If you are missing a comfy game like Majesty 2 in your life, I got a treat for you. Lessaria: Fantasy Kingdom Sim is a spiritual successor to Majesty 2 coming out this year according to Steam. I was invited to playtest the game, where I tried out three campaign missions and an endless mode. My first impressions are very positive. It retains that cozy approach to gaming where you just feel relaxed (just like Majesty 2), due to its presentation and gameplay. Even the original narrator returns! However, even perfect weather comes with a few clouds of rain.
The good
Let’s start with the good. The story seems pretty charming, with the same old narrator returning. He has a very pleasant voice, but I would say the writing is lacking a bit in humor – in both delivery and narration. It’s a minor thing, though. The visuals are excellent, and you can easily tell what is going on the battlefield/map. Building your little town is just as appealing as in Majesty 2. However, it does feel easier and faster, as money comes in fast compared to the original. The heroes do stand out, and all provide a different flavor, and mechanics. The rangers love exploration, while the knights enjoy defending the realm from monsters (and rats).
In general, most of the gameplay and mechanics feels very much in line with Majesty 2. You provide the stores for the heroes to buy things, and the bounties for missions, and then let your mercenary heroes do whatever feels best for them. While you collect the taxes, of course. One issue with this is that it feels a little too similar, without much expansion. I always felt this kind of game could be expanded in numerous ways, like having special loot and skills to be found on the map. But as it is, all heroes become a blob of units to administer justice, much like its predecessor.
Odd things
Another oddity, for a game mirroring its gameplay to this degree, is that there is no cleric/healer class. This means, the only way for your heroes to heal up is drinking potions, resting, or your direct intervention with the healing spell. It might be for balancing issues, yet I find this class missing, especially when you think of the dungeon diving holy trinity: Tank, healer and damager. It also leads to your units dying a lot, forcing you to beeline for the resurrection spell, if you want your heroes to stick around. There is no graveyard, so you can only resurrect them in a small window of time after death. If you miss that opportunity, they are gone forever.
The final major peculiarity, in which I consider a big mistake as a spiritual successor, is that monsters attacking your settlement are not linked to “spawns”. They just pop into existence after a while, depending on the amount of monster lairs you destroy. I didn’t like this change at all, because in Majesty 2, you got rewarded for taking out creature spawns, as the attacks subsided after that. Here, after you destroy all the lairs, there is no longer any way to remove or lower the timer/creature amount for monster attacks. It’s a pain, because in later parts of the missions, you will get constantly attacked by monsters spawning from thin air in one of the four directions. It introduces arbitrary difficulty (and annoyance) that feels incredibly gamey for this franchise, since they will come in full strength all the time.
Still fun
Regardless, Lessaria: Fantasy Kingdom Sim is something to look forward to, if you are a Majesty-fan like me. Overall, the experience was pleasant (and nostalgic), even for a few stumbles mentioned here. Who knows, maybe things will change before release? Be sure to check out their Steam page, there might be a chance yet to join their playtest!
Thanks for reading.
/Thomas
Tom's Gaming Vault 