.
I recognize you in makeup!
That is why the addition was of interest. This is not just one new hero, not three lousy spells, but an alternative guild. A completely different concept — "Kingdom of Monsters". This is the approach that should deserve applause. And not when developers cut something from the release version in order to sell it separately. Monster Kingdom according to the description — a real alternative look at Majesty 2.
And so we start the campaign, the adviser, as always, tells us what we need to do, gives a lot of tips and chats aimlessly in the background. We are building homes for our new warriors, and these are no longer beautiful, well-calibrated buildings: they are not designed by an architect, but, apparently, by the first one who reaches a pencil with a piece of paper. Even if that someone is a giant rat wearing a helmet on his head.
The tasks are eerily reminiscent of those in the original. If a specific enemy is fighting against us, then it is necessary to gouge (and for your creatures this is the word that suits best) its base; if we are simply at war with a hostile environment, we need to hold out for a certain time, demolish some buildings, build something of our own and not let it be destroyed.
The developers are trying to make it seem like we’re standing up to kingdoms the way monsters used to stand up to us. But everything was different.
But the similarities with the original game don’t end with the type of missions. The point here is… It’s somehow even awkward to say, but all your new soldiers are your old soldiers. Who is this rat in a green cocked hat, with a dagger in his paw and greed in his eyes?? Who is that frail orc hunter who loves to kill animals with a bow and explore the territory?? Who is an expensive lich whose guild is built independently? Wait, what are these pebbles that replenish health, what are these towers that, after being upgraded, shoot large boulders.
To put it roughly, this is the same Majesty 2: The Fantsy Kingdom Sim, which the developers have been putting on a new frock coat for several months. They sewed the clothes to size, so everything looks natural, as if it should be so. But when you look into your eyes, you understand that this is just a masquerade. The costume is different, but the essence is the same.
The gameplay has not changed at all. This is not an attempt by Majesty 2 to make a kind of Dungeon Keeper. Absolutely nothing new. Missions reach the point of absurdity. Previously, we destroyed, for example, the dens of bears that settled around our castle. And now we are destroying the archer camps, from which the archers are crawling towards us as if they were brainless rats.
As for the supposedly interesting battles against hero squads, everything is still the same. Previously, we also fought with other kingdoms, it’s just that our heroes and the enemy’s heroes looked the same. Now they are different on the outside, but on the inside they are the same. And what’s the point then??
Majesty 2 is a solid and interesting strategy. It’s great and fun to go through once. After a while, you can play the campaign again. But it didn’t become so amazing that we could enjoy the addition, which gives us a couple of missions that completely repeat everything we’ve already seen before. Well, what the heroes look like is completely their own business: if a robber put on the skin of a rat, this only speaks of her bad taste, and not that Monster Kingdom — a completely different project. Alas.
Pros: new appearance of old heroes; advisor’s jokes; those who missed Majesty 2 will stop missing you.
Cons: already boring missions; almost complete absence of gameplay innovations.