Crown Wars: The Black Prince
- December 31, 2023
- Artefacts Studio
- 10h median play time
For the most part, Crown Wars: The Black Knight is a disappointing addition for a genre crying out for quality entries.
Get on Steam
Get on Xbox Games Store"Crown Wars: The Black Prince" is a turn-based tactics and strategy game set in a world on the brink of collapse from the Hundred Years' War. As the lord of your domain, manage resources, recruit and train soldiers, and build squads to fight against the forces of evil. With brutal turn-based combat, your management and strategic skills will be put to the test as you plan missions and tackle the malevolent Order.
PC
Playstation 5
Windows
Xbox Series X|S
PlayStation
Xbox
Reviews
- The game features a unique medieval setting with engaging tactical gameplay reminiscent of XCOM, allowing for deep customization of characters and strategies.
- Many players appreciate the variety of mechanics, including a wound system that prevents instant character death, and the ability to capture prisoners for strategic advantages.
- The developers are responsive to community feedback, indicating a commitment to improving the game through patches and updates.
- The game suffers from numerous bugs and performance issues, including crashes and unresponsive animations, which can significantly hinder the gameplay experience.
- Many players find the mission timers to be overly restrictive, detracting from the strategic elements of the game and leading to frustrating situations where players feel rushed.
- The character progression and leveling system can feel grindy and unbalanced, with some missions being disproportionately difficult compared to the player's current capabilities.
- story203 mentions
- 12 % positive mentions
- 84 % neutral mentions
- 4 % negative mentions
The story in the game is generally perceived as simplistic and somewhat repetitive, with many missions revolving around familiar themes like rescues and assassinations. While some players appreciate the engaging cutscenes and voice acting, others criticize the dialogue quality and the lack of depth in the narrative. Overall, the game offers a basic plot that serves its tactical gameplay but lacks the compelling storytelling that could elevate the experience.
“The fluid combat system and reasonable RNG (random number generation) make the gameplay enjoyable, and the tactical depth is comparable to well-regarded titles like 'King Arthur' and 'Final Fantasy Tactics.' The voice-acted story and enticing cinematics add to the immersive experience.”
“Storywise it does the job, with pretty cutscenes and well-voiced dialogue.”
“The plot is enjoyable and moves at a challenging pace.”
“I really like the concept but there's no story I'm excited by and the gameplay doesn't feel compelling.”
“I only have a vague idea of what's happening in the story since I mostly skip everything.”
“The timer in missions in turn-based strategies is minus 5 points out of 10 for me, because it means that the developers can't balance the game properly, make interesting tasks and just make this timer that limits you in everything except tactics, take and run to kill everyone without any tactical moments.”
- gameplay69 mentions
- 32 % positive mentions
- 62 % neutral mentions
- 6 % negative mentions
Gameplay reviews highlight a mix of engaging mechanics and significant balance issues. While the fluid combat system and tactical depth are praised, comparisons to titles like "XCOM" reveal frustrations with enemy AI, mission design, and a lack of meaningful environmental interactions. Overall, players appreciate the potential for enjoyment but note that the experience can be marred by grindiness, bugs, and unbalanced mechanics.
“The fluid combat system and reasonable RNG (random number generation) make the gameplay enjoyable, and the tactical depth is comparable to well-regarded titles like 'King Arthur' and 'Final Fantasy Tactics.' The voice-acted story and enticing cinematics add to the immersive experience.”
“Strategy 'layer' is a bit light, sure - but it serves (I'd like to see them expand on it in the future) - but the battlefields are all amazing and varied, character progression and skill trees fun and interesting (including leveling up skills in individual weapons alongside class skills, which is a great mechanic for a ton of variety), and I just thoroughly enjoy all the battles - especially as your mercs start developing their skill sets and finding synergies between them.”
“Gameplay loop can be pretty satisfying if you love execution animations; I always love going through them discovering what weapons have what.”
“Mechanically so similar to XCOM, but while playing I feel none of the sense of excitement or impact.”
“The map was a mostly open field, so there is no position that has any advantage over any other. Alerting any enemy always alerted the entire map, which has never been the case on any other mission. I was expected to fight 14 enemies (all of whom are at least equal to or better than each of mine) at once with 4 characters in a straight-up slugging match, which is the antithesis of tactical gameplay.”
“The mechanics of this game are wildly out of balance.”
- graphics25 mentions
- 28 % positive mentions
- 60 % neutral mentions
- 12 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with some praising the design and customization options while others find them lacking compared to contemporary titles like XCOM 2. Many users describe the visuals as "mid" for a 2024 release, suggesting a stylized approach might have been more effective. Additionally, there are reports of graphical glitches that detract from the overall experience.
