Thoughts about Kingdom Rush: Vengeance

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Thoughts about Kingdom Rush: Vengeance

by Malagar » Thu Nov 22, 2018 8:24 pm

I've completed the campaign. Well, what do I have to say.
Vez'nan rulez :veznan:
Being honest, I find this part a really good one! Some strange feeling inside me says there's something oddly wrong about it, perhaps it's just because the last time I've had the feeling of playing a new KR game was 4 years ago.
I like a lot that the devs don't stand still and play with game mechanics. New meteor shower analogue - Vez'nan's micro Death Star - first seemed a little dull, but after I saw its upgrades I was greatly surprised how cool they are. Just awesome.
Nothing especially new with reinforcements, that's OK. They just need to be reinforcements. The idea of choosing between 1 of 2 advanced upgrades for them - either melee or ranged warriors - is very interesting though. A really nice feature to try out.
No more encyclopedia, seriously? Why, just why!? What was wrong with the encyclopedia, just what was, Ironhide? :c It was such a nice thingy... I was OK with its absence in Iron Marines as it was a different game, but no encyclopedia in a Kingdom Rush game... Such a shame...
Brilliant refreshing feature - now there are more than 4 towers, 16, to be more correct, 11 of which are free and 5 are IAP (but you can try them out for free in heroic and iron challenges). It's really nice, though sometimes some of them seemed similiar to each other.
First 2 chapters are nice, I love the vibe of conquering everything under the authority of Vez'nan, his monologues after every chapter. Sometimes it's good to be evil, I guess.
What I really did love, is a bunch of new GREAT ideas. Dwarf minecarts! Mauser and mecha factories! Troll baracks! Jokulla is a boss that can't actually get past your frontier and instead disturbs your towers so other enemies can pass. And that you should use goblin cannons to wipe her out! And, boy, chapter three is an absolutely another feel!
Chapter three. Linirea. These are one of the best chapters in the whole saga, IMHO! First we get able to pop sheeps again, but this time, there is an ANGRY FARMER! :D Which gets angry at you after you kill his sheeps with your god powers, has 1500 HP and is eagering to have his vengeance!
And the next levels, they just marveled me. A little sadness they did bring to me, too. They're great with all new stage towers and ides, aka spiders, brigands and bandits, hut golems, etc., but, it was sad to see the 'heroes' in such forme. They've became so pathetic, except for Alleria. Gerald, Magnus, Denas... They seemed so pitiful. Like Vez'nan said, faded reflections of past themselves. I thought so because,... They were so passive, apathic. Stagnant ingorants, that's what they've become. Also I didn't quite understand why is Vez'nan actually so evil. I mean, he summons demons, yeah, but at least this dude does something except for lying on sofa (which every 'good guy' we encounter does). It seems stagnation is everything the goodies knew.
And the final chapter. My low bow to its designers. It's just incredible! The only thing I find weird is those Paragons (i don't quite understand who they are, why there are three of them and why they're all identical :P). But... 2-phase level design... Denas and Vez'nan's dialogue... King's artillery. And heck, Ironhide, you actually reversed the gameplay at the end of the game! You turned tower defence into tower siege, and we have to cover the big bad demon while he tries to enter Denas' castle! Magnificent.
What's only sad on this (and all others) level is that the music is quite and inexpressive. It was more dynamic and sensual in previous chapters. Dunno, that's just MHO.
Anyway, I had a great time with that game. Thank you Ironhide Studio. Love you and can't wait to see what's the next thing you've saved for us <3
P.S.: I wonder what happened at the ending? Which place Denas was teleported to? Why did he have a creepy basement and why was there some sort of supa-dupa artefact with four, ehem, shiny red crystalls attached? Speculations, speculations, my dearest speculations... I missed you...
I may not be the devil, but I know just how he feels :veznan:
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Re: Thoughts about Kingdom Rush: Vengeance

by MisterX » Thu Nov 22, 2018 8:49 pm

I agree, meeting Alleria, Magnus and Gerald was just awesome.
I really loved this levels as well as the last one, it was very unexpected.
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Re: Thoughts about Kingdom Rush: Vengeance

by Santiago » Thu Nov 22, 2018 10:48 pm

I agree with everything except that for me seeing the ex-heroes being lame didn't bother me.

