If you want to get Armored Princess, GET THIS GAME! Crossworlds has an updated version of the entire campaign of AP, so there's no point in getting Armored Princess instead of Crossworlds.

First of all: Crossworlds = enhanced Armored Princess for PC gamers. The stand-alone Armored Princess is intended for Mac users, since there's no Crossworlds for Mac.

Secondly: this is probably the best King's Bounty there is. It has all the good stuff - pleasurable grind, silly-but-fun storyline, plenty of different units and spells etc. without the negatives of the later games (i.e. game-breaking bugs, excessive back-and-forth-running, so-so balance).

+ nice atmosphere
+ constant feeling of progress
+ plenty to do (50+ hours per playthrough easily)
+ holds its grip until the very end

+/- lots and lots of text, but it's skimmable and light-heartedly funny

Highly recommended!

FIRST: Everyone is correct, purchase 'King's Bounty: Crossworlds" as it includes the base game and both expansions for $5 more than the standard edition but $5 less than the platinum edition.

SECOND: Actually really enjoy this game so far, especially considering I'm just now diving into strategy games. The mechanics take a little bit to figure out but after about an hour you should have a pretty firm grasp of what does what. The graphics are pretty darn good if a little cartoony but that doesn't bother me any. I really like the mix of strategy/fantasy rpg. It's actually a lot of fun, sorta like playing fantasy chess if you will. There doesn't seem to be much of any voice acting, again not a problem for me but just be prepared to do a lot of reading to get the back story and follow what is going on.

Would definitely recommend a buy if you like these kind of games. I'm terrible at and have always hated strategy games but this one is pretty darn fun. Also my first time reviewing a game on steam so, that should tell you something.

Short forward: if you're not knowing what kind of game it is, go the last third of this review...

You know, in the early '90s, King's Bounty, along with Prince of Persia, Leisure Suit Larry, Sim City (optionally Civilization or Dune: the battle for Arrakis) and some more... was nearly at every PC around. Yeah. They just were there. Like Windows 95 went out a bit later with the Solitaire, Pinball, and Minesweeper.

Right now, the disassociation of human individuals gone further, and you can easily find many gaming people who never played anything that you did. I even forgot when I had started Minesweeper myself for the last time! In all that chaos, in all that variety of thousands of games on the market, I think we all should have some safe haven. Some basic ground, some core stuff on your hardware which you can play anytime, anyplace, and almost any mood and condition. The games that you can take with you on the long space flight, without the risk to blow your back, or the PC, or the entire spaceship. Which can entertain you 10 (at least 9) times out of 10.

I'm sorry for the intro this long. The point is... King's Bounty from Katauri might be just one of those "basic games". You can play it calm and easy, and even let it go to your little daughter, without the fear for her morale or brain cells. You can play it hard, earning the leading places in the charts, with a fantastic K/D score and all. Of all the titles which Katauri released by that name, Crossworlds is the most complete experience. So, if you don't want to buy them all in a bundle, I suggest go for Crossworlds. Or for the first title, the Legend, which is shorter, however.

Well... there's one thing I have to mention there. Just as with Stalker title, Clear Skies and Call of Pripyat - were just the addons to the basic game Shadow of Chernobyl, although in some aspects they had many enhancements. But not enough to call them "Stalker 2 and 3". The same, and even more obvious, go with the whole line of Katauri's King's Bounty. Crossworlds, basically, is the DLC for the DLC Armored Princess for the basic game King's Bounty the Legend. But all three were released and presented separately. And while it's fair for the Armored Princess - there was a new story, new mechanics and all... Crossworlds is just a bit upgraded Armored Princess, with the same main story, but some more quests, and two additional short arena modes. So, if you have bought and played through Armored Princess before, you'll be disappointed at this rip-off. However, if you haven't had such experience, and just want to choose the one of the whole King's Bounty line, without paying for the whole line... Well, with the Crossworlds you'll get the most of them all.

