Review for Reigns: Her Majesty. Game for Android, PC, iOS, Steam, Mac and Linux, the video game was released on 07/12/2017
Reigns: Her Majesty is the new story in the Reigns series, developed by Nerial under the wing of Devolver Digital. Set a few centuries after the first title but always in a medieval society, the cultural rebirth that our world has received has meant that our role as queen is no longer just that of "ornament" for the King: we finally have in hand the reins of our country. Long live the Queen, therefore, and may she keep intact theequilibrium among the various "forces" available, namely the Church, popularity, army and gift boxes.
"Long Live The Queen" is the motto that will accompany us throughout the life and history of our queen. "Memento Mori"instead, it is the motto that we will try, in every way, to counter by trying to make the most correct choices. Most of the time failing, obviously. And it is precisely here that Reigns: Her Majesty reveals its challenge. Don't be fooled by cartoony graphics or simple mechanics, because the game's purpose is maintain the aforementioned balance and survive as long as possible.
The game, in its simplicity, is brilliant: proposing the mechanics of the first title, we will be confronted with different ones choices to which we will generally be able to respond positively or negatively. These choices, these carte they cover various themes such as court intrigues, religious decisions, meetings with other sovereigns… and river trips. Our response to the cards will determine which parameters will be affected and how, but we will have to pay special attention to avoid making them rise to the maximum or reset them if we don't want the game to end. For example, if we show ourselves as a strong woman, take power in our hands and make the kingdom too strong militarily, we will be locked in a tower "to protect us from all dangers", but, if we let the kingdom become too weak, it will fall prey to all kinds of raids and we will have to flee. And these are just two of the many, many ways our life can end in disgrace ...
The real genius of Reigns: Her Majesty lies in the way it transcends the "simple" strategy game, introducing a story arc that makes the above mechanics a gimmick to continue this narrative, not the ultimate goal. This does not mean that the game is boring, as it offers a large enough amount of cards to make us lose track of time; simply, after a few games - after a few violent deaths - you can see one background story, a story that has roots in the supernatural and that players have the implicit task of continuing.
And this is where the magic comes from: making the right choices and stabilizing our kingdom no longer serves only to give us a feeling of satisfaction, in the event that the single game lasts a long time; the whole game of answering cards correctly, moving forward, meeting new characters, getting new cards and so on acquires a new meaning, that of thread thanks to which our game becomes a search for the word END.
As mentioned above, we will be able to find new characters that will offer us new cards, choices and possibilities, but also dangers. During the game, in fact, we will be offered various "challenges", such as finding a certain character or unleashing a certain event, which we can complete once we find the specific cards of that character or event. Once these challenges are completed, in addition to progressing in the story, we will be rewarded with new cards, which increase the longevity and difference in challenge.
But that is not all. Reigns: Her Majesty offers us another element of interaction with the characters and cards: the objects. During the game, in fact, we will have the possibility to find up to five non-random objects that will open up new paths for us. These objects can then be drag over cards to perform an action, thus allowing us to avoid the choice proposed by the current card. As always, however, there is a catch: items only work with some characters, so we will not be able to randomly use everything we have on hand or we will be considered crazy people.
Reigns: Her Majesty offers a fair amount of entertainment for a very simple game indeed, but it's certainly not without its problems. Although the game has no real flaws, ironically it can be said that its greatest strengths are also its greatest weaknesses.
The abundance of cards is a double-edged sword: if having a large amount of different situations helps make each game different from the previous one, unfortunately it also risks boring the player who gets trapped in an endless series of insignificant choices, without even getting to complete the various challenges. Worse still, it can lead the player to a series of short and unsatisfactory games if they lose after a few cards from the start of the game. Furthermore, if having a series of objectives encourages the player to search for them, it also makes sure that he does not stay too much on the cards. Since most cards do not unlock a character or event, but only affect parameters, failing to complete various objectives can be frustrating. Rightly, there are few significant cards, but for this very reason there is the risk of never finding them, missing the objectives; it is also likely that in trying to find them faster the player may make hasty decisions, but haste can only lead to a dead end. Literally.
Although these drawbacks can be curbed by cunning and memory, it is also true that memorizing all card effects takes away any meaning from the choice itself.
Reigns: Her Majesty should be treated for what it is: a simple game, with mechanics clearly designed for mobile, which does not require great concentration, so it can offer interesting games both for those who play it for five minutes and for those who invest several hours in it. Players who are not put off by the play-lose-learn-repeat approach and slowness in unlocking new characters, challenges and events will be rewarded with new cards and progression possibilities, making each experience different from the others.
► Reigns: Her Majesty is a Graphic Adventure type game developed by Nerial and published by Devolver Digital for Android, PC, iOS, Steam, Mac and Linux, the game was released on 07/12/2017
