Like most Aussies, I’ve occasionally entertained the thought of becoming the Prime Minister. It seems like an easy job, plus you get to boss people around. I’d make it a legal requirement for every Australian to have a jar of Vegemite in their house at all times and avo toast is paid for by the Government. You know, important things. But I’ve learned the hard way that being a leader isn’t just about skolling a beer at the cricket.
In Knights of Honor II: Sovereign, you’re the leader. It’s a grand-strategy game set in medieval times by indie developer Black Sea Games. Unlike other titles in the genre (Sid Meier’s Civilization VI or the Total War series), Knights of Honor II: Sovereign plays in real-time as opposed to turn-based, giving players a more immersive experience. In addition, Knights of Honor II: Sovereign is so steeped in historical accuracy that it makes you feel like a king (or kween).
You become the ruler of your chosen Kingdom or Province in Knights of Honor II: Sovereign and are tasked with managing territories, operating the royal court, partaking in diplomacy and expanding said kingdom.
Knights of Honor II: Sovereign Review
During each campaign, there are a variety of win conditions and players can choose one or more to determine the way they play out the game. The three major win conditions are: becoming Emperor of the World, getting all Kingdom Advantages, or conquering the World by force. If a player chose a minor win condition when setting up the campaign, they can also win through said condition; like making a specific amount of gold or destroying a randomly selected Kingdom.
If historical accuracy isn’t your thing, the detailed campaign customisation menu gives players a world of options. Being able to mix and match your favourite settings means that there’s a high level of replayability and plenty of room for royal experimentation.
The gameplay itself is what you’d expect from a grand-strategy game. Controlling armies and governing Kingdoms through menus over a World View means that players can see exactly what is going on most of the time.
In single-player, there is an option for players to lead battles in ‘tactical mode’. Tactical mode zooms in on battles to show players their armies, but also the armies of the opposing side. Through this mode, players can see the terrain, weather and current state of any provinces or towns, giving more information on how the battle may play out and increasing the sense of immersion.
Long live, the King
If any of this seems confusing, the ‘Royal Library’ feature gives players an easy-to-read collection of gameplay hints and tutorial tips. In the Royal Library and throughout the tutorial, keywords are highlighted, and holding ‘ALT’ for a short time turns keywords into links that open the corresponding page in the Royal Library. I found this feature to be very useful, providing a newer genre fan with the chance to reread any tips or guides they may have missed or forgotten — especially at the start of the game where there’s an abundance of information.
In terms of performance, it takes a while to load, but once you’re in it’s mostly smooth sailing. Performance issues only really start to appear in sessions lasting longer than a few hours, but this is solved by restarting the game.
However, It’s not always easy to be King. The advertised point-of-difference for Knights of Honor II: Sovereign, designed to set it apart from other games in the genre, is its aim to be approachable. Especially to an audience that may not have considered playing grand-strategy games before. The genre is known for being detailed and huge in scale, which can result in an extremely high learning curve, often turning people off before they’ve even played for five minutes.
Unfortunately, Knights of Honor II: Sovereign has not made as much progress in this area as to make it truly accessible. There isn’t a real tutorial in the game. Instead, players are presented with paragraphs of information every time they click on something new. This overload of information often lacks context — “why are certain features important? How do I do ‘x’? What should I do next?”. So not only are players presented with walls of text, it’s unclear what the players should be doing with the information, or what their greater goals are in the context of achieving victory.
Read Your ‘istory Books
For fans of grand-strategy games, it may be easier to understand and result in a much more enjoyable gameplay experience. But newcomers to the genre will struggle to take in all the information and as a result, the richness and depth of the game itself are lost.
It’s admirable to aim to make traditionally complex or difficult genres of games more accessible to a wider audience (look at what Marvel Snap has done for the digital card game or Valorant for the tactical shooter) but in this case, the execution falls short of the developer’s ambition.
Knights of Honor II: Sovereign is a solid entry in the grand-strategy genre. The historical accuracy of the game is impressive, but flexible customisation options allow for plenty of replayability. Newcomers to this type of game may struggle with the depth, but for dedicated strategy gamers looking for a rich gameplay experience, Knights of Honor II: Sovereign is sure to be a treat.
Knights of Honor II: Sovereign was reviewed on PC using a digital code provided by the publisher.