Oh, well. Finally. What's it all about? King's Bounty is a half-RPG, with one main character, riding on the map, talking to various NPCs, solving their quests, collecting artifacts and other prizes, and fighting all the injustice in the world (in case of this title - of the many worlds). The battles are another half of the game, they are turn-based, with many units at your hand, each of them with various powers and skills... And in that second half, all is looking much like glorious and legendary Heroes of Might and Magic... until you know the fact that original King's Bounty was earlier, and basically made HoMM happened. However, they're not the same. HoMM is much more a strategy, with resources, building castles, many heroes by your command... And King's Bounty is the story of one. The mightiest, the bravest... And, again, in case of the Crossworlds and Armored Princess - the prettiest heroine. I would prefer not to spend too much of your time telling of the plethora of gaming mechanics, such as companions, dragon pet, collecting parts of the sea map before sailing further... There are just too many of those "little things". And they are gross when you consider them altogether.

The short conclusion: King's Bounty the Crossworld is one of the best "all-around" games. Casual enough, hardcore enough - just apply the difficulty. A very good adventure through seas, lands, worlds and time. My mark is 8/10, as nothing is perfect, but, just once again - that is one of those games which I would like being installed on my PC while traveling something about as close as Alpha Centauri.

Absolutely awesome game. The Kings Bounty series remains one of my favorites of all time, and one of the only series I'll actually replay through several times. It's an exploration game where you lead armies around the world, picking up relics and leveling up your character. It plays similarly to games like Heroes of Might and Magic, but the major difference (and the reason I like this series better), is you are encouraged and rewarded for exploring. There is no turn counter while you explore the map, putting you in a race against other towns or enemies. Explore as much as you want and roam everywhere without fear that your enemy is building up their army while you have fun. If you run into an area where the enemy is too strong for you, just explore somewhere else and come back once you gain some levels and spells.

King's bounty plays a lot like Heroes of Might and Magic, whenever you have an encounter on the overworld you have stacked units on a hex board with turn based combat. You get a dragon that can cast a spell per turn (increased turn cooldown depending which spell you choose) and your hero character (the armored princess) can cast a spell per turn. Your hero character equips armor and weapons that change your hero's stats. The hero isn't involved in combat other than spells but your stats are attributed to your units in combat. Overall King's bounty is one of my favorite games and it is oddly addicting.

Not best Turn-Based strategy game and not best RPG game. It’s the definitive one of the best mixs of Turn-Based Hex grid battles with RPG elements.

Gameplay:
+ Semi-randomized world. - It's almost impossible that you meet all the spells, units and items in first try.
+ Replay value.
+ Seven different races. - Humans, Elves, Orcs, Undeads, Demons, Dwarves and the Lizardmen.
+ Literally tons of units. - Over 100 different units.
+ Over 60 different Spells. - Divided into three sections: Order, Distortion, and the Chaos.
+ A vast world to explore. - Include 14 different islands.
+ Wide-range of quests.
+ Decent AI.
+/- Three playable classes. - the Warrior, the Paladin and the Mage. Each class has one specific skill and other skills selectable by other classes.

The atmosphere and graphics:
+ Stunning fantasy world.
+ Impressive textures quality.
+ Quite nice landscapes.
+ Beautiful 3D graphics.
+ Detailed Units, Objects, Levels and the Spells.
+ Good music and sound.

Performance:
+ Running pretty well and smooth on a mid-range PC.
+ Fast combat loading.
- Delay at launch time.

Additional:
+ Steam cloud.
+ Level editor.

King's Bounty Crossworlds IS Armored Princess, with more content, features, and orcs. If you're buying, just get the Crossworlds edition for turnbased, light hearted, epic questing.

Like Heroes of Might and Magic? Want to just control a hero and not worry about that pesky city building, or enemies taking them from you? Want to go on an epic adventure with an army and combat like in the HoMM games? This game is what you should buy, then! It's the HoMM experience without city building, but more features in other areas, where you go around hiring allies for your army, to engage in combat in that exciting HoMM way!

Having been a long time fan of Heores of Might and Magic 1,2 and 3 this popped up in my steam "you may like" list; and boy was it right! Such a great game I had to buy all of them. Not only is it visually stunning for its time period but the tactic and strategy are surperb! I wasn't sure at first how I'd like not having to build up a Castle and economy but it totally works for it. The combat is top notch, I found myself using almost every spell I accquired, which normally doesn't happen in these games. You find the best one and its attack, cast, move and repeat. The tactical combat is a challenge, (I play on Impossible so not sure on other difficulties) and I found myself having to use many of the different units found through out the land. All and all its most certainly worth the money and I will be playing this game many more times. 10/10