As a beta tester I reported that the music wasn't that good also, I strongly agree on that.

But yeah all in all excelent game, super fun!
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Re: Thoughts about Kingdom Rush: Vengeance

by Big Bad Bug » Fri Nov 23, 2018 1:42 am

The heroes being shells of their former selves reminds me a lot of the game, Overlord, where beings literally called heroes have gone corrupt. It makes Alleria even more epic, though, since she remains true to the Elves this whole time.

I also agree with the criticism of the music. The devs’ intent was to make it more disturbing, particularly in the
ast third, but, even though they succeeded at making disturbing music, I don’t feel that that is a success worthy of praise as it detracts from the experience in my opinion.

Another minor quality of life change is the highlighted direction that enemies will go in when viewing incoming waves. I really like that addition. :)

Fingers crossed for an encyclopedia!
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Re: Thoughts about Kingdom Rush: Vengeance

by Malagar » Fri Nov 23, 2018 10:35 am

Big Bad Bug wrote:.

Another minor quality of life change is the highlighted direction that enemies will go in when viewing incoming waves. I really like that addition. :)

Fingers crossed for an encyclopedia!


Yeah, forgot to mention, showing enemy direction is a great new feature.

Fingers crossed for the encyclopedia!
I may not be the devil, but I know just how he feels :veznan:
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Re: Thoughts about Kingdom Rush: Vengeance

by SHlSEID0 » Fri Nov 23, 2018 12:07 pm

KRO enchanted forest music was really enchanting to me. Even after I exit the game, I could still hear kids' laughter, imagine mysterious ladies playing in a forest stream. Creepy and beautiful at the same time.

KRV music is pretty weak everywhere.
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Re: Thoughts about Kingdom Rush: Vengeance

by Blue Vex » Fri Nov 23, 2018 12:22 pm

Hey.
Great feedback so far in this thread! I will add some of the things I noticed during my play-through.

Pros
  • Great graphics. I'm so used to getting great graphics from Ironhide that I almost take it for granted. But it's worth a mention.
  • Great feel. Navigating the menus, choosing heroes, upgrading towers, it all feels and sounds great. Just what I've come to expect from Ironhide.
  • Being able to choose our favorite towers before going to battle and the fact that there are so many to choose from!
  • Having towers represent enemies from previous games is awesome.
  • Being able to view the direction enemies will travel down lanes.
  • I prefer the new HUD for enemy armor when pressing an enemy.
  • Standardised amount of upgrade points after each stage. The progression path is much more balanced.
  • Heroic and Iron modes are pure feats of strength. No longer rewards upgrade points.
  • A new difficulty [Impossible], intended for when we're fully upgraded and sporting level 10 heroes.
  • Less focus on quirks in stages. Previous games had a lot of unique towers, heroes and even mini-games in the stages. KR:V focuses less on these quirks, which raises the focus on our own towers (which there are a lot of this time around).
  • The stages are awesome. The enemies challenges us in interesting ways without being annoying (except perhaps the dwarven geomancers and diggers.. :P).

Cons
  • Having only one cloud-save. I would like to begin a fresh game without deleting my main progression. This feature will become even more desirable if Ironhide continues adding stages to KR:V.
  • The lack of an encyclopaedia.
  • Not being able to see what difficulty you've beaten the stages on during the stage-selection screen (the flags would change respectively in previous games).
  • Game feels a bit easy. I was able to beat every level on Veteran difficulty on the first attempt, getting 3 stars except for perhaps 2-3 stages. Impossible difficulty didn't add much challenge or replay-ability either.
  • Tower variety, whilst great, loses some of its depth since the game is so easy. It feels like we can win without deep consideration to tower strategy.
  • The music is a bit lackluster. Though I definitely notice and appreciate it trying to capture a disturbing atmosphere.
  • The sound on the haunted forest tower's attack is so dominant, it blocks out other sounds at times. More a bug than a con..
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Re: Thoughts about Kingdom Rush: Vengeance

by Big Bad Bug » Fri Nov 23, 2018 4:55 pm

Tower variety is tricky since many of them overlap in purpose. Why use the Orc Shaman when the Infernal Mage has more consistent damage? Why use Orcs when Dark Knights are so much tougher? I never use some towers because I’ve become set on the Bone Flinger - Dark Knight - Mausoleum - Rocket Rider - Blazing Gem/Shadow Archer combo. ;)
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Re: Thoughts about Kingdom Rush: Vengeance

by truteal » Sat Nov 24, 2018 12:47 am

Blue Vex wrote:[*]Game feels a bit easy. I was able to beat every level on Veteran difficulty on the first attempt, getting 3 stars except for perhaps 2-3 stages. Impossible difficulty didn't add much challenge or replay-ability either.


