Crown Gambit PC Review
Summary:
4.4
Crowning Glory
There’s a point about an hour or so in where you realise all bets are off. Crown Gambit shows its hand, and it quickly becomes clear that this political drama is happy to double down on its themes of murky, ‘no one is safe’ political drama. Despite the shocking realisation of what had just happened, something else clicked. At this key story moment, I also realised that Crown Gambit is really quite something special.
The fate of Meodred balances on a knife-edge. As the kingdom comes to learn of the death of their king, a vicious game of tug of war between warring factions threatens to tear it all apart. It’s up to three paladins – Aliza, Hael and Rollo – to return order to the realm, providing they can survive the onslaught of ruffians that try to stop them along the way.
Crown Gambit’s storyline does more than serve as a means to an end. The game’s narrative elements are just as important as its combat system, with constant decisions to make along the way. Unlike a lot of games, where the outcome of these decisions remains minor, picking an option in Crown Gambit has major repercussions throughout the game. For example, choosing to help a character may lead to another’s death, whereas failing to subdue tensions in a crowd might lead to an unwanted street brawl.
It helps that the writing is so strong throughout Crown Gambit, full of great dialogue and world-building, up there with the likes of Paradise Killer and Disco Elysium. It’s well aware that its story moves fast, too, and when you load a save, you’re greeted with a brief overview of the story so far. It’s a helpful tool to keep you in the loop with where you’re at, and it helped with stopping me from becoming overwhelmed with the game’s ever-expanding roster of characters.
Speaking of which, I found a surprising amount of care had gone into developing the cast of Crown Gambit. So much so, in fact, I found myself as excited about learning more about Meodred as I was about getting involved in the next bout of combat. Every choice you make feels just as important as the last, adding extra layers of depth to Crown Gambit’s excellent lore-building. Each new person or location you visit feels easily distinguishable from the last, and I never felt overwhelmed with unnecessary jargon or new information to take in.
But Crown Gambit’s narrative exploits are backed up by a solid tactical combat system, too. Missions reminded me of the likes of Into the Breach, with each round requiring you to perfectly plan your moves to avoid being taken out by the enemies when it’s their turn to take to the table. Each character has a unique deck of cards to draw from, each with its own special abilities and moves. Hael, for example, focuses on healing powers and useful buffs, whilst Aliza can make enemies bleed for extra damage between turns. These decks can be expanded as the game develops, and with a limit to how many cards you can take into battle, there’s a fair amount of fine-tuning late game to ensure each deck is ready for what’s ahead.
Battles themselves are easy to get your head around. You’re limit to how many actions you can play per turn, using said actions to move, attack, pump up one of your fellow paladins to give them a damage boost, or play something from your deck. The latter is where the real fun begins, and I found plenty of variety in the decks to keep me going.
New cards are unlocked as the game progresses, with levelling up granting your paladins anything from new additions to your deck to permanent health boosters. Minor perks are also available, with something typically on the table between each battle. When you’re offered these smaller perks, though, you’ll only be able to pick one out of a selection of three, and I did find myself more often than not going for the chance to heal my Paladin’s armour between rounds.
Especially after recovering from a boss battle. Combat in Crown Gambit is generally a challenge but not too taxing, but I did come across a few bosses that I really struggled with. The problem with this is, you’re often stuck with the only option being to keep trying, and if you’re really in a pinch, it can make things a bit frustrating.
Luckily, Crown Gambit has a backup for when things get dicey. When your paladins are backed into a corner, they can activate a special ability called Ancestral Grace, which switches a base card with a beefed-up version. It’s especially handy in a pinch, and can easily sway a battle in your favour. Losing to a gang of rabid dogs? Turn that 6 damage card into one that does 26.
It would be too easy to just use this all the time, of course, and if you do find you’re abusing your Ancestral abilities, you’ll start to notice their effects elsewhere. It ties the combat nicely into the narrative side of the game, with your characters often making rash decisions or forcing you into ending a situation with a negative outcome. It’s a great system, and I loved being stuck in a battle and having to choose between maxing out my Ancestral Grace or simply trying to tough it out.
Depending on how the story goes, you’ll also sometimes find yourself having to escape from – or even chase down – other characters. When these moments happen, a little mini game kicks in, triggering you to frantically click away at different cards until you find the right one. While it makes for a nice change of pace, it’s easily the area of Crown Gambit I enjoyed the least, and I sometimes found the exceptionally short timer meant I lost these sections more than I won.
I tried Crown Gambit on both a desktop as well as on the Legion Go, and can safely say the game runs best on handheld. It’s perfectly crafted for small-screen gaming, and the developers have done a fantastic job of ensuring it runs like a dream both on and off a desktop. Crown Gambit also looks the job, with fantastic character and world designs that make it pretty clear the game is heavily inspired by Celtic and Breton history. But while I loved how Crown Gambit looks, I was most impressed with its soundtrack. Nicolas Gaborel has done a wonderful job creating a soundscape of beautiful and haunting tracks that complement Crown Gambit’s incredible hand-drawn art style perfectly.
Final Thoughts?
It’s impressive that, considering its mix of two very different genres, Crown Gambit very rarely missteps. Through the ten or so hours I spent with Crown Gambit, there were very few moments were I wasn’t completely invested in the fate of Meodred. With fast-paced storytelling and a unique card system, this is a fascinating addition to your tactical combat collection, provided you can survive all that backstabbing.
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