When you do choose to engage in combat, you're told exactly which enemies to expect, and how strong they are compared to your current party.

If I didn't find much humour in the writing, then it's here in the game mechanics, as 1C retains the series' essence in its brave new 3D world. But the absolute best part of the glowing barriers is that the bandits or skeletons, bears or elemental creatures will scamper out and waggle their weapons as you approach the border, like playground bullies in a Beano comic strip. There's no time pressure to engage with baddies, nor any risk of a surprise attack as you serenely wander through this fantasy world. Remember those enemies I mentioned, the ones waiting politely behind their glowing barriers? It's a feature common to games with strategic maps, and I admire developer 1C Entertainment for using it in a more grounded setting, even at the risk of undermining the sacred immersion.

However, if you approach it from another angle-as an ambitious reworking of the core King's Bounty concept-there's more to be hopeful about. From what I've seen of the game, I think it will suffer when compared to modern open world RPGs, for which a 'living, breathing world' is of paramount importance.

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