“Crown Wars: The Black Prince stands out as a solid tactical RPG with many strong points, particularly in terms of its graphic design and animation.”
“Graphically, it does well; the customization all looks nice and you can go into significant detail.”
“Graphics are very pleasant, kind of cozy -- very much not AAA mega wowie eye-bleedingly detailed.”
“Graphics kinda meme, gameplay kinda boring, feels like an old game.”
“Children game graphics but has full 'bec de corbin to the face' violence in the first 3 minutes.”
“Graphics are pretty mid for a 2024 game - they probably should have just gone for a stylized look instead to cover up the models and animation.”
- optimization23 mentions
- 13 % positive mentions
- 52 % neutral mentions
- 35 % negative mentions
The optimization of the game has received mixed reviews, with some players experiencing significant performance issues, including bugs and crashes, while others report smooth gameplay on higher-end systems. Despite some patches improving performance, many still find it unoptimized compared to other titles, leading to a lack of depth and strategy in gameplay. Overall, the optimization appears inconsistent, varying greatly depending on individual hardware specifications.
“Haven't run into any performance issues yet and I'm just really enjoying the game.”
“Fired it up after I already played the demo at Nextfest and could immediately see that the devs took the time to polish the game more and optimized it.”
“Performance-wise: it runs great on my mid-range AM4 PC.”
“A highly unoptimized, very run of the mill TRPG.”
“Still buggy, prone to crash, and pretty bad performance optimization.”
“Performance is not great on my 7800X3D, Radeon 7900 XTX, 32GB DDR 6000 sitting at just over 60fps at 1440p.”
- grinding15 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The grinding aspect of the game is widely criticized for being excessively tedious and repetitive, often leading to frustration as players engage in monotonous tasks with little reward. While the game features interesting mechanics and customization options, the experience is marred by clunky movement and a lack of engaging content, making the leveling process feel unnecessarily drawn out and unbalanced. Overall, players find the grinding to be a significant detractor from the enjoyment of the game.
“Levels for your characters are really grindy and XP doesn't scale with mobs you killed but with the level of the mission, which is kind of ridiculous.”
“It's unfortunately just boring, clunky, very repetitive, and unnecessarily grindy for minimal increases.”
“These interludes where all you do is groan in frustration as you slowly move your units around one-at-a-time, doing movements that never interest or excite you but are just tedious busywork, while struggling against yet another isometric game's typically unwieldy camera.”
- stability12 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- -17 % neutral mentions
- 92 % negative mentions
The game's stability is frequently criticized, with users reporting various glitches, freezes, and crashes that often require restarts to resolve. Many have noted issues with map navigation and combat mechanics, alongside graphical glitches that can precede crashes. While some players find it runs well on mid-range systems, overall performance optimization remains a significant concern, even after multiple patches.
“Performance-wise, it runs great on my mid-range AM4 PC.”
“The game maintains a steady frame rate, even during intense action sequences.”
“I've experienced minimal bugs and crashes, which makes for a smooth gaming experience.”
“I have found the maps to be buggy; I have found a few spots where there is something like an open door in a building that is impassable and treated like a wall, while also the opposite has happened to me where I have been attacked by an enemy at a much lower elevation and through a wall, and the combat is completely unbalanced.”
“The crash is usually preceded by graphical glitches; for example, the status bar that shows how many days remain until a companion is healed will be blank, only showing the green symbol that they are still healing.”
“Still buggy, prone to crash, and pretty bad performance optimization.”
- music3 mentions
- 67 % positive mentions
- 33 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The music in the game is consistently praised alongside its graphics and gameplay, with reviewers highlighting its quality and effective integration into the overall experience. Sound design also receives positive mentions, contributing to the game's immersive atmosphere.
“The gameplay is all there -- as is the music, sound design, and visual design.”
“Graphic, music, gameplay all very good.”
- humor3 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Reviews indicate that while the game features a reskin of previous installments with basic tactics, it lacks the over-the-top humor some players may expect. However, the unit barks during combat are noted to be entertaining, quirky, and occasionally funny, adding a charming touch to the gameplay experience.
“The actual unit barks during combat are fun (sometimes funny) and often quirky and endearing.”
- monetization2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The monetization aspect of the game has drawn criticism for its perceived overemphasis on female characters, which some players find historically inaccurate and annoying, suggesting that it detracts from the overall experience. This sentiment reflects a broader frustration with how gender representation is handled in various media, including video games.
- replayability2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
Reviewers highlight the significant replayability potential of the game, comparing it favorably to XCOM in terms of depth and variety. Many express hope that the developers will continue to enhance this aspect, suggesting a strong foundation for future playthroughs.
“I see so much potential with this title, and I hope they stick with it because it could legitimately be a medieval rival to XCOM in terms of replayability.”
