King’s Bounty II is preparing to hit the ground running when it makes its debut on August 24, 2021. It’s the long-awaited sequel to one of the most beloved turn-based RPG series ever created. This time, however, it’s even grander, more ambitious, and comes with a host of new features that are sure to attract new players to the series. We had the pleasure of chatting with Iliya Svanidze, the PR and Brand Manager for the King’s Bounty II team, about the game’s background, what the new title brings to the series, and much more.
Gamespace: Please introduce yourself and tell us a bit about 1C Entertainment.
Iliya Svanidze: Hello, I’m Iliya Svanidze, King’s Bounty II’s PR & Brand Manager. Our company has a long history, and we have been in the video game market for a long time. We have successfully launched over 100 game titles, including critically acclaimed series: IL-2 Sturmovik, King’s Bounty, Men of War, and Space Rangers.
The dev team behind King’s Bounty II is a part of the main 1C Entertainment. Our immediate team now has about 80 members, but in total, we have about 120-150 people are working on the project. While many of the team are new faces, we have a number of developers who worked on previous King’s Bounty games.
GS: Give us an overview of King’s Bounty 2.
IS: King’s Bounty II is the long-awaited sequel to the legendary King’s Bounty video games franchise, which is one of the most iconic representatives of the turn-based RPG genre. It expands on this legacy with an entirely new epic story, factions, enemies, and new features.
Let me set the scene: darkness is descending over the world of Nostria. Conspiracies, sabotage, and necromancy are overshadowing the country. The kingdom is in disarray, with counties demanding independence, bandits prowling the roads, overseas nations rejecting the King’s authority, and blighted creatures lying in wait for the unwary. Things are not in a good way!
But! There’s a glimmer of hope… Some new heroes have to fight back against the darkness, and it’s your job to play as one of them. When you step into their shoes you can recruit and command a personal army on a non-linear adventure filled with betrayal, sacrifice, and survival. You command your forces through intense turn-based battles and must make difficult decisions for the future – not just for yourself, but on behalf of the entire world – in a new interpretation of one of gaming’s classic sagas.
GS: Are there any series that have inspired you as you’ve been making King’s Bounty 2? For instance, a lot of people have made favorable comparisons between KB2 and the Heroes series.
IS: The look of King’s Bounty II, like its narrative, is heavily inspired by epic fantasy adventure films and TV shows such as The Lord Of The Rings, The Neverending Story, Netflix’s The Witcher, and Game Of Thrones. Of course, we draw from some games too: besides the previous King’s Bounty games, there’s Fable, Dragon Age: Origins, and the Heroes of Might and Magic series. We want King’s Bounty II to combine different elements: it has an epic fantasy setting, which is realistic and dark, but we still use a lot of colors and bright lighting.
The Lord of The Rings is a great example of how to combine an epic fantasy with dark and shadows, special lighting, and beautiful, unique environments where anything can happen, seemingly anytime and from any direction.
GS: What lore and gameplay connections, if any, are there between KB2 and King’s Bounty: The Legend and/or King’s Bounty: The Armored Princess.
IS: King’s Bounty II has no direct story connections to previous games in the series, but there are various references and easter eggs about the series (as well as other games!). If players carefully explore Nostria they should be able to find most of them without too much difficulty. As for the gameplay, there are many more connections: for instance, we have the same tactical turn-based battles, several heroes with their own story backgrounds and skills…
GS: Please tell us about the most unique features in KB2 and any exciting new features specifically added for this second game in the series.
IS: In the previous games, the battlefields were always flat surfaces. Now we’re bringing full 3D battlefields into play, with features such as hills and major obstacles affecting unit line of sight mechanics. One of the biggest changes is that we’ve added a new third-person view for the main characters as you explore the gigantic world. And, of course, we have an epic new story to tell with this sequel.
GS: King’s Bounty 2 appears to have a darker, more gritty aesthetic compared to its predecessors. What was the design philosophy behind this decision?
IS: I wouldn’t call it dark fantasy. We spent a lot of time prototyping and working on core gameplay, but King’s Bounty II is high fantasy with some realistic elements. We did originally consider making the game more fairytale-like, but it wouldn’t have been a good fit for the main story. We want to show gamers something bigger: different, more complex topics, but within the parameters of the 12-16+ rating, so less of the gloom, gore, and other common dark fantasy tropes.
Environments span Medieval city streets, underground caves, Blight-cursed places, swaps, magic towers, and palaces surrounded by magnificent landscapes. This is another example of where the use of magic lighting and materials and an eye for epic fantasy construction will help tie the disparate environment types together in our world.
The crux of King’s Bounty II’s world is that it’s a combination of realism and fantasy viewed through a magic lens. Grounded and true to life, but with Medieval, fantasy, and mystic horror elements all mixed in. It’s dramatic. Locations feel believable but with an added air of mystery, drama, and an underlying dread. Locations that would otherwise be mundane are given character, mood, and interest through lighting, color, and composition. Our goal is for King’s Bounty II’s high-quality bar to serve as a backdrop for more adult storytelling in an epic fantasy world.
GS: The decision to use cinematics is very unusual for this type of game. Why did the development team opt for this type of storytelling over the more traditional type?
IS: A lot of time has passed since the release of the last part of the series and our industry has changed, both in general and in its approach to storytelling. We think this is the better way to show our world and involve modern players in the story and have them more invested in the main characters and their problems.
GS: The PR for the game says that there are multiple endings. About how many are there and how different are the endings that players may experience?
IS: Well, this is not entirely true. We have only one global final ending, but how you come to it really depends on you, and involves things such as different moral decisions…
GS: Players have faced delays and release push-backs for game after game after game over the past year. Are you confident that King’s Bounty 2 will make it’s August 24th release date?
IS: Yes, King’s Bounty II will be released on August 24, 2021, for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. No further delays!
GS: How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected the development of King’s Bounty 2?
IS: Well, The COVID-19 pandemic has had unexpected consequences for many industries. One of these industries is the video game industry and, of course, the development of our game. Many of our team members are now working remotely, which is one reason we postponed the worldwide release of the game in February. The content is already complete and playable, but we need more time to finish playtesting, fixing, and polishing. The revised launch date will give us additional time for balancing, which is needed for such an important project, with its ambitious open-world, complex narrative, and deep turn-based tactical and RPG mechanics.
GS: Please add anything else you’d like our readers to know.
IS: The original King’s Bounty is a unique game that created the entire genre: it’s the father of turn-based tactical games, such as Heroes of Might and Magic. King’s Bounty is one of the pillars modern game industry, and King’s Bounty II is the evolution of the entire series: a new modern kind of chess.
King’s Bounty II is now available for preorder across a number of platforms in both digital and physical versions. You can learn more about the preorder program by visiting the game’s official site.
