Regalia: Of Men and Monarchs Reviews
It has been a long time since I really felt empathy for a protagonist like I have for Kay. The reluctant head of his household, Kay inherits a crumbled ruin of an old great kingdom. He really has reservations about it, and at first flat out refuses – not in a typical whiny petulant way, but in the realistic way an ill-prepared person would react to having a great amount of responsibility thrust on them. Unfortunately, circumstances crop up forcing him to take over the kingdom, regardless of his own desires, and Kay, his two sisters, and his loyal bodyguard are forced to stick around and rebuild.
Regalia certainly has a lot going for it, particularly in its audio and visual presentation, but its generic battles and some minor control and UI issues prevent the Royal Edition from truly ruling the realm.
Reglia is a fantastic strategy RPG with a gorgeous, vibrant art style and excellent soundtrack. It's clearly a labor of love the team at Pixelated Milk has poured their hearts and souls into.
Regalia: Of Men And Monarchs is funny, gorgeous, and challenging as hell.
Everyone thinks that being royalty is easy. Sit on a throne, yay or nay the missives that cross your desk. You know... be the boss and have your minions, errr advisers, take care of the rest. In some cases everyone may have been right. In other cases? Strap in for a debt-inspired adventure framed around when royalty came back to claim land that was theirs. Let's just say that there was a freaking huge bill attached to it and not paying it off is not an option!
A loving homage to classic JRPGs, indeed! Regalia: Of Men and Monarchs is a turn-based tactical JPRG set in a humorous and weird fantasy world full of action, combat, adventure and fun. I wouldn't dare to think that a turn-based action game can entertain me this much. Oh boy, how wrong I was!
There’s a beautiful game in Regalia, but it’s sadly hidden behind a massively cumbersome and counter-intuitive interface. While I’ve been told that there’s an update in the works with numerous fixes planned, and even several for issues I mentioned, I’m not entirely sure though it will fix all of my complaints. Frankly, I’m a bit shocked the game got through Nintendo’s testers in this state. The game costs $24.99 on Switch and provided me at least 30 hours of playtime, and while I can see the good here, it’s currently outweighed by all the bad. I will note that if Pixelated Milk is able to fix the majority of the problems I mentioned, my score would likely be double what it is currently. I can respect the effort here, but it’s hard to recommend Regalia: Royal Edition in it’s current form. Here’s hoping it gets the loving care it needs soon.
Regalia: Of Men and Monarchs Royal Edition is a kind of a mix of three genres— a strategic role-playing game, a simulation, and even enough text to be like a visual novel in some ways. The basic goals for the game are set early. There is plenty of humor in the theme of the story with almost all of it in full-voiced dialogue. The characters are nicely designed and despite there being no elevation difference, the battlefields are designed decent as well. The battles are somewhat different from your regular SRPG but still good. If you don't mind a SRPG with some simulation aspects delivered in a humorous way, then give Regalia: Of Men and Monarchs a try.
Regalia is a game that's honest, and it's a game with gumption.
Regalia: Of Men and Monarchs is a safe bet for anyone looking to scratch an old tactical JRPG itch. It may not reinvent any part of the wheel, but it reconstructs it in a way that is quite admirable.
Regalia: of Men and Monarchs will give the player the fantasy tactics and base-building experience that its backers demanded, paired with writing that but for a few typos is satisfactory at the very least.
Regalia: Of Men and Monarchs has great style and clear heart behind it. In many cases, though, it is an issue of seeing the forest for the trees, as great parts of the game are simply lost in minutia. The hard difficulty requires near-perfection, which begins a grinding mentality to what otherwise was a comedic adventure. Suddenly, every choice becomes do or die, as a few extra % points can make the difference in a battle. The difficulty itself is not the entire problem so much as the battle system is too much of a slog compared to the rest of the game.
The sheer amount of content that they were able to pack into Regalia is incredible and the fact that they were able to make it all work is nothing short of outstanding. Apart from the onerous loading times that could alienate a few, the chemistry of blending time management with a complex and engaging battle system while tying it altogether with an engaging story and brilliant voice acting is an achievement that has eluded large development teams with years of game creation experience. I wholly recommend Regalia to fans who enjoy RPGs and I will be the first to put my hand up for the review of the next game this developer comes up with.
This isn't just a game made with love, it's a refined game of love. I don't always look on the bright side of games, but it's been awhile since a game made me this happy. It's not perfect, but there's a lot to enjoy. Thanks to the mix of Strategy, Town Building, and CYOA elements, you won't need to worry about the game losing steam. I will definitely play more of this after I write this review.
So in the end, Regalia is a massive game and even those who think that it isn't would agree that it can be expanded to a bigger premise. There is a lot to do and so many possibilities. It has a great narrative and its own way of telling a story of a hero who is unwillingly dragged into the mess his ancestors created.
A game that can be appreciated by the fans of the tactical rpg genre, even if there are a bit too many bugs and crashes.
Review in Italian | Read full review
For fans of tactical RPGs Regalia of Men and Monarchs is a must buy. The combat can be challenging and frustrating at times though there is a story mode available for people who would like a bit of a simpler game experience. Regalia had far more story and content in general than I was expecting going into the game and everything is executed really well.
A hit or miss story with a solid battle system, a cute art style, and some interesting ideas.
While Regalia: of Men and Monarchs never excels in any one area, the unique mix of gameplay elements really comes together to provide an experience that's worth having. If you're a fan of JRPGs, SRPGs, or a fan of the British tradition of absurdist fantasy comedy, there's something here for you to enjoy.
Regalia: Of Men and Monarchs is a good tactical RPG if you've got the time, but not if you're looking for a meaty storyline.