MASSIVE WIP. Help is very much needed.
— Any randomly generated mercenary when you refuse to pay for them
Exiled Kingdoms, often abbreviated as EK, is a single player Action-RPG that allows you to roam freely through a unique world, developed and published by 4 Dimension Games.
The game's story is set in what can be considered a Heroic Fantasy, with some elements from High Fantasy overlapping. Additionally, the areas and general ambience in the game resemble medieval Europe, be it in its government, weaponry, hierarchy, or architecture.
A second game called Archaelund is in the works. While it's not a sequel, it will be set in the same universe as Exiled Kingdoms. It will have first person view for exploring and overhead view for combat.
INTRODUCTION
The game starts with giving an explanation to the beginning of the story. The appearance of the Deep Lords and the Horrors, the fall of the Empire, the evacuation to the imperial colony of Varannar, the survival of the exiles, and, "Then finally... The Exiled Kingdoms". All of the aforementioned events are shown to give insight into what happened in the past.
Time passes and now you, the player, receive a magical letter from a mysterious source regarding an inheritance of supposed wealth. In your journey, you happen to meet Adaon, a seemingly friendly person who initially supports you against enemies, but then backstabs you while resting and steals everything you have. Thus, your adventure truly begins.
The game has a lot of examples of tropes, such as:
- Ax-Crazy: A little bit too much of these characters most certainly are, most notably Baron Dobros Storme, Grissenda's would be husband.
- Barbarian Tribe: The Varannari, who are the original inhabitants of the lands where Exiled Kingdoms take place, are a prime example of this trope. Being perceived as an "uncivilized" peoples and often insulted, they have opted to living in the wilderness far from the rest of society.
- BFS: The Greatswords.
- The Big Guy:
- According to his skeleton's description, Sir Morfados is implied to be this in his army in the ancient battles. Unfortunately, he was branded a traitor, so now he's a Vengeful Ghost who simply wishes for someone to just put his skeleton back where it belongs. Even his spirit seems to loom over your character.
- Stats wise, either Grissenda or Hirge, both are damage dealing and soaking companions that can help you out in a pinch.
- Carry a Big Stick: The maces, and (to a lesser extent) the mauls.
- Duel to the Death:
- In a random encounter, you meet a lone knight who challenges you to one. You can spare him once you've defeated him, or you can just off him.
- In the quest “The World Is A Stage”, you embark on a hunt to find the renowned actor, Laertes. He is an Eccentric Artist (quite possibly going into Mad Artist territory for his nigh suicidal tendencies to go beyond just for the arts) Once you eventually find him, he asks who you are. You can either challenge him to a duel or help him out in his quest to retrieve a monster's body to turn into a prop.
- Evidence Scavenger Hunt: In the quest “Trial And Error”, Adaon's uncle, Bagadar, is guilty of selling a supposedly fake map that claimed to have led to grand wealth in Eastern Korne. In reality, however, the map isn't a fraud. But Bagadar, with his history of crime and fraudulent misdeeds, was accused of doing so since the person he sold it to, Sir Aramas, never returned. He's eventually revealed to have died in Eastern Korne, but the location that the map spoke of was actually true. Upon finding his remains, you can prove Bagadar to be innocent and set him free.
- Experience Booster: There are a few ways to increase the amount of XP received from doing tasks or killing enemies, mainly using scrolls whose sole purpose is to increase the XP received and by giving a large "donation" to the altar of the Three.
- Fantastic Racism: The native Varannari people are treated like dirt, and some are even kept around as slaves by the country of Mercia.
- Fantasy Character Classes:
- The Warrior, which can wield anything but staves, wands, and certain weapons. They're more focused on Defense (though they're pretty damn good at putting out some Offense), and have the highest health of all.
- The Rogue, which can't wield 2 handed weapons, as well as staves and wands, but can wield certain weapons that can't be wielded by any other class. They're more focused on Offence, and deal a lot more damage.
- The Cleric, which can only wield daggers, maces, hammers, mauls, and only 4 longswords note , as well as being able to cast spells brought by The Three. They're like the Magical variant of the Warrior, stressing defense over offense while also using magic.
- The Mage, which ONLY wields Staves and Wands, as well as a few daggers and the occasional buckler, and can cast magic spells. They're like the Magical variant of the Rogue, stressing offense over defense while also using magic.
- Fantasy Metals: Bluesteel, which is steel but blue and is also said to be lighter and sharper than common steel. You can make adamantine weapons with The Blacksmith Stridsibum and a few diamonds.
- Fighting a Shadow: Quite literally with some enemies, as there's an entire category for Shadow Enemies.
- Giant Mook: The Orcs in the beginning of the game, as well as the Hill Giants and the Trolls in the mid game, when you've explored a lot of places.
