Ruined King: A League of Legends Story

 PlayStation 4
User Score
6.9

Mixed or average reviews- based on 40 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 23 out of 40
  2. Mixed: 7 out of 40
  3. Negative: 10 out of 40

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  1. DarkSage
    Nov 30, 2021
    7
    This is a good game (7 is a good mark). It's not as good as Battlechasers, but had fun with. Finished on veteran around 40h, completing almost everything.

    The good: fun battle system, great story, fun (but previously established) characters, nice music and sounds. Engine provides solid graphics and as always looks nice in its cartoonish-cellshading style. The bad: too much loadings,    This is a good game (7 is a good mark). It's not as good as Battlechasers, but had fun with. Finished on veteran around 40h, completing almost everything.

    The good: fun battle system, great story, fun (but previously established) characters, nice music and sounds. Engine provides solid graphics and as always looks nice in its cartoonish-cellshading style.

    The bad: too much loadings, which take too much time, making the quasi-obligatory backtracking tedious. Gameplay wise, it has horribly slow start, revealing mechanics without any serious plan for first 6h. On the other hand, close to the end you just don't want to fight anymore, because fights became repetitive and not challenging (at least on veteran). While weaker enemies run away from the party, level difference needs to be 6+, but you end at level 30 with most areas boosting enemies to level 25.

    Pathed version I played still had a lot of bugs. Especially game crushing after battles (from programming perspective, I think they have some issue with adding new entries to Bestiary; reloading game fixes problem for time). Since autosave is scarse, there is no quicksave and entering saving menu after most battles take so much time it was element that ruined my experience most.

    Compared to Battlechasers food lost it's importance, since you can only buy it, and enchantments don't feel so powerful, especially since 3 of characters rely on critical hits, so you naturally boost it for them. Also casting healing skill before killing all enemies will no longer cast it before battle end. Also it feels there is much less variety in environments, but it is due to the story. More enemy types would be fun, but it's not too bad.

    Overall I recommend playing it to all fans of RPG, especially older jRPG types. I don't feel my time wasted in general, but also I probably won't play it again to get platinum.    … Expand
  2. CrawlingEagle13
    Nov 18, 2021
    9
    Great game from a talented studio! It has everything I love about old school turn based RPGs with an added “Combat Lane” mechanic that makes the battles feel unique. Hopefully Airship Syndicate gets the opportunity to make more games in the world of League of Legends, they did an awesome job with this one.
  3. orlyworly
    Nov 21, 2021
    10
    I loooove iiiit! A good game for RPG lovers. A MUST play for league lovers!!
  4. Iancarlo
    Nov 21, 2021
    10
    Must play for RPG lovers. I would probably love it more if I were a league of legends player.
  5. Timfads
    Dec 5, 2021
    8
    Fun game. It's like playing a good graphic novel set in the League of Legends world, Runeterra. Great enemy design. Old Final Fatasy like combat with some twists.
  6. Arkane7
    Dec 10, 2021
    3
    I love turn based games and this one had a huge amount of promise. Its could have been great but instead settles for mediocrity. Don't get me wrong, the graphics are well done but it takes more than that to make a good game. The UI is pretty bad. This makes every battle frustrating. Even moving through the battle and standard interface is a chore. The worst thing by far though, are theI love turn based games and this one had a huge amount of promise. Its could have been great but instead settles for mediocrity. Don't get me wrong, the graphics are well done but it takes more than that to make a good game. The UI is pretty bad. This makes every battle frustrating. Even moving through the battle and standard interface is a chore. The worst thing by far though, are the characters. apart from one or two, these are the most poorly written and two dimensional characters I've seen in a while. They are stereotyped and cringe worthy. One female character is muscle bound behemoth and you're forced to play with them early on. You have no strong main character, instead you have to play through multiple characters which loses the sense of progression and character building. I'd like a sequel to this game that's made right with an awesome main character or allowing the user to at least customize or create their own.… Expand
  7. Cheorche
    Nov 26, 2021
    10
    I love this game! Old school story driven RPG with unique laně turnbase combat system. I want more!
  8. Ughhh
    Jun 18, 2022
    3
    Great game if... your... mind... loves... things... slow...... story looks cool, but even as a turn based veteran this fighting system bores me to death
  9. Ariseinthepire
    May 29, 2022
    6
    As a fan of the studio with high expectations from past games, this feels like a step back.

    Key point The power growth of the RPG mechanics are not acknowledged in the story. This effectively renders the RPG genre it exists within pointless. In Pokémon, SMTV, Wastlanders 3 and so on your need to grow in power is acknowledged narratively and drives the experience. Every RPG    As a fan of the studio with high expectations from past games, this feels like a step back.

