The cooperative RPG sequel looks like a real upgrade from last time.
A new look at upcoming cooperative RPG For the King 2 has revealed some nice new inventions, from party-carrying landboats to magical pets and hired mercenaries. The “Resistance” trailer tells the new plot, which has characters forced to fight against the queen—possibly even the one the adventurers served in the first game.
Either way, it’s another opportunity to either take control of an adventuring party yourself or divide it up amongst friends as you explore the world in turn-based mode and fight alongside each other in RPG combat. For the King was in many ways a delightful game because it so resembled the goofy exploring that comes about in cooperative tabletop RPGs, and I loved it for that.
What looks especially good is that the new combat system is more detailed. Rather than the standard JRPG standoff from the first game, this one seems to have each party of combatants standing in front and back ranks on a grid. The touch of tactical detail is welcome, and perhaps a more customizable system will let the designers at IronOak Games take their foot off the accelerator of murderous difficulty from their first outing.
The Resistance trailer also teases the return of The Hangman, a really huge jerk who we all hated in the first game: He wasn’t just annoying to kill, but when his scourging powers activated he’d add a bonus ghost to fight in every single combat you were in. Seriously, that guy sucked and I am not glad he’s back.
In a small twist, you’ll be able to play For the King 2 with four players cooperatively, which really feels like a missed opportunity to have called it “Four the King” instead. Shame, really. Maybe they’ll make another two games and call the last one “4 The King.” I’d like that.
You can find For the King 2 on Steam.
I reviewed the first For the King back in 2018 and I quite liked what I found—and almost five years of mostly-derivative roguelike RPGs have only improved my opinion of it.
“It really mimics the feel of a tough co-operative tabletop game, one where you fight with the game for each inch of success. I think it even compares favorably to modern hits in the adventure genre, like Legends of Andor. Successful strategies required brain-burning coordination and problem solving skills that consider every available resource and factor, and distributing that work across multiple collaborating players was very satisfying,” I said at the time.
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