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The most ambitious Kingdom Two Crowns DLC to date, and it delivers so much!
The art design is gorgeous
The entire franchise has an enchanting impressionist pixel art aesthetic, but this latest iteration delivers a unique flourish and attention to detail that stands out from its predecessors. Very pretty to look at, and full of little details to appreciate. They have designed and illustrated the sprites in a way that makes every little scene feel organic and alive. The new sparkling, shimmering, glowing effects enhance the enchanted, magical feeling of the game, and embellish the already beautiful pixel art with effects that subtly elevate the aesthetic.
The audio and music is a soundtrack to vibe to
As usual, the sound design has depth and character that describes the actions of the game in a uniquely interpretive way that seems to fit so well with the visual aesthetic. The music is also a unique blend of eclectic sounds and emotionally evocative tones, sometimes soothing, sometimes anxiety inducing, and often invoking a calming and encouraging urge to be productive. It's a brilliant OST that I would happily listen to while working IRL as well.
The game play is stellar as usual, with all the familiar mechanics of the Kingdom franchise, plus a boat load of awesome new tweaks and additions to the format.
The game feels more balanced than ever. The units are smarter than ever, making them more available where they're needed most. There are so many minor QoL tweaks to the format. Suffice to say, the game feels smoother, more responsive, and more intuitive this time around.
The progression through the different islands feels very focused. You have a clear mission to revive the gods and make it to Olympus, and the way to do that reveals itself very clearly on the map after you've lit your first blue fire, while staying true to the Kingdom format of learning through play. I'm an experienced player who's been a fan since the very first game, so it's all ver intuitive for me, but I do feel this latest version is probably the most helpful in terms of guiding players to understand what they need to do.
The new mechanics, mounts, and the addition of a "Final Boss" to the game are all freaking epic!
The new siege mechanics are my favorite addition. You can grab your banner on either side of your base and lead a charge of spearmen and hoplites that follow you. This gives you a little army that will push forward or retreat based on your movement. With a bit of practice and skill, this little army can survive wave after wave in the early to mid game, giving you a really interactive and engaging way to defend or attack.
In addition to ground units, you can also acquire siege boats through quests on certain islands. After you've sufficiently upgraded your camp, these siege boats will join your banner army as well, giving you a fleet of mobile ballistae that decimate clusters of smaller greed, and deal heavy damage to other enemy units and structures.
You can now also send as many waves of siege units as you have available on either side! These units act independently, and will charge forward and attack until they are defeated. Combined with the banner siege mechanic and the new ballista ships, the battles are so much more epic than before. The player can now be more intimately involved in the battle as well, which makes the battles feel much more engaging and exciting.
We also have the most unique new mounts of the franchise, with some really fun and interesting abilities this time around. Each of the mounts caters to a different strategy and play style. (I have had so much fun with Cerebus and their army of ghost soldiers! And the Spider is freaky as all heck, and super useful for webbing up Greed!)
The Snake Boss!? ... Just... wow... I can't review it without giving away details about how to beat it, but this thing just takes the game to a whole new level. It is so satisfying to get to the point where you face this thing, and defeating it is a unique challenge that feels so new and fresh in this series. It really made me want to play the whole game over so I could do it again.
10/10 - Easily fighting for my favorite Kingdom DLC of all time.
I have loved each iteration of this series from the beginning, and the small team behind this game has continued to support and improve upon the formula every single time. This DLC is no exception, however they went above and beyond expectations.
With the release of Call of Olympus, the devs have rolled out a massive *free* 2.0 update across every release in the Kingdom Two Crowns library. This update brings all of the QoL additions, optimizations, and graphical updates from the new DLC to every other release as well. This stunning surprise has refreshed and revitalized the entire KTC library. So, not only am I excited to have a new Kingdom game to play, I'm looking forward to playing all the previous titles over again as well.