Manor Lords is coming closer and closer to being released (April 26th) and I can't wait.
Manor Lords
This game has been on my wishlist on Steam since I first heard about it about 2 or 3 years ago, and for what seemed like the longest time the game itself remained on Steam with "To Be Announced" or "TBA" where a release date should have been.
I'm talking, years.
Every so often I would check it out to see if it had changed, or if there was any more news, and nothing, it just remained unknown.
Here's one of the first videos the channel released 3 years ago, and this gave something of a rundown of all of the mechanics within the game.
Why I'm Excited About It
I'm a big fan of medieval history, and period games, films, and TV shows in general. As far as games go, I like city builders like Banished, or a few I played and had from when I was younger like Pharaoh, or Civcity: Rome. I also loved RTS/turn-based strategy games like Total War, Civilization, or AoE.
One of my favourite games growing up (when I discovered it) was Rise of Nations.
I had a demo of it, which gave limited maps, and factions, but allowed me to play the game. Then, a few years later I got a full copy of the game and was over the moon with it.
Occasionally I go back to it, but I love finding new games that give me the same vibe as those old ones I love.
As I got older, I got more and more into Total War games, because I love Real Time battles, combined with the turn-based elements while in the campaign map.
Another franchise I always loved was Stronghold, 2 in particular which I had and which was the first of the series I played.
Manor Lords seems to have taken a little bit of all of those games I love/ loved, and has combined them to potentially create something that could put their studio - Slavic Magic - on the map and solidify them as a big player... - excuse the pun - in the games industry.
Combat/ and City Building
From what I've seen in videos, breakdowns, and general conversations/ videos about this game. The combat introduces a Total War style, where your units are arranged in groupings that can be positioned and moved around the battlefield in real-time so you can gain an advantage over your enemy by using flanking, feigned retreats, or even the terrain to overcome your opponents.
Units are broken into tiers, where lesser kingdoms will only have access to lesser units/ peasant militias. Since they won't last long against bigger and better-equipped armies, you'll need to navigate the political map and stay in good standing with the other kingdoms, until you're at a point where your forces can manage open war with others.
Ruling your kingdom, and spending resources effectively is the only way to succeed in these types of games, and that reminds me of games like, Halo Wars, Total War, Rise of Nations, and AoE, where you need to spend your resources as efficiently as possible in the early game to ensure you don't fell behind too far.
All in all, there are a lot of elements that will add so many things to think about, which is another thing I love about these types of games.
Besides all of this, the game itself looks amazing and seems to be doing its best to include realism where possible, which should keep the entire feeling of Manor Lords grounded.
After so long without any word I started to worry about it, and figured that maybe the team bit off more than they could chew. But, recently they've been releasing plenty of videos on their YouTube channel, and they seem to have built up a healthy following considering it's their first game.
A lot of people are calling it a Total War killer. I've always been a fan of Total War, and they're a titan in their own right. I wouldn't want to see them being dethroned, because I love their games, (I also doubt that could happen because some franchises are too big to fail) But, if Manor Lords does really well, maybe the larger franchise in the RTS/ Turn-based strategy games space will have to up their game and do better.
If that happens, the fans win all round.