Ruined King: A League of Legends Story

Ruined King: A League of Legends Story is a turn-based single-player RPG set in the League of Legends universe. The champions Ahri, Braum, Illaoi, Miss Fortune, Pyke and Yasuo face a threat from the Black Mist.

Instead of a competitive team game, Airship Syndicate tells a standalone adventure with explorable locations, dialogue, equipment and tactical battles. Knowledge of the multiplayer original is not required to get started.

Ruined King was released on November 16, 2021 for PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch. On March 2, 2023, standalone versions for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S followed.

According to Riot Forge, the newer console versions support 4K resolution at 60 frames per second. Owners of the PS4 or Xbox One version received a free upgrade to the matching new console generation.

Ruined King is available for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S and Nintendo Switch. The PC version is offered through Steam, GOG and the Epic Games Store, among others.

Native versions for PS5 and Xbox Series appeared in 2023, not just predecessor versions that run through backward compatibility. On Nintendo Switch 2, the Switch version can be played through compatibility. A separate Switch 2 version is not included with this.

Ruined King combines exploration from an angled top-down view with turn-based battles. The group visits Bilgewater, dungeons and the Shadow Isles, speaks with characters and finds quests and equipment.

Combat depends on the order of actions. The champions use different abilities and can speed up or strengthen their attacks with the Lane Initiative system. The strength and timing of an action are often more important than raw damage.

The standard edition contains the full RPG, the Deluxe edition additional cosmetic and equipment content. This includes the “Ruined” skin variants, the Lost-&-Found weapon pack and the Ruination starter pack.

Further small add-on packs, including the Manamune sword for Yasuo, are sold separately. These packs add items and character appearances. They do not include a standalone additional story campaign.

The PC version requires at least Windows 10 64-bit, 8 GB RAM and 15 GB of free storage. Steam lists an Intel Core i5-2300 or AMD A8-5600K, plus a graphics card on the level of a GeForce GTX 650 or Radeon HD 7770 with 2 GB video memory.

For the recommended display at 1440p and 60 frames per second, a GeForce GTX 660 Ti or Radeon HD 7950 is among those listed. DirectX 11 is required.

The story takes six champions from Bilgewater to the Shadow Isles, threatened by the Black Mist. Between Pirate Harbor, mysterious ruins and dangerous dungeons, they search for the origin of a supernatural power.

The adventure tells a connected story with conversations and its own quests instead of a series of online matches. Familiar figures from Runeterra get room for personal conflicts and encounters.

Ahri, Braum, Illaoi, Miss Fortune, Pyke and Yasuo are the six playable champions. They differ in their roles, attacks and supporting abilities. You put together a team from them for the next battles.

Equipment and new abilities allow different combinations. Some attacks suit a quick turn, others protection, healing or a particularly strong hit.

In the Lane Initiative system, you decide how quickly and how strongly many abilities are executed. The fast lane brings actions up earlier, the strong lane delays them in favor of a stronger effect. In between is a balanced variant.

Initiative shows when allies and enemies act. Certain events on this bar can affect actions. Choosing the right moment lets you avoid danger or take advantage of favorable moments for the whole group.

Beyond the main story, you explore cities, winding paths and dungeons. Conversations, fights and discoveries alternate while the journey keeps opening new areas.

The champions' abilities help not only in battles. Exploring also involves using suitable characters, finding equipment and following hidden paths.

Owners of the PS4 and Xbox One version can switch to the respective native PS5 or Xbox Series version for free. For Xbox, Microsoft offers Smart Delivery for this.

Upgrading keeps existing saves on Xbox. However, according to Riot Forge, saves cannot be transferred between the PS4 and PS5 versions. Anyone who wants to keep playing on PlayStation must take this limitation into account.

Ruined King supports German text, subtitles and voice-over. Voices and on-screen languages can be set to English, French, Japanese or Spanish in the PC version, among others.

The adventure is designed for single player only. Steam offers cloud saves and achievements, while the console versions use their respective platform features.