Games that test your strategic acumen have been a mainstay of gaming culture, and we have had a few of these gems in recent times, most notably with Triangle Strategy. However, if you are looking for a more fantasy-driven experience that keeps you wanting for just one more turn, Lavapotion’s Songs of Conquest will be right up your alley.
As a turned-based strategy adventure game, Songs of Conquest will likely be compared to the legacy of the Heroes of Might and Magic series. At the very least, it has all the positive hallmarks that will easily immerse players into its world, delivering gameplay that is easy to understand yet possessing the depth to test your mettle along the way.
Taking on the role of a Wielder, players will explore a fantasy world that is stunningly brought to life in 2.5D fashion. The world is vibrant and magnificently presented, coming to life with details that is just delightfully whether you are visiting a settlement or heading into enemy territory. The animation is outstanding as well, displaying a range that remains fresh from start to finish. Naturally, as you seek to expand your kingdom, there will be resistance lying in wait, and that is another area in which Songs of Conquest shines bright.
Diving into battles that are usually resolved in a satisfying and swift manner, armies clash while being governed by each unit’s initiative and an overall timeline. You can move and attack within the same turn if there are foes in range, and the game helpfully provides all the necessary information you need to make the best decision, be it movement or attacks.
It is not always easy to get at enemies, especially as they can both counterattack as well as lash out when your units come into their zone of control. So if you are depending on melee attacks, strategic planning is a must if you want to survive. Ranged combat, on the other hand, is a safer prospect, enhanced by getting into more effective range and allowing units to deal out more damage. It is not overpowered either, as the constraints of the arena tend to balance the playing field. Add to that height advantages, and you have a solid tactical experience awaiting in every bout.
We haven’t even gotten to the magic system that is part of Songs of Conquest’s combat, which can be a little hard to grasp. Breaking it down, different units will generate different magic points, which can then be used to cast spells that your Wielder knows without any limit. However, it goes far beyond just filling out your armies with units that support your magical leanings.
With slots to fill, you might think having a unit with full strength in every slot is the best way forward, but if you don’t have that opportunity, splitting up your existing units into more slots will allow for more magic points to be generated at the cost of overall strength. This makes army composition a more thoughtful affair, and even for those that may find themselves at a numbers disadvantage, the smart use of magic can help turn the tide.
Of course, accruing all of that military might will not be possible if you don’t have a robust economy supporting it, and this figures into Songs of Conquest’s focus on resource and building management. Supplementing your armies requires settlements that specialize in different units, which will also require resources like gold and stone to build.
That means your armies will need to resupply every once in a while, especially when they have been involved in battles. Should you prioritize powerful units that require Wielders to come home every once in a while, or just recruit from nearby settlements or villages and hope for the best? How you balance that trade-off is vital, as would the proportion of resource generating and military buildings.
At this point, Songs of Conquest is a great experience made possible by all the different moving parts. The strategic and tactical elements provide nuances for players of all skill levels to ease themselves in, the battles are fun and engaging, and save for some drawn-out affairs involving paltry but annoying resistance from enemy factions, it is usually a good time overall.
With the game set to grow even more both on the single-player and multiplayer fronts, Songs of Conquest is in a great place to keep improving and delivering more of what players would want, and that is already an exception to the norm for Steam Early Access titles.