History VideoGame / Majesty

Released by Cyberlore in 2000, ''Majesty: The Fantasy Kingdom Sim'' portrays a typical fantasy {{RPG}} world from a slightly different angle. The game can probably best be described as a city-building Sim|ulationGame with RealTimeStrategy and RPGElements, but that doesn't quite encompass the extent of the gameplay. The player is cast as the Sovereign of Ardania, a [[AffectionateParody deliberately stereotypical]] fantasy kingdom, and is given complete control over construction, taxation, research, and the hiring of heroes to defend the realm.

Released by Cyberlore in 2000, ''Majesty: The Fantasy Kingdom Sim'' portrays a typical fantasy {{RPG}} world from a slightly different angle. The game can probably best be described as a city-building {{Sim|ulationGame}} with RealTimeStrategy and RPGElements, but that doesn't quite encompass the extent of the gameplay. The player is cast as the Sovereign of Ardania, a [[AffectionateParody deliberately stereotypical]] fantasy kingdom, and is given complete control over construction, taxation, research, and the hiring of heroes to defend the realm.

A version of ''Majesty'' has been recently developed for cell phones and UsefulNotes/IOSGames, by Herocraft and Paradox Interactive. To save on memory, it cuts out and/or fuses the functions of many aspects of the original ''Majesty''; for example, you can only build temples to Agrela, Krypta, or Krolm, and they're all mutually exclusive. Additionally, you can no longer hire gnomes, their dwelling instead providing a one-time reduction to construction time on all buildings on the map, although it still prevents you from hiring elves or dwarves; and several types of heroes, such as rogues, are removed entirely. This version takes, if possible, an even more tongue-in-cheek look at the stereotypical fantasy setting than the original version did, replacing the graphics with cartoony sprites and adding a number of blatant references (your wizards can randomly be named [[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings Gandalf]]). The campaign is significantly shorter as well, comprising a handful of linearly unlocked missions.

Apart from the main games, numerous spin-off games set in the same universe have been released. The first one, ''Defenders of Ardania'', is a tower defense and offense game. The second, ''VideoGame/WarlockMasterOfTheArcane'', is a turn-based 4X game in the style of ''VideoGame/MasterOfMagic'', and is considered a SpiritualSuccessor of that game; in-universe, it is set after the High King of Ardania vanished and the united kingdom collapsed, leaving the land's Great Mages to squabble for power. There's a third spinoff game titled ''Videogame/{{Impire}}'' (no, that is not a typo) which borrows gameplay elements from ''VideoGame/DungeonKeeper''. It was released on February 14, 2013.

Both the main games and the spinoffs can be bought at UsefulNotes/{{Steam}}.

* AnEconomyIsYou: Unique twist: You don't play as the adventurer, you play as the guy who ''sells'' stuff to the adventurers. They get gold from killing monsters and spend it at your shops and that's where your income comes from.

* ArcherArchetype: The solitary, thoughtful rangers. Subverted with hedonistic elves and greedy, [[ShapedLikeItself roguish]] Rogues.

* CloudCuckoolander: Cultists and [[PsychopathicManchild warriors of discord]] can be rather crazy at times. Fitting, since their patron god is the god of chaos.

* EvilTowerOfOminousness: The Witch King's. Also the Spires of Death.

* GodSaveUsFromTheQueen: The Liche Queen, naturally.
* GrimUpNorth: The general theme of the "Northern Expansion," but especially for "The Valley of the Serpents," "Darkness Falls," and "Spires of Death."
* HealingFactor: Vampires, trolls, and some quest enemies have this.

*** There actually is a way to eliminate the randomness factor: save your game at the start of the quest, find out where the barrows are, then restart and put explore flags at those locations immediately. Getting your paltry amount of heroes over there in time is still extremely difficult, but it helps.
*** Note that for the above to work, you'd have to save the game just as you start the mission and then, after uncovering the barrows, reload the saved game, as using the restart option from the options menu will cause a fresh map to be generated.

