Rising Lords

About

Rising Lords is a tactical city builder game with medieval and historical themes. It was developed by Argonwood and was released on May 26, 2020. It received mostly positive reviews from players.

Rising Lords is a medieval turn-based strategy game with card and board game elements. Send your serfs to fight and die in your name... or let them prosper, and use them to your advantage!

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74%

Audience ScoreBased on 293 reviews

graphics40 positive mentions

stability23 negative mentions

The art style is absolutely excellent, reminiscent of medieval illustrations, which enhances the overall aesthetic and immersion.
The game offers a unique blend of resource management and tactical combat, providing a satisfying gameplay loop that keeps players engaged.
The developers are actively responding to feedback and working on improvements, showing a commitment to refining the game and addressing issues.

The game is currently plagued by bugs and technical issues, including crashes and a problematic save system that can lead to lost progress.
Many missions have unclear objectives, making it difficult for players to know what is required to succeed, leading to frustration.
The user interface is clunky and confusing, with too many elements that can overwhelm players, detracting from the overall experience.

graphics
78 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
51%
45%
4%
The graphics of the game are widely praised for their unique and beautiful art style, reminiscent of medieval illustrations and painting-like aesthetics that enhance immersion and clarity. Many reviewers appreciate the charming visuals and how they complement the gameplay, although some note that the overall graphical depth may feel limited compared to more complex titles. Overall, the artwork is considered a standout feature, contributing significantly to the game's appeal.
- “The art style, reminiscent of medieval illustrations, not only enhances the overall aesthetic but also immerses players in a world that feels like a living canvas.”
- “Rising Lords captivates players with its unique and visually pleasing painting-like graphics.”
- “The visuals and audio are excellent and add to the ambience and immersion of the game.”
- “The simple graphics belie the resource intensity of the game.”
- “Information you are receiving while playing is misleading and graphically incorrect (slay a wolf and have a picture of a dead boar).”
- “Bought the game because the setting and the graphics were pleasing but after a few hours testing the game, I conclude that it is more tedious than fun.”
gameplay
69 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
32%
64%
4%
The gameplay of the game is characterized by a blend of familiar mechanics and innovative strategies, offering a multifaceted experience that includes village management, military tactics, and resource balancing. While many players appreciate the art style and core mechanics, there are concerns about the depth and optimization of gameplay, with some describing it as shallow and in need of fine-tuning. Overall, the game shows potential but is still in development, requiring further enhancements to fully realize its strategic capabilities.
- “Rising Lords stands out for its intricate gameplay, allowing players to engage in a multifaceted experience of village management, military strategy, and interpersonal interactions.”
- “Balancing resources, infrastructure, and the happiness of the populace adds a layer of depth to the gameplay.”
- “All together, Rising Lords consists of familiar gameplay elements which are put together in a way I have never experienced before.”
- “Gameplay lacks depth.”
- “Outside of that, from the gameplay I experienced, the game is shallow on a strategic level.”
- “Clunky UI, shallow gameplay, unclear objectives, poorly optimized AI, a bunch of random stuff happening that can ruin your play; the list goes on.”
story
49 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
24%
70%
6%
The game's story is described as engaging and well-crafted, featuring interesting characters and plot twists that immerse players in a medieval narrative. However, many users express frustration with unclear objectives and overly difficult missions, which detract from the overall experience. While the campaign has potential and a charming art style, it currently suffers from bugs and a lack of content, leaving players hoping for future updates to enhance the storytelling experience.
- “The story was simple, yet very engaging and so challenging in a very good way.”
- “Tancred's story adds a personal touch to the game, immersing players in the challenges faced by a young lord as he strives to build his legacy.”
- “The narrative is well-crafted, featuring interesting characters and plot twists that keep players invested in the campaign.”
- “After playing a couple of hours, unless there is a huge update at release, the campaign missions are almost non-existent (like 1 mission broken into 3 sections) in this version.”
- “In the story, you are doing things blindly since objectives are not clear or you are unprepared and have to redo a few times.”
- “Edit: I can't play anymore; the story is built up for zero reason because they take everything you build up all the time. What's the point of any of it?”
stability
23 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's stability is heavily criticized, with users reporting frequent bugs, crashes, and freezes that disrupt gameplay, particularly during missions and in multiplayer modes. Many players experience issues with the user interface and save functionality, leading to lost progress and frustrating gameplay. While some updates have improved stability, the overall consensus is that the game remains in a buggy state, making it difficult to recommend at its current price.
- “The mouse works with constant delays, the game periodically freezes, even on low video settings I have problems with rendering.”
- “I'm not sure if it is because I've really only played on the 12 region and the 30 region map, but whenever I hit around turn 12-15 it freezes up and I have to sign out of my account to actually close the game.”
- “If you try to equip equipment and try to click the arrow to over it, it just freezes your game. If you didn't save, you lose hours of progress; the game just randomly crashes as well, so like I said, if you didn't save, you lost all your progress.”
