Royal Envoy II (Review) PC

Review Score:

Ever wish you could save a village? Royal Envoy II is your answer. It plays very much like the original Royal Envoy. Royal Envoy II starts as you are late arriving to the King’s meeting. After much debate, you are sent to make the people in the villages happy. You go with one of the Kings’s men, Cedric. He will help you achieve your objectives.

You must clear land, gather resources, manage workers, and clear blockages that are preventing you from getting to where you need to go, all within a certain time limit. These can include clearing snow banks, repairing bridges, and having to feed Glutton. You start out with simple goals such as to build so many buildings and gather a certain amount of wood. These increase as you go up in level to include having a certain amount of money, among others.

As you level, you will also get blueprints for fancier houses as well as other buildings including a saw mill and a market. You will get points and stars based on how long it takes you to complete all the objectives. The objectives are in the upper right hand corner. As you complete each one, it will tell you what you have left or if the objective is completed.

Once you complete all your objectives, you will advance onto the next level. You will get points and stars based on how well you did. The faster you complete the level, the higher your score and the more stars you get. You can go back and replay a level to improve your score.

I played through the first couple of levels fairly easily as it was the same mechanics of the original game with the addition of having to manage food. In one level, I had to find my way through a maze. I had three workers who had to cut through fallen trees that were blocking the way.

Once some of the trees were cut, a stalactite would fall and block the way, forcing me to find a different way. This was very fun to work my way through. I also had to have my workers clear away snow piles, repair bridges, and fix light poles so I could get access to the other properties and resources that were needed. There are different ways to get your objectives completed. I had to go back and restart a few levels since I knew I wasn’t going to be able to complete my objectives in time.

The areas range anywhere from snowy villages to volcano ash covered towns. You can earn ranks such as Dedicated Builder as you progress through the villages. In one level, you must build a snow fort and then have a snowball fight with your neighboring villages. The winner has to win 2 games. I have never played a snowball fight in a video game. It was very fun (my team won). There were a few levels that frustrated me, but I figured out a strategy after playing the levels a few times. The ability to restart a level makes it easy to try a different strategy that works.

Royal Envoy II plays very much like the original Royal Envoy, but with added challenges and resources to manage. When you go to build properties, you must have all your resources available. The ability to increase your income goes up as you go up in levels. These increases can be achieved by improving a house or building a bank.

You can grow your own food by having some of your men tend to the farm(s) in the level that you are playing. You can also cut down trees and get wood that way as well as a sawmill. The replay value is great, as you can go back and try to increase your score. Overall, Royal Envoy II is a fun game and a must-have for any strategy gamer. It’s worth a king’s ransom.

Danip
Platform: PC
Developer: Playrix
Publisher: Playrix
ESRB: E (Everyone)
Price: $13.95

Playrix’s website

Review Score
Graphics
Very colorful and pleasing to the eye.
Sound
Fits the game beautifully and added to the gameplay experience.
Gameplay
Played very smoothly with no lag and was easy to navigate.

Overall
Fun game to play that keeps you on your toes as you manage your wood, food, men, and money..