Davern King Eryk must strike a perfect balance between the well-being of his reign, his authority, and family happiness.
Interest in medieval fantasy has been revived in the last decade thanks to the rise of the grimdark, a subgenre defined by writer Adam Roberts (Writing Science Fiction and Fantasy) as an anti-Tolkian tradition that subverts the concepts of heroic narrative. Instead of the eternal fight between good and evil, along with the idealization of a supernatural universe, we have a cynical world full of scenes as daily and naturalistic as they are unpleasant. This movement has transcended beyond literature, in which it has its greatest exponents such as The First Law (Joe Abercrombie), A Song of Ice and Fire (George RR Martin) —with its corresponding television adaptation— and the Geralt saga of Rivia (Andrzej Sapkowski). In the case of video games, titles like The Witcher —based on the aforementioned novels by the Polish writer— or Dragon Age have revolutionized the medium with a new way of understanding fantasy with a hyper-realistic and bittersweet prism that reflects our society, without giving up the existence of magic and dragons.
In this vein, the British studio Brave At Night brings us Yes Your Grace, its debut in digital entertainment published by No More Robots for Windows PC, Nintendo Switch and Xbox One. In this narrative adventure of strategy and resource management we will get in the skin of King Eryk of Davern, with whom we will discover that governing has never been an easy task, since it is necessary to maintain the balance between authority, the well-being of the kingdom, family union and justice.
To be a good or just king?
Yes Your Grace exudes a strong inspiration in the Reigns saga, but with an approach based on a comfortable point & click and a narrative that rejects the loop from which the Nerial card video game sinned. Thus, Eryk's day to day passes in a certain palatial routine interrupted by unforeseen events. Our journey will consist of going to the throne room to attend to the requests of our subjects and other lords of neighboring lands, and assess whether we should fulfill their wishes. The solution to the ills of others usually results in the delivery of some gold coins or supplies, or in delegating the task to one of our agents (the general, the witch or the hunter). However, whether benevolence or despotism are our impulse, measuring our elections will not be easy, and not just because we expose ourselves to the possibility of being deceived by some vassal taken advantage of. If the people are not satisfied with us, they will pay less taxes and, if we are too generous, our kingdom will fail and this will be the end of the game. Also, our agents may be necessary for other missions, so we cannot send them to all requirements.
Throughout the game we will have several long-term goals that will vary along with the progress of Eryk's reign, as well as events where our decisions will be subject to a time limit. Thus, in the first stage, we must prepare for a war against the barbarian kingdom of Radovia while solving a crime that occurred in our fortress. In another stage, we must prepare to resist an invasion with its corresponding siege. On the other hand, the continuity of each of these phases is maintained with excellent coherence that adds greater difficulty to our strategy: with each decision, we will be building loyalty both in the town and in our allies that can manifest its consequences even hours later.
In addition to attending to requests, we will have to manage the royal coffers at the end of each turn (which includes a week within the game). At the end, we will see a list of expenses and profits, along with a series of additional investments that we should assess whether to add to the sum: reforms in the castle, agent contracts, supply of troops, etc. Likewise, we should not neglect alliances against the lords of other kingdoms, for which we must send invitations to our court and assess their requirements, which may conflict with the interests of other possible allies. A priori, it may sound complicated, but our loyal adviser Audry, who serves as an in-game guide, will always remind us of our current goals.
Our family happiness will also be an important mission in the game: caring for our wife and daughters will be vital to progress, and it is that on many occasions we will have to talk to them and solve various personal issues that, in addition, affect our duty as king. Thus, the queen will act as a counselor, and the autonomy of the princesses will conflict with our concerns as a monarch. In addition, we will have secondary missions regarding our family, such as the search for a gift or the performance of a fertility ritual, which will shape our relationship.
A story already told
On an artistic level, Yes Your Grace is committed to a nice pixel aesthetic and prolific in details, but that does not stand out above other indie titles. However, the soundtrack itself is more striking with its catchy folk themes that bring the charm of a heroic tale. We also highlight the invented language of the characters, where the tone varies according to the intention and mood of each of them. Unfortunately, the texts are not localized to Spanish, so we can only enjoy the game if we speak any other available language, such as English or French.
Thus, Yes Your Grace is a management adventure that has emerged gracefully from the pitfall faced by other titles in the genre: the monotony of tasks and missions. On the other hand, one of its major flaws is that, if we fail in our departure, we will be forced to load the day where we started our mistake and continue from there, without the possibility of omitting scenes that we have already experienced. All in all, correcting our reign is easy, as each turn is saved in a different slot, making it impossible for us to stagnate in a game where the only save was made too late.
The narrative is another of Yes Your Grace's upgradeable aspects. Although the rhythm and development of events will keep the suspense at a good level, the plot content borders on the line that separates homage from plagiarism. Thus, we will see many very stereotypical, although effective, characters, such as the rebellious princess (Asalia) or the adorable and innocent girl princess (Cedani). And, on the other hand, an excess of references to A Song of Ice and Fire and The Witcher that have anchored the title in an entertaining adventure, but lacking in personality and full of predictable twists. Thus, we find ourselves in a continent made up of seven kingdoms while we search for a way to defeat a villain who is all a Ramsay Bolton tracing with fanatic touches.
And yet we will enjoy the Yes Your Grace story despite its lack of originality. The uncertainty of doing the right thing will accompany us throughout the approximate 8 hours that the game lasts, and will leave us wanting to replay our monarchical adventure to experience other decisions that lead us to other endings. And, unlike the precepts of the grimdark, it is possible to reach a happy ending that leaves the door open for a possible new delivery that we are looking forward to.
This game has been analyzed in its version for Windows PC.
CONCLUSION
Yes Your Grace is a management adventure in which we must maintain the balance between our authority as monarchs, the well-being of our kingdom, justice and family union. Its game system adapts to the progress of the narrative and thus runs away from the monotony that other titles in the genre sin. Every decision has short and long-term consequences, and the doubt that we are doing the right thing will continually accompany us. However, his screenplay, while effective and entertaining, suffers from excessive predictable turns, cliches and references to other grimdark works, which detracts from its originality.
THE BEST
- A complex and variant management system.
- The freshness provided by different events.
- Complicated decisions with well-measured consequences.
WORST
- It is not localized to Spanish.
- If we lose, we must repeat several turns without being able to skip events.
- Excess clichés and references that detract from originality.
Good
It meets the expectations of what is a good game, it has quality and does not have serious flaws, although it lacks elements that could have taken it to higher levels.
