Ruined King: A League of Legends Story

[Koby]

Ruined King, the League of Legends-set RPG announced a little while back, now has a broad release window of "early 2021" for Switch, PS4, Xbox One, Steam and the Epic Games Store. There are free upgrades for those that own it on PS4 or Xbox One to the PS5 and Xbox Series S/X versions respectively, which are coming "soon thereafter".

 

Developed by Airship Syndicate, the studio behind Battle Chasers: Nightwar and Darksiders: Genesis, Ruined King is being published under the Riot Forge moniker - a kind of in-house publishing arm from Riot Games, specifically targeting "completable" games in the LoL universe, developed by other, non-Riot studios.

 

It's a turn-based RPG, and single-player only, meaning no co-op or anything of the like. There are six playable characters, all champions from League of Legends - Miss Fortune, Braum, Illaoi, Yasuo, Ahri and Pyke - who you'll add to your group along the way and rotate in and out of a party of three. And it's set in Bilgewater and The Shadow Isles, which are two regions - an argey-bargey piratey one and a spooky underworld one - in the LoL world of Runeterra. Here's a fancy new trailer giving it a tease:

 

 

There's not an awful lot else that's known about it just yet - we should hopefully get a look at gameplay "in the coming months" - but the head of Riot Forge, Leanne Lombe, plus Airship Syndicate CEO Joe Madureira, did give us a bit more detail.

 

"This one is narratively focused," Madureira said, for one. "So the characters are constantly interacting in and out of battle - the adventure and story elements are just as important as the combat." Although there's no romancing - condolences to thirsty BioWare fans - Madureira did promise it was a "true RPG", with "a lot of exploration and interaction with both the environments and tonnes of NPCs." There are also more League of Legends characters set to make an appearance, Madureira said, although he wouldn't elaborate any further.

 

 

"We had a world map in Battle Chasers, we got rid of that," he added. "So you don't move around on little nodes, you're actually in the world exploring the environments, the characters are in the environments, all the NPCs you interact with. So it's a much more immersive experience, and that was important for us. We didn't feel like for League of Legends with as rich as and huge as the world is, that players would be content just walking around on a map. So all the exploration is really fleshed out."

 

Loombe also stressed the the fact that it's still an "indie" game, in their eyes, rather than a triple-A joint, which makes sense as Airship Syndicate is still a smallish team, of around 20 or so developers full time, in-house. It's something Madureira also reckons helped the studio cope with the effects of the pandemic, "I think if we had hundreds of people trying to do this, it would be getting out of hand. I think we're still a manageable size to where it didn't impact us, as it probably did some other developers."

 

Madureira's personal background, meanwhile, is actually in comics, working on Uncanny X-Men amongst others, and so "the handcrafted, bespoke illustration," as Loombe put it, as seen in the trailer and artwork released so far, is "definitely something that I think sets the game apart," and also part of what made the partnership so attractive. In her words, the goal with Riot Forge is to focus on games that can "really drive the narrative forward for the League of Legends universe," and that the studio is keen to "reimagine League of Legends in a different way," with Madureira's art and Airship Syndicate's background apparently being a key part of Riot's decision to approach the studio.

 

I was also curious about how much freedom Airship Syndicate would have, what with this being a "canon" game still managed by Riot as publisher, and whether this was a Disney, Star Wars, EA kind of situation where things had to go right up the chain. Loombe emphasised how much Riot wants the developers it teams up with to "creatively own the games," though, with Madureira adding that the developer had "quite a bit of freedom," still. "The freedom was definitely there - I don't feel like we were ever told 'no, you can't do that'... it was surprisingly smooth. I say surprising because I have work on other people's IP," he added with a laugh.

 

[Koby]

 

[Koby]

It’s time to save Bilgewater, Captain!

Available now, Ruined King: A League of Legends Story, is a turn-based single player RPG by fan-favorite indie developer, Airship Syndicate, led by comic book artist Joe Mad and known for games like Battle Chasers and Darksiders.

In Ruined King: A League of Legends Story you will unite a group of unlikely Champions to stop a threat against two regions of Runeterra. Bilgewater, a bustling port city that is home to sea monster hunters, dock gangs, and smugglers from across the known world; and the Shadow Isles, a land cursed with the deadly Black Mist which shrouds the island and corrupts those it comes in contact with. In order to defeat a common and mysterious enemy, players will form an unlikely party of beloved League of Legends Champions – Miss Fortune, Illaoi, Braum, Yasuo, Ahri, and Pyke.

