In the early days, there was this desire inside that grew within me... Where can I find a game that allows me to play as a leader, command a group of people that can work autonomously by their roles, let my camp grow from scratch, explore the wilderness and organize my kingdom's defenses? That would be Majesty... Sorry, it's Kingdom! While it's a side-scroller in pixel arts with strategy elements, this game pretty much filled up the criterias as stated above.
You play as a monarch (be it king or queen) who starts out alone but soon enough stumble upon a tiny camp of two that would serve as a base and the heart of your kingdom to grow on the game's landscape. You'll use the gold coins you find throughout the game to build up your camp all the way to a stronghold, recruit the vagrants you find in the woods for your service, spend them on tools and equipment, make new sources of income (farms ie.), build defenses and eventually secure your kingdom from a certain threat.
The threat in this game are certain creatures called "Greed" (or trolls). At night, they emerge out of the portals scattered throughout the land with one purpose in mind: Rob you of everything you got; your gold coins, your tools and especially your crown. Letting your crown fall upon their hands results in a game over and you'll have to start over as a new monarch. The game starts out with just a couple of trolls that are easily killable with one arrow hit from your loyal archers. In time, though, as days go by, they'll grow in numbers as well as their strength by the armor they wear and new types of creatures to make defending more challenging. The purpose of this game is to grow your kingdom's army and destroy the portals but, if you're like me, you can also work to see how long your defenses will hold (for achievements).
The pixel graphics are well-made, with detailed landscapes, backgrounds, lighting and water effects that makes the game all the more immersive. Even the music is a plus, where different tracks helps define the atmosphere for days and nights that pass.
The only gripes for me is that, for one, is that this game doesn't show you how everything functions in the game. I even resorted to some community guides to learn, for instance, a horse refills its stamina by eating the grass; a discreet feature might be decisive for success in the game. Nevertheless, this is a game that makes you come back through it's trial-and-error philosophy, especially when progressing with your kingdom feels rewarding. The second gripe I have is that once I've beaten the game, then I felt like that's that. The game's setting is pretty fixed upon the same setting (with minor variations), along with limited contents that could have got me come back for more.
Nevertheless, this game broke new grounds in the gameplay concept in a successful way, which would have the developers continue building the game up in form of its sequels until "Kingdom: Two Crowns", which I recommend all the most. Overall, this game is fun and addictive, for players that are asking for any of the criterias I mentioned in the first paragraph of this review. In this day and age, however, I'd suggest you play Two Crowns for its more advanced development.
