A couple of weeks ago, I became very intrigued by the look of Ruined King, a spin-off, turn-based, single-player game set in the League of Legends universe, that was released by surprise in mid-November. I’ve never played LoL, but to my own surprise I’ve been hooked.
Ruined King: A League of Legends Story review
- Developer: Riot Games, Riot Forge
- Publisher: Airship Syndicate
- Platform: Played on Xbox Series X
- Availability: Out now on Xbox, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and PC
Whereas the main LoL game is, as you probably already know, a MOBA, Ruined King is a narrative RPG set in the port city of… Bilgewater (?) and the creepy Shadow Isles (?). Your task is to help Illaoi (?), Miss Fortune (?) and non-human Ahri (?), along with others, to fight back against the mysterious and deadly Black Mist (?). The Black Mist is some kind of “thing” that’s disrupting the whole region, bringing with it shadowy creatures whose main goal is seemingly just to kill everyone.
Those question marks are me displaying my ignorance about this not-cinematic universe, as some of those names have apparently been featured in the series before (in fact, looking it up, all of them have apart from the Black Mist). I had zero idea about what to expect before loading up the game and I have to say, as a LoL-idiot, I find myself engaged in the lore and atmosphere of Ruined King. The story is an interesting adventure.
After the opening cutscenes, we’re going through the basics with Miss Fortune, who decides to avenge her mother’s death against pirate (and another LoL champion) Gangplank, and in the process take the helm of Bilgewater itself. We then switch to Illaoi, Gangplank’s former lover from the Buhru faction, who is aware of the creepy Black Mist thanks to her supernatural powers, and vows to stop its predicted torment over the region.