{"id":91814,"date":"2019-04-12T01:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-04-12T01:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/reviews\/switch-eshop\/reigns_game_of_thrones"},"modified":"2019-04-12T01:00:00","modified_gmt":"2019-04-12T01:00:00","slug":"review-reigns-game-of-thrones-an-unpredictably-gripping-take-on-an-epic-series","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/2019\/04\/12\/review-reigns-game-of-thrones-an-unpredictably-gripping-take-on-an-epic-series\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Reigns: Game Of Thrones &#8211; An Unpredictably Gripping Take On An Epic Series"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"media_block\"><a href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/reviews\/switch-eshop\/reigns_game_of_thrones\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/reviews\/switch-eshop\/reigns_game_of_thrones\/small.jpg\" class=\"media_thumbnail\"><\/a><\/div>\n<div id>\n<aside class=\"picture embed\"><a title=\"Reigns: Game of Thrones Review - Screenshot 1 of 4\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/95852\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/95852\/900x.jpg\" alt=\"Reigns: Game of Thrones Review - Screenshot 1 of 4\"><\/a><\/aside>\n<p>For years, it seemed the only format worthy of HBO\u2019s global TV mega-hit was a consequence-driven point-and-click adventure from Telltale Games. That prayer to the Seven was finally answered in 2014, but a second season was eventually cancelled amid internal collapse and we were soon left with nothing more than cheap mobile tie-ins and a terrible action-RPG that no one seems to remember exists. Doesn\u2019t the biggest TV show in the world deserve better gaming representation?<\/p>\n<p>Well, yes it does, and indie studio Nerial just happens to have just the game worthy of inheriting the digital Iron Throne. Enter <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/switch-eshop\/reigns_game_of_thrones\"><strong>Reigns: Game of Thrones<\/strong><\/a>, a card-swapping narrative adventure full of twists, turns, wildfire, dragons, betrayals and rains all the way from Castamere. By taking the simple binary choice system and randomised storylines of the original <strong>Reigns<\/strong> and its brilliant sequel, <strong>Reigns: Her Majesty<\/strong> (which were previously bundled together on Switch in <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/switch-eshop\/reigns_kings_and_queens\"><strong>Reigns: Kings &amp; Queens<\/strong><\/a>) and splicing it with the dark fantasy world of George R.R. Martin\u2019s literary saga, you\u2019re left with something so perfectly suited it\u2019s practically offensive.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"picture embed\"><a title=\"Reigns: Game of Thrones Review - Screenshot 2 of 4\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/95853\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/95853\/900x.jpg\" alt=\"Reigns: Game of Thrones Review - Screenshot 2 of 4\"><\/a><\/aside>\n<p>For those who haven\u2019t played the series before, Reigns: Game of Thrones is the bastard child of Tinder and a choose-your-own-adventure book. Told through the visions of red priestess Melisandre, you begin your reign in the shoes of stormborn dragon mama Daenerys Targaryen as she claims the Iron Throne. You\u2019ll also unlock eight other major characters from the saga as you meet certain objectives generated at the start of each run. While the game doesn\u2019t drop you into a specific era of the books or show, it does use events from the latter seasons as narrative anchor points so certain story beats mentioned should be considered <em>highly<\/em> spoilerific for those who haven\u2019t watched season seven.<\/p>\n<p>So you begin each run already in possession of the crown, but keeping it on your head (and your head upon your shoulders) is another matter entirely. What lies ahead is the rigmarole of royal diplomacy (receiving ambassadors and establishing treaties), the cloak-and-dagger game of inter-house politics (using the Iron Bank to cut off credit to your enemies and exploiting Varys\u2019 little birds to seek powerful secrets), the protection of your borders (dealing with the always rowdy Iron Islands and keeping the troublesome Dornish at arms length), the waging of war (leading armies into battle and orchestrating them from afar) and so much more. Cersei wasn\u2019t kidding when she explained the rules of the titular game. And dying is often far more common an outcome than victory\u2026<\/p>\n<aside class=\"picture embed\"><a title=\"Reigns: Game of Thrones Review - Screenshot 3 of 4\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/95857\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/95857\/900x.jpg\" alt=\"Reigns: Game of Thrones Review - Screenshot 3 of 4\"><\/a><\/aside>\n<p>Each action is presented as a card. You can either swipe left to deny or right to agree with certain options. There\u2019s no right or wrong option here, and each new binary choice is often based upon the ones you\u2019ve made previously. You might decide to decline the advances of one of the Sand Snakes, but by doing so force her to return home embittered, planting the seeds for a future attack. You might choose to spend coin rebuilding the Great Sept, but run out of funds later down the line when you need to properly arm your military. Tactics play a vital role, but chance and luck are also along for the ride.<\/p>\n<p>Each character begins with their own specific conditions or narrative backstory (Tyrion\u2019s history as Master of Coin sometimes affords him a stronger relationship with the Iron Bank, and thus a much healthier set of coffers), while Jon Snow and Sansa will respectively begin with a greater set of alliances among those in the North. On top of this, you\u2019ll need to balance four metres at all times \u2013 military power, religious purity, popularity among the people and royal wealth. Each decision will increase or decrease each one, and should a single metre be completely drained, a grisly end is usually not far behind.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"picture embed\"><a title=\"Reigns: Game of Thrones Review - Screenshot 4 of 4\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/95854\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/95854\/900x.jpg\" alt=\"Reigns: Game of Thrones Review - Screenshot 4 of 4\"><\/a><\/aside>\n<p>Sometimes, your demise will come about because of a particular decision you made previously. Heading on a ship to Dorne to settle a potential war might see your monarch disappear on the journey, never to be seen again. You might arrive in the north to aid your allies in Winterfell, only to be slain and resurrected as a wight. You might demote a certain lord and suddenly find yourself being filled with blades in a bloody bout of political restructuring. Death is a constant companion, always lurking out of sight, but always ready to embrace you. In that regard, Reigns: Game of Thrones is less about winning and more about surviving enough moons to die with pride.<\/p>\n<p>As as the case with previous versions of Reigns, the game&#8217;s biggest weakness is its longevity; while there are a dizzying number of potential routes through the story, after a few days of solid play you&#8217;ll have exhausted (almost) all of them. This was less of an issue on smartphones, where you&#8217;d play in short bursts, but on Switch, the game&#8217;s lack of staying power is more cruelly exposed. Having said that, it&#8217;s so well-written and downright unpredictable that you&#8217;ll readily forgive this shortcoming.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"conclusion\">\n<h2 class=\"heading\">Conclusion<\/h2>\n<p>As an officially licensed game \u2013 complete with character likenesses in Reigns\u2019 angular portrait format and Ramin Djawadi&#8217;s instantly recognisable score \u2013 Reigns: Game of Thrones is about as close as you\u2019ll come to living the day-to-day life of a Westeros monarch, short of visiting the Seven Kingdoms for real. By bringing in key characters and events from the books and show, you\u2019re given enough authenticity that exploring storylines only ever teased in the source material (such as seeing Jamie on the throne or a more compassionate version of Cersei) feel just as meaningful.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For years, it seemed the only format worthy of HBO\u2019s global TV mega-hit was a consequence-driven point-and-click adventure from Telltale Games. That prayer to the Seven was finally answered in 2014, but a second season was eventually cancelled amid internal collapse and we were soon left with nothing more than cheap mobile tie-ins and a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-91814","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nintendo-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91814","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=91814"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91814\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=91814"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=91814"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=91814"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}