Songs of Conquest Brings Old-School Might and Magic Vibes to a New Age

ign.com:

We live in an age of throwbacks, nostalgia, and spiritual successors, but it's not too often that I'm as immediately drawn in by one as I have been with Songs of Conquest. Seeking to recapture the heyday of fantasy strategy classics like Heroes of Might and Magic, developer Lavapotion has put together a relatively simple formula that nonetheless has plenty of built-in depth. It's not trying to be overly ambitious or completely reinvent the genre, but that helps to make it a breath of fresh air in a lot of the right ways.

There are two layers to Songs of Conquest: a turn-based campaign map where you'll move your hero and their followers around to find secrets, complete quests, and gather resources, and a tactical battle screen where you'll fight it out with knights, faeries, and the undead. Both are done up in a moody pixel art style that looks like something out of the late ‘90s, but polished up with some nice little touches that give it a modern feel. It's very charming, striking a balance between paying homage and incorporating things we've learned about UI and readability over the years.

Exploring the diverse maps involves taking control of resources, hiring new troops, and discovering bits of the story. Upgrading buildings gives access to more unit types, while you'll also be leveling up your "Wielder" and equipping them with gear in the style of an RPG hero. They don't actually participate in the nitty-gritty of combat, but various items can give bonuses to your troops or let you bring more of them with you.

The turn-based tactical battles are fast-paced and straightforward, but have a lot of nuances in the terrain and initiative system to master. Ranged troops, in a departure from most similar games, don't have a