Ancient Kingdoms

About

"Ancient Kingdoms" is a classic 2D RPG that pays homage to the genre's golden age, with a rich and immersive world to explore. Choose from 6 classes and various races, and embark on a vast journey filled with secrets, ancient ruins, and formidable enemies. The game is designed to be accessible to newcomers while offering depth for veterans.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

86%

Audience ScoreBased on 72 reviews

story6 positive mentions

grinding12 negative mentions

The game offers a fun and engaging experience reminiscent of classic MMOs, with a strong emphasis on co-op play and a vibrant community.
Developers are highly responsive to player feedback, frequently releasing updates and improvements, which shows their dedication to enhancing the game.
There is a wealth of content to explore, including numerous quests, dungeons, and a variety of character classes, making for an enjoyable open-world RPG experience.

The game is not well-suited for solo play, as many players find the difficulty ramps up significantly without the support of others.
Inventory management is cumbersome, with limited space and a lack of sorting options, making it tedious to manage items and resources.
Several mechanics and systems are still broken or unclear, leading to frustration among players, particularly regarding mercenary functionality and quest interactions.

story
26 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
23%
65%
12%
The game's story is described as engaging and reminiscent of classic MMO quests, featuring a variety of tasks such as defeating enemies and collecting items. However, players express frustration with quest mechanics, particularly the tedious inventory management and the need to backtrack frequently, which detracts from the overall enjoyment of exploration. Despite these issues, the narrative elements and quest structure are generally well-received, contributing to a rich gaming experience.
- “Single/multiplayer, co-op, much loot, story rich, ultra low system requirements, everything is here.”
- “Very fun game in the style of classical quests and MMO.”
- “Story: good”
- “I feel like I want to stop playing until this issue is solved in some way. It makes exploration tedious, and instead of having fun, you are forced to carefully manage your inventory space, completing one quest at a time and traveling back to the city to store and sell items.”
- “Hopefully they find a better means for re-spawning enemies, because just waiting around in my world or leveling an alt again just to pass time to spawn an enemy who drops a quest item that is already a rare drop isn't a good use of my time.”
- “Quests consist of killing a few mobs, reporting, killing a few more, reporting, talking to someone to get another quest, killing a few mobs, returning to the first quest giver, and killing a named enemy that requires a party.”
gameplay
22 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
18%
68%
14%
The gameplay is generally enjoyable and straightforward, drawing heavily from classic MMORPG elements like the holy trinity and a significant level grind, which provides a blend of nostalgia and modern mechanics. However, players have noted issues with broken mechanics and a lack of clarity on certain gameplay elements, which can hinder the experience. Overall, while the progression feels rewarding, the inability to revisit basic mechanics for clarification is a notable drawback.
- “The gameplay itself is heavily inspired by classic MMORPGs in that you have the holy trinity (tank, DPS, healer), a meaty level grind, and a large world to explore that may suddenly surprise you with an ultra challenging boss in a low level area that you may decide to return to later when you've geared up your character more or perhaps find a group of friends to help out.”
- “It’s a fantastic blend of classic MMO vibes and modern gameplay.”
- “+ simple, intuitive gameplay.”
- “I don't think that was of much importance, but it kind of sucks that you cannot go back and check that later in case you forgot something about basic mechanics.”
- “Still a lot of broken mechanics, and when pointed out that things weren't working, I was met with 'well this is how it should be and it should be working', rather than accepting that there may be something still broken.”
- “Each class's gameplay is straightforward to its standard RPG fantasy.”
grinding
12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be both tedious and reminiscent of MMOs, despite it being a single-player or co-op experience. While some enjoy the grind and the sense of progression it offers, others feel it detracts from exploration and fun, leading to inventory management issues and repetitive questing. Overall, the grindiness is a polarizing feature, with some players appreciating the challenge while others find it frustrating.
- “I feel like I want to stop playing until this issue is solved in some way. It makes exploration tedious, and instead of having fun, you are forced to carefully manage your inventory space, completing one quest at a time and traveling back to the city to store and sell items.”
- “The amount of grinding required in this game is reminiscent of MMOs despite it being a single player/4 player game.”
- “18 hours of grinding, I was able to buy a horse for around 8k, but only have a couple grand after that.”
music
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
60%
30%
10%
The music in the game is generally well-received, with players appreciating its relaxing and ambient qualities, often drawing nostalgic comparisons to classic games like RuneScape. However, some users have reported issues with the music's volume control, finding it difficult to turn off or adjust. Overall, while the music enhances the experience, technical bugs detract from its enjoyment.
- “I enjoyed the music; it reminded me of RuneScape back in the day.”
- “Nice relaxing and ambient music.”
- “Pleasant music and sounds.”
- “The game is quite good, but there are a lot of bugs. First of all, I couldn't turn off this loud music; as soon as you press the Esc button, it automatically turns back on.”
graphics
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
75%
38%
The graphics of the game are highly praised for their retro pixel art style, which effectively combines old-school aesthetics with modern design elements. Reviewers appreciate the captivating visuals and the overall atmosphere they create, contributing to the game's charm.
- “Superb game with awesome old school graphics style recreated in a modern way.”
- “+ nice pixel graphics.”
- “Loved the visuals, decent atmosphere; there is something catchy about the game and I'm not sure what it is.”
- “The graphics feel very retro, lacking the polish and detail expected in modern games.”
- “The retro graphics are charming, but they don't hold up against contemporary standards.”
- “While I appreciate the retro style, the graphics are too simplistic and detract from the overall experience.”
atmosphere
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
75%
25%
The game's atmosphere is characterized by its nostalgic retro style reminiscent of 80s and 90s games, complemented by appealing visuals that create a catchy and engaging experience. Overall, players appreciate the decent atmosphere that enhances their enjoyment of the game.
- “I loved the visuals and the atmosphere; there's something catchy about the game that I can't quite put my finger on.”
- “The retro style and atmosphere evoke the charm of games from the 80s and 90s.”
- “The retro style and atmosphere evoke the charm of games from the 80s and 90s.”
optimization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
150%
The early access release of the game exhibits notable optimization issues, with some players experiencing significant performance drops to 20 fps, while others with similar hardware report no problems. This inconsistency suggests that optimization may vary widely depending on individual system configurations.
- “The early access release has some obvious technical issues, with performance dropping to 20 fps in certain areas, while others with similar rigs experience no issues at all.”
- “The optimization is lacking, leading to significant performance drops that can ruin the gameplay experience.”
- “There are noticeable optimization problems that cause the game to run poorly on various systems, even those that meet the recommended specifications.”

Buy Ancient Kingdoms

Ancient Kingdoms
$15.99
See offer on Steam

3h Median play time

3h Average play time

3-3h Spent by most gamers

*Based on 2 analyzed playthroughs

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