    Key point

    The power growth of the RPG mechanics are not acknowledged in the story. This effectively renders the RPG genre it exists within pointless.

    In Pokémon, SMTV, Wastlanders 3 and so on your need to grow in power is acknowledged narratively and drives the experience. Every RPG mechanic in this game is not acknowledged by the characters to the point that growth feels superficial.

    Poor level design

    The evolution of Turn based RPGs has enemies visible in the world. This means that levels can be engaging because there is the choice to avoid the enemies. This game has given floor enemies so much speed nearly every mob is needs to be cleared by player.

    Mechanics

    Running in the world feels wrong, sluggish, and laborious. Character abilities feel token and tacked on.

    Story

    The story is rushed. The developments lack meaning. With no single protagonist to focus on the narrative lacks a anchor.

    Visuals

    On PS5 the game looks like it is from 2007 and the game has purchasable DLC for outfits that are honestly the terrible.

    Summary,

    Very disappointed. Massive fan of the studio's past games. This one feels rushed, half baked and without real passion. If you come into this expecting a game that oozes love for league of legends or the RPG genre you will not find such a game.    … Expand
  10. Noncanon
    Dec 8, 2021
    9
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I got this game on a whim. I liked Battle Chasers: Nightwar well enough, and saw some good buzz for this and picked it up. I've never even downloaded LoL or engaged with any of its lore or characters. I knew absolutely nothing about the IP other than how outrageously popular it is.

    Having said that, I'm loving this game. It's a great balance between accessibility and strategy. The characters are pretty arch and the story is standard fantasy fare, but it's well done enough. The voice-acting is good enough, although some of the call-outs can get a little obnoxious after awhile. I get it Yasuo, wind is cool. That may be something LoL fans could appreciate more than me. The graphics are just OK when running around Bilgewater, but I really liked the varied character models and animations in combat. The combat sound design is also crunchy and gives some real impact when your attacks connect.

    The combat systems aren't exactly revolutionary, but are very fun and engaging. I haven't hit a point yet (about 70% through the campaign) where I was just going through the motions and just spamming attacks. The lane attacks can be really satisfying, especially when you sneak it in just before an enemy's turn and are able to turn the tide, or strip an important buff just in time. You don't have to be a tactical genius to succeed, but you do need to pay at least a little attention.

    The playable characters are varied, and while there's some overlap in their roles, the way they go about it is diverse. For example, both Miss Fortune and Yasuo are damage dealers. Miss Fortune does this by applying marks to enemies and then doing extreme damage to consume them. Yasuo instead can do auto attacks while building buff stacks, and when he has enough he is able t unleash huge ST or AoE attacks for free. They each have multiple skills and passives to invest points in, and you can easily respec freely, just like Diablo 3.

    For negatives, my only big issue is stability stuff. I've had more crashes than I'd like. Also Bilgewater, while a cool setting with lots of character, can start to get a little boring to run around in. Fast travel alleviates it somewhat, but I felt like I was just wandering the city without purpose a little too often.

    I'd recommend this game to anyone that enjoys turn-based RPG combat. It's fast, punchy, and demands at least a little strategy. Finding loot and easily trying out different builds and compositions is a nice cherry on top.    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

34
#34 Best PS4 Game of 2021
38
#38 Most Discussed PS4 Game of 2021

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
77

Generally favorable reviews - based on 12 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 12
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 12
  3. Negative: 0 out of 12
  1. PLAY
    Feb 23, 2022
    80
    Detailed, characterful, and with a mechanical twist that adds depth to turn-based combat. Don’t let any preconceptions about League Of Legends put you off this spin-off. [Issue#9, p.77]
  2. GameSpot
    Dec 14, 2021
    80
    Ruined King: A League Of Legends Story has set the bar for future forays into League of Legends lore. The story Airship Syndicate tells here delivers in a big way, turning these six champions into the new faces of the franchise. The JRPG Airship crafted around its story is also wonderful, creating a feeling of playing League of Legends while actually playing a turn-based RPG battle. A few technical issues pop up here and there, but outside of the rare crash, none of them break the experience for every game. If this is the level of detail that future Riot Forge projects reach, we will all hail the Ruined King for ushering in this new era.
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  3. IGN
    Nov 30, 2021
    80
    Ruined King: A League of Legends Story is a deep turn-based RPG that lets us experience Runeterra from a whole new perspective and gives its characters room to grow.
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