I think it's because you don't use stars to buy powerups
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Re: Thoughts about Kingdom Rush: Vengeance

by Blue Vex » Sat Nov 24, 2018 12:57 am

truteal wrote:I think it's because you don't use stars to buy powerups

I'm afraid I don't understand. Can you elaborate? It seems to me like you're saying the game becomes easier if you don't use power-ups. :?
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Re: Thoughts about Kingdom Rush: Vengeance

by truteal » Sat Nov 24, 2018 1:47 am

You don't buy upgrades with Stars
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Re: Thoughts about Kingdom Rush: Vengeance

by Ninja » Sat Nov 24, 2018 4:09 am

Big Bad Bug wrote:Tower variety is tricky since many of them overlap in purpose. Why use the Orc Shaman when the Infernal Mage has more consistent damage? Why use Orcs when Dark Knights are so much tougher? I never use some towers because I’ve become set on the Bone Flinger - Dark Knight - Mausoleum - Rocket Rider - Blazing Gem/Shadow Archer combo. ;)


Well, Orc Shaman stuns enemies for about a full second with every attack, which is kind of crazy. It makes even the level 1 tower worth buying. Also, they knock Leap Dragons out of the air, which is VERY useful, especially on the No Star Challenge. (I know I keep talking about it, but it’s really fun. Try it, and you’ll never play normally again. Also, you’ll soon find out that Dark Knights aren’t as clear cut superior in this challenge. I think the game is actually more balanced this way. ;) )
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Re: Thoughts about Kingdom Rush: Vengeance

by Blue Vex » Sat Nov 24, 2018 11:14 am

truteal wrote:You don't buy upgrades with Stars

You buy them with souls. It's just a different name. Doesn't impact the difficulty. ;)
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Re: Thoughts about Kingdom Rush: Vengeance

by truteal » Sat Nov 24, 2018 10:07 pm

You get the same amount of souls no matter how badly you do in the stage
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Re: Thoughts about Kingdom Rush: Vengeance

by Ninja » Sat Nov 24, 2018 11:27 pm

truteal wrote:You get the same amount of souls no matter how badly you do in the stage


Yes, but the game is just as easy on multiple playthroughs (played it through 10+ times now), so I don’t think that’s the biggest factor in its ease.
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Re: Thoughts about Kingdom Rush: Vengeance

by Big Bad Bug » Sat Nov 24, 2018 11:53 pm

Ninja wrote:Yes, but the game is just as easy on multiple playthroughs (played it through 10+ times now), so I don’t think that’s the biggest factor in its ease.


As a dev (Pencil) said to me, many towers are balanced to have matching DPS and other traits, which Ironhide made countless spreadsheets and various other data tables to make sure of. So, I believe the game is relatively easier simply because tower choice is less significant. ;)
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Re: Thoughts about Kingdom Rush: Vengeance

by Blue Vex » Sun Nov 25, 2018 3:41 am

truteal wrote:You get the same amount of souls no matter how badly you do in the stage

In previous KR games I wouldn't start a new stage until I had 5 stars from the current stage (3 from ranked and 2 from Heroic and Iron). So that's not the reason why it's easier for me. More convenient, but not easier. :)
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Re: Thoughts about Kingdom Rush: Vengeance

by Ninja » Sun Nov 25, 2018 9:22 am

Big Bad Bug wrote:As a dev (Pencil) said to me, many towers are balanced to have matching DPS and other traits, which Ironhide made countless spreadsheets and various other data tables to make sure of. So, I believe the game is relatively easier simply because tower choice is less significant. ;)


Yeah, I noticed as much. I would prefer if they had gone down a more diverse path, but I can see that the balancing would be nigh impossible.
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