 

 

Patch 57973 - Live Now

- Fix for assigning input to button keys. This fixes remapping on azerty keyboards and a double binding bug for all languages.
- Changed reading colors from strings in all regions. This should address several issues Swedish and Finnish users were encountering.
- Fixes Boon roulette breaking the frame in 16:10 resolution

 

[Koby]

Patch v58173 - Live Now

- Fixed a rare case where Inspect mode would get stuck during combat.
- Fixed Illaoi's Scourge Ult not granting the correct healing bonus per tentacle consumed.
- Fixed Xa'Tal fight awarding too much XP in certain instances.
- Saying "No" to watching tutorials will now be saved and not ask again after reloading.
- Fixed light bridges in the Vault of Vesani.
- Fixed a case when activating a golem and entering combat would cause a permanent black screen.
- Fixed a specific case with golems in the Vault of the Vesani where their collision would remain after defeat, blocking the player.
- Fixed a case where a particular boss's portal would be invisible.
- Fixed an issue where the game would become stuck if you defeated a particular boss with Yasuo's Manumane sword equipped.
- Fixed sound effects playing all at once when Inspect Mode is opened and closed during active combat.
- Fixed a rare issue where combat would get stuck when a tutorial popped up.
- Fixed an issue with the camera not resetting after Ahri interacts with the cannon in the Well of the Mother Serpent.
- Fixed a specific issue with lootables respawning after fishing.
- Fixed an issue where using potions outside of combat sometimes caused a soft lock.
- Stopped Shadow Constructs from getting back up after being defeated.
- Fixed an issue with the Fishing Journal becoming stuck on screen.
- Fixed a rare issue with the camera getting stuck zoomed in during some battles.
- Fixed an issue when using Miss Fortune's Shredder ability while wearing her Ruined skin and the 3B upgrade that would lock combat.
- Added an FPS limiter to avoid issues when running with V-Sync disabled.
- Fixed an issue where saving and reloading at the pylon puzzle in the Dread Woods would cause the puzzle to become stuck.

 

[Koby]

Last Few Updates

Patch v58287

• Fixed an infinite loading issue in Shadow Vaults dungeon within Shadow Isles
• Improved stability of save data processes

Version 1.6

• Fixed remapping the left and right mouse button
• Improved rebinding keys
• *Note: Players should reset their key bindings to default to properly get these changes before rebinding any other keys
• Improved Click-to-move pathing around doors to make it far easier to transition through a door.
• Map: M now opens and closes the map.
• Windowed Mode no longer minimizes when changing focus.
  
  Over 300 individual bugs fixed and quality of life improvements. Some highlights below:
   
• Poro Idol & Shield: Poro weapons now upgrade and evolve as you progress through the game.
• Saving: Improved the way saving is handled to autosave more often and more reliably.
• Saving: Continue game will now use your most recent save, and not only the most recent autosave.
• Combat: Fixed being unable to target enemies in combat in certain instances.
• Many crashes are fixed across the game.
• Fishing: The splash VFX when reeling in a fish is now going in the correct direction.
• Enchanting: The delta between current item and potential new item is now displayed when infusing.
• Map: Fixed various instances of missing icons.
• Map: Fixed various instances of chests not showing as looted correctly.
• Map: Fixed various instances of objective markers displaying incorrectly.
• Map: Updated the Objective marker to be more visible.
• Various grammar and punctuation errors are corrected.
• UI: Fixed various instances of the UI not updating correctly, getting stuck, or displaying incorrectly.
• UI: Equipped items now display a portrait of the hero who has it equipped.
• UI: Equipped items now show the enchanted icon properly.
• Combat: Fixed being unable to change targets on single target attacks.
• Combat: Using Ahri’s Orb of Deception ability with her Ruined Skin equipped no longer causes a delay in combat.
• Combat: Fixed various ability/buff/hazard/enemy descriptions to be more accurate.
• Combat: Fixed Plunder Crabs remaining invisible after being revived.
• Combat: Fixes instances of summoned enemies giving XP when they shouldn’t.
• Combat: Fixed hazards from disappearing when reviving a hero.
• Combat: Fixed the camera getting stuck during combat in certain situations.
• Combat: Fixed overcharge not being awarded until the next turn.
• Combat: Added “Can’t Flee” when trying to flee during combat scenarios you can’t flee from.
• Combat: Fixed an issue where some enemies would target a champ but then attack a different one.
• Combat: Combat speed selection is now saved.
• Combat: Added colored outline around selected targets when selecting a target for an ability.
• Ultimates: Fixed some VFX from other heroes displaying during an Ultimate.
• Fixed certain bosses respawning when returning to an area.
• Dungeon: Fixed various interactable items & NPCs not displaying when using search.
• Dungeon: Fixed Carrion Wurms getting stuck when using Pyke’s dungeon ability on them.
• Dungeon: Removed a treasure chest you couldn’t get to underground in the Vault of the Vesani.
• Dungeon: Braum’s dungeon ability now properly adds stacks of concussion when entering combat.
• Dungeon: Clues for a certain puzzle in the Purification Temple now highlight properly.
• Dungeon: Directional markers in Thresh’s Maze can be interacted with now.
• VFX: Numerous VFX fixed & improved across the game.
• Fixed incorrect location names showing up on screen after certain cutscenes.
• Fixed various instances of quests breaking or cutscenes not triggering properly if you aggroed a creature when triggering a quest or cutscene.

