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Last week I had the chance to talk to Frank West about his new game, The City of Kings. This is a game I first noticed last year and the art work really stood out as some of the best I had seen in a very long time.
For me (and it’s a personal choice) art that fits the theme of a game is almost as important as gameplay itself, so before I even found out what type of game it was I was intrigued.
About The City of Kings
The game is sold as being a co-op adventure game where players choose to be one of six different classes, each of which have a skill tree with 12 unlockable skills. The game is set in fantasy world known as Azure Rise.
Great detail and backstory has been added to make this feel epic. My first thoughts when looking at and talking about the game are its similarities with Lord Of The Rings and other adventure stories.
When asked about the back story and the world that the game is set in you can tell this is an area Frank feels very passionate about.
He said: “I’ve spent the last two years building this world, creating characters and stories which I hope people will fall in love with. Every week I add more detail to the timeline that currently spans over 10,000 years telling the creation of all those who have existed, and those who are yet to be known.”
Gameplay
The City of Kings is played on a modular board made up of different tiles. The game comes with different story scenarios and they all have different objectives and enemies to battle.
I myself found the combat difficult to effectively explain so asked Frank to do so (see below). Upon first glance it looks very complicated but after the basics were explained to me it proved an easy system to learn but with a lot of depth.
Frank explained: “As you progress through the game you will receive experience points which are added to the team tracker. Once the team has gained enough points everyone will be able to add new customisation to their hero.
"The combat system was designed to be simple to learn but hard to master. Each time you play you’ll encounter new and exciting creations of Vesh, each requiring a new strategy to defeat them. The first creatures will be simple, teaching you the basics of moving, attacking and healing but later creatures will require real team work as you use your environment to out think the enemy.”
Coming Soon
When this game launches on March 28 I wouldn’t be surprised to see it funded very quickly. Frank West has spent a huge amount of time researching and promoting every aspect of this game and this is evident when speaking to him.
Co-op adventure games are not my regular game genre of choice but the art and rich story have coloured me interested and I will be keeping an eye on this game.