** Wizards, full stop. They start off physically frail, slow, and not very damaging, but at max level they are capable of TeleportSpam, magic InstantArmor, and several flavors of FantasticNuke. It's not uncommon late game for a troll, dragon, or some other powerful monster to spawn only for a bored wizard to instantly teleport to it and vaporize it in a single attack. Vampires are the only thing that can fight them evenly (unless they're able to {{OneHitKill}} it before the vampire can turn on its magic mirror spell), but most wizards won't face them anyways.

* MeteorSummoningAttack: The wizards' Meteor Storm spell

* TheMinionMaster: Priestesses of Krypta, who rarely go anywhere without a retinue of skeletons and other undead they happen to charm into servitude.

* NatureHero: Cultists and, to a lesser extent, barbarians.

* PersonOfMassDestruction: A Wizard with a few levels - as long as that darned mirror spell doesn't happen.

* TheQuietOne: The monks of Dauros.

* SpitefulAI: In the quest "Valley of the Serpents", enemy monsters, even ones that don't attack buildings normally, will specifically target your elven bungalows and ignore other buildings most of the time. ([[NintendoHard You lose if all your bungalows are destroyed,]] [[FakeDifficulty by the way]].)
* SquishyWizard / GlassCannon: They start out with four hit points and keel over if breathed on or looked at funny. However, if they survive long enough to gain a few levels, they can take out almost anything in a few shots. See: LinearWarriorsQuadraticWizards.

%%* DropTheHammer: Dwarves.

Gameplay starts with the player in control of their palace. From here, they can send out peasants to construct new buildings, including guardhouses for the RedshirtArmy, shops, and guilds, temples, and enclaves for other races. The last three all allow the player to hire heroes, the bulk of the game's units. Uniquely, ''Majesty'' does not allow the player to command their heroes directly - heroes will act intelligently based on their artificial intelligence, shopping and going hunting on their own time, but they can be enticed to act by placing bounties on specific enemies.

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

Apart from the main games, numerous spin-off games set in the same universe have been released. The first one, ''Defenders of Ardania'', is a tower defense and offense game. The second, ''VideoGame/WarlockMasterOfTheArcane'', is a turn-based 4X game in the style of ''VideoGame/MasterOfMagic'', and is considered a SpiritualSuccessor of that game. There's a third spinoff game titled ''Videogame/{{Impire}}'' (no, that is not a typo) which borrows gameplay elements from ''VideoGame/DungeonKeeper''. It was released on February 14, 2013.

* VoiceGrunting

* DropTheHammer: Dwarves.

* DamageIsFire: Both enemy lairs and your own buildings burst into flames whenever they take damage.

* DamageIsFire: The fact that it doesn't deal additional damage is particularly humorous when the building being damaged is made of ''ice''.

* CrossOver: ''Warlock: Master of the Arcane'' acknowledges its roots by including [[{{Wizard}} R'Jak]](h) as the Champion of Lunord and a playable Great Mage.

* AxCrazy: Warriors of Discord are insane to the point of stupidity and are quite bloodthirsty. They wear leather "armor" and use a BladeOnAStick (literally called a "blade-stick").

* BladeOnAStick: The weapon of choice for the RedshirtArmy, as well as Ratman Champions and Goblin Overlords. The Warriors of Discord use weapons that are literally called "blade-sticks,". though they look more like [[SinisterScythe scythes]].

* EvilTowerOfOminousness: The Witch King's.

* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: Averted. You yourself cannot go destroy the dark castle of the lich queen, dragons, minotaurs, etc.; you must coax your heroes into destroying the dark castle of the lich queen, dragons, minotaurs, etc., and whatever offensive and defensive spells you can cast are done under the paid auspices of your hero's guilds.

* OneWordTitle

* RPGElements

* ChekhovsLegend: If you hear stories about spheres of power, legendary monsters, or crowns, they are out there somewhere and will inevitably be the focus of TheQuest.