Version 1.7

• Fixed an issue when triggering the cutscene with Malik and combat at the same time would cause a permanent black screen
• Fixed an issue that would stop the heavenly bell from dropping when triggering combat near the NPC
• Fixed a crash when attempting to fight the Infused Angler twice
• Fixed a rare crash when traveling to Serpent Isles from Bilgewater in a specific order
• Fixed a rare hang when the Ruined King’s mist shroud was used
• Defeating the Angler Trickster now marks the chest as obtained on the map
• Fixed the Porohole in the Vault of the Vasani from freezing the game if repeated multiple times.
• Fixed collision being stuck on the defeated Golem in the Vault of the Vasani
• Fixed an infinite loading issue when accessing the light puzzle in Fathom’s Pharos
• Fixed an issue with the Difficult Diner quest not being completable if you saved/loaded during the quest
• Fixed an issue with bounty quests not getting checked off in the quest log
• Fixed an issue with characters getting stuck on certain elevators
• Fixed a rare crash when sorting slots in the inventory
• Added character names to mograph subtitles
• Fixed Healing Mist 2A not clearing Terror stacks from all 3 champions
• Various map icons fixed
• Various text and grammar corrections as well as description updates to be more clear
• Various other crash fixes

 

[Koby]

Ruined King Patch v1.8

As of today, players will have access to Trading Cards as well as Steam Points for Ruined King: A League of Legends Story. There has also been an in-game update that is outlined below.
 

Patch Notes:

• Players should no longer get stuck while walking near the teleporter at Maokai’s Grove
• Players should no longer get stuck on top of the barrel at Slum’s Market
• Bug resolved when saving and reloading after defeating Yone’s Shadow
• Players should receive the correct amount of Black Marks when trading fish/artifacts
• Dialogue issue corrected after the Ruined King fight
• Fixed an issue with selling stacks of items that made it possible to sell more than you owned
• Fixed an issue where enemies could come back to life after fleeing battle
• Fixed a hang when in the “Combat Guide” menu after certain interactions
• Illaoi’s “Tentacle Slam 3B” upgrade now does correct described damage
• Bug fixed: an issue where the Ruined King’s Blade of the Ruined King ability inflicts the Mist Touched debuff on himself when there is at least one stack of Mist Touched
• Bug Fixed: a hang when activating the Winch and triggering combat simultaneously in the Jagged Hooks Warehouse
• Players will be able to obtain the scroll in Fathom Pharos temple
• Corrected issue with incorrect controller UI is being shown
• Bug fixed: a hang when simultaneously pressing Inspect and interacting with a Rest Point
• Fixed an issue where players did not receive Augmented Crimson Amulet after talking to Glynn
• Fixed a freeze that would occur when system is set to Arabic
• Saving should now be available and the Enormous Charged Crystal should now be obtainable after fleeing the fight
• Water textures corrected
• Various other crash fixes
• Various performance improvements
• PC Only: The game will run probably on specific AMD laptops now