music
22 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
41%
45%
14%
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with some players praising its immersive quality and suitability to the game's aesthetic, while others find it repetitive or lacking compared to previous titles. Overall, the soundtrack is described as acceptable but not particularly memorable, with suggestions for improvement through a more diverse composition. The artwork, however, consistently garners positive feedback, enhancing the overall experience.
- “The music is immersive, the artwork is amazing and the game feels and plays like you are a true medieval monarch.”
- “From the artwork and soundtrack - to the flow of the game, I am beyond impressed.”
- “Artwork is still lovely and the soundtrack suits the game really well.”
- “I think this game could benefit greatly from a good composer such as the Breakdown Epiphanies, who made the soundtrack for Battle Brothers, since the two games are pretty similar.”
- “I have to tell you, the music and sound effects of the original game were way better than this one.”
- “Speaking of music, the game's soundtrack isn't anything to write home about.”
optimization
19 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
11%
57%
32%
Overall, the game's optimization has received mixed reviews, with many players reporting significant performance issues, particularly on lower-end systems. While some users noted improvements in optimization over time, particularly after updates in 2021, others still experienced heavy resource loads and slow AI processing. Players are hopeful for continued enhancements, but current performance remains a concern for many.
- “There's been a lot of great changes to the game in 2021 since I've picked it up, completely fixing the optimization issues and setting the groundwork for the continual development of more content for the game.”
- “Excited to see how this grows and gets better optimized.”
- “Further, for a game of its size and scope, it seems to be somewhat poorly optimized as my system resources were under heavy load.”
- “Definitely enjoyed the core gameplay a lot, but my main concern at the time was optimization, particularly around when you ended your turns.”
- “Clunky UI, shallow gameplay, unclear objectives, poorly optimized AI, and a bunch of random stuff happening that can ruin your play; the list goes on.”
grinding
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious, particularly as they expand their territories and manage resources like farming and construction. While the initial gameplay can be engaging, the repetitive nature of building and resource management becomes burdensome over time, leading to frustration. Many users express a desire for features that could streamline these processes, such as an autorun option for conquered provinces.
- “It would be nice to have some kind of autorun feature in the conquered provinces because it can get a little tedious to build up each province after you've conquered it and taken control.”
- “Bought the game because the setting and the graphics were pleasing but after a few hours testing the game, I conclude that it is more tedious than fun.”
- “There is some kind of trade but it is rather tedious to set it up every turn and you actually don't know for sure how much food you have to send (unless you are a human calculator).”
replayability
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
75%
The game offers high replayability, fostering creativity among players, though some users feel it currently lacks the depth needed for sustained engagement compared to other titles like Lords of the Realm.
- “High replayability.”
- “I imagine it could get more replayable at some point, but sadly isn't there yet.”
- “Secondly, Lords of the Realm is a much better game, far more playable than this.”
- “This feature not only extends the game's replayability but also encourages creativity within the player base.”
atmosphere
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
67%
100%
The game's atmosphere is richly enhanced by meticulous character design and detailed environments that authentically reflect a medieval setting. The use of descriptive texts, engaging visuals, and morally ambiguous storytelling further immerses players, while strategic elements like espionage add depth to the experience.
- “The attention to detail in the character design, landscapes, and buildings contributes to the game's authenticity, creating an atmosphere that resonates with the medieval setting.”
- “Rather long descriptive texts paired with nice little pictures, often with multiple choices to react to and recurring characters, add to the atmosphere, while having no clear black and white morality in the story is an unexpected (and very welcome) surprise for me (like who was really a good guy in medieval times?).”
- “The atmosphere feels flat and uninspired, lacking the depth and immersion that I expected from a game of this genre.”
- “Despite the beautiful graphics, the overall ambiance is dull and fails to evoke any real emotion or tension.”
- “The world feels lifeless, with minimal interaction and a lack of dynamic elements that could enhance the atmosphere.”
character development
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The character development in the game is enhanced by meticulous attention to detail in character design and environments, which effectively immerses players in an authentic medieval atmosphere.
- “The attention to detail in the character design, landscapes, and buildings contributes to the game's authenticity, creating an atmosphere that resonates with the medieval setting.”
- “The character development is incredibly rich, allowing players to form deep connections with each character's unique backstory and motivations.”
- “I love how the choices I make throughout the game impact the characters' growth and relationships, making every decision feel meaningful.”
monetization
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users express skepticism about the monetization strategy, suggesting that the presence of advertisements may be misleading or intrusive.
- “But don't be fooled by the advertisements above.”
- “The game feels like a constant push to spend money, which ruins the experience.”
- “I can't enjoy the game without being bombarded by offers to buy in-game currency.”