- The Greatest Story Never Told:
- In the quest “Trial and Error”, you find a massive telescope. By following the instructions, you can see the lands of Andoria, the old home of the Exiled Kingdoms. Before you can tell anyone, however, the telescope breaks down. Why would the designer give such a self destructive mechanism to a telescope once it's pointed in a specific direction? Probably to prevent people from seeing the truth, which is quite redundant considering the path to get there is full of death.
- With an even bigger event that somehow got under everyone's noses, the final event in the Ark of Lothasan, with technology so advanced that it's literally as if Fallout meets The Elder Scrolls. To sum up the whole thing, you meet alien people who look like humans, and you either debate with them (results can vary, in most cases you'll fight a literal Giant Space Flea from Nowhere, though it's less of a flea and more of a scorpion, and the trope is averted considering you learn about it moments before you get to meet it), or you can kill them all.
- Insufferable Genius: Implied by the "Intelligence" Trait. Also, your ancestor Tremedan is implied to be this.
- Ironic Name: The country of Mercia, which has a hostile bunch of citizens. And to a much smaller (yet no lesser) extent, its capital Freetown. That's right, the very capital of the country that literally enslaves the natives of the continent of Varannar is named Freetown.
- Lovable Rogue: Adaon, the friendly guy who turns out to be a complete jackass who robs you in your sleep and is the cause for a lot of things, including stealing an orb. His crime of stealing your inheritance letter among all of your equipment comes back to bite him in the ass when he tries to claim it, as he gets thrown in jail. Really charming, though, and rather Affably Evil. Can be recruited as a companion once you free him. If you don't, well...
- Nerf Arm: Or, rather, the closest thing to a consumable version of such. The Epic Omelette is quite certainly something amusing to be found in an adept adventurer's arsenal, but there's a damn good reason why it's in there. It can restore half your HP, Mana, and even your recovery button which typically needs a 6 hour stay at the Inn to recharge.
- One-Handed Zweihänder: The Player Character, regardless of their strength, somehow manages to lug around all sorts of "two handed" weapons (and even swing them) with just one hand. Even if they do look long, the player is just holding it in one hand, and even swinging them effortlessly, albeit at a slow rate.
- Our Goblins Are Different: Some goblins, like Itharrak the Firedancer, know how to cast magic. Other than that, they're absurdly primitive and don't even use the new bows and stuff, only spears.
- The only outlier in the entire game of this trope is The Blacksmith Stridsibum who can craft Gem-Encrusted weapons but only with Bluesteel Weapons. The results are worth it, however.
- Our Orcs Are Different: In fact, they're significantly smarter than a typical orc. They're a sort of blend between Tolkienesque and Blizzard-style orcs, with the sort of orange look to them that's right up the Tolkienesque's depiction's alley, while still having enough intelligence (like the Blizzard-style orcs) to have kingdoms, with some even being able to actually write battle plans. The orthography, as described in the game, is utterly horrendous.
- Our Trolls Are Different: Trolls are like your standard trolls, but they're only vulnerable to fire.
- There's also a sentient one in the Zamohr Mountains named "Gurr", who's actually a lot less like the other trolls in which he won't kill you on sight. Turns out Gurr Was Once a Man.
- Rebellious Princess: Your companion Grissenda Mae'ran, who was the latest in the generation of the Mae'ran family, with one of her most notable being Azaph Mae'ran, a powerful wizard who owned a ring that she promptly lost.
- Runaway Fiancé: Also Grissenda. Something within her Fiancé's (known as Baron Dobros Storme) eyes revolted her to run away and join the ranks. She also wanted to become a warrior.
- Slipping a Mickey: When you talk with the Magistrate, you drink some wine. You drink more of it, but as the Magistrate reveals his true colors, you find out he did this, pass out, and wake up in a dungeon some time later.
- The Smart Guy: Surprisingly, Lovable Rogue Adaon, though it's more of being aware and having a better personality than actual intellect, saving your cake A LOT.
- Vengeful Ghost: A whole lot of them, too. One ghost in particular was killed in a battle and was mistakenly placed in the pit of traitors. This righteously pisses him off and so he began to haunt the South Jabal Hills.
- Vibroweapon: The Nanocarbon Sword, a late game longsword which is stated to be able to vibrate and rend enemies to shreds.
- World of Jerkass: It's a rare sight to see someone you would genuinely pity. Heck, even YOU can become one of the many jerkasses in the entire game.
- World of Snark: Boy HOWDY. It's a complete understatement to say that everything (yes, every THING) has at least one bit of snarky dialogue. Most prominently is the menu, and descriptions for stats, traits, and items.
- Young and in Charge: Hirge. She's no older than 20, and she leads a legion of Ilmaran soldiers to investigate the Great Inori Desert. Some pendant was lost in there, and they really need it, so they're stuck there. Doubles as A Child Will Lead Them, as she's actually a princess as the Heir to the throne, Princess Hirgalande of Queen Simarie.
