While Songs of Conquest is one of the best strategy games of the last few years, it is not without issue and cannot rightfully be called a “masterpiece” despite coming very close to being one.
Singleplayer.
Co-op Multiplayer.
PvP Multiplayer.
As a huge fan of the fantasy genre, it’s clear to see that the developers of Songs of Conquest are equally large fans of the genre, with Songs of Conquest showing clear signs of having been inspired by some of the most famous fantasy works in both literature and gaming, including but not limited to Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, Chronicles of Narnia.
In addition, Songs of Conquest pays homage to one of the most influential and beloved fantasy strategy games of all times, Heroes of Might and Magic, of which Songs of Conquest is a loving tribute and, in all honestly, a worthy successor, considering that Ubisoft does not seem to know what to do with the Heroes of Might and Magic IP, with no mainline games having been released since 2015.
Songs of Conquest feels like a warm hug on a winter’s day to a longtime fan of strategy games.
Exploring each handcrafted map in the campaign made me feel like a kid again. I explored and savoured every inch of every map in Star Wars Galactic Battlegrounds or Age of Empires II as I sought to uncover every Easter egg and claim every possible advantage to improve my chances of victory.
Exploration aside, a game like Songs of Conquest is nothing without a good combat system. While turn-based combat systems may appear easier to get right on the surface, I have played enough terrible turn-based combat games to know that it’s not as easy as it looks to get it right.
The developers of Songs of Conquest not only “got it right” but pretty much excelled at what they set out to do, and that was to make one of the best turn-based combat systems that the genre has to offer. Honestly, as a fan of Age of Wonders and similar games, it’s all I could have wanted and more, and I expected that longtime fans of the genre would certainly enjoy it every bit as much as I did.
At the end of every mission (16 total), players are treated to a short musical performance summarising what occurred in the previous mission.
Upon the conclusion of each campaign (4 missions), the player will have heard each of the four songs in their entirety, and honestly, it’s a pretty fun feature.
While the singing is a little flat at times, and occasionally, some of the lyrics feel as if they were written by a high school English student who was desperate to make their poem rhyme.
Minor issues aside, the musical cutscenes are fun, well-made, and a delight to watch after each mission, thanks to the stunning artwork and catchy, if not award-winning, vocal performances.
Songs of Conquest is the type of game that would be very welcome on any current-gen console IF the developers handle the port correctly.
If the port is solid and the control scheme is fluid and easy to pick up, Songs of Conquest has a good chance of being more successful on a console than it was on PC, especially if the developers manage to secure a lucrative Game Pass or PS Plus deal, ensuring maximum exposure for Songs of Conquest and any future DLC, helping to increase the odds of a sequel or preferably a series of meaty, content-rich expansions in the style of those we used to get in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Songs of Conquest offers very good value for money due to its lengthy campaign (around 20 hours), a conquest mode with both prebuilt and randomised maps, a map editor, and most importantly, a thriving mod scene which has resulted in dozens of high-quality mods and campaigns being made available for free, some of which are as long, if not longer than those found in the base game.
Songs of Conquest is a perfect mix of modern design standards and an aesthetic that holds a special place in the hearts of many strategy fans. With dozens of our favourite games looking a certain way, it’s easy to see why a late 1990s pixel art style is so popular with fans of the strategy genre.
However, unlike some of the best games of that era, the developers of Songs of Conquest are not hamstrung by 1990s consumer hardware.
As a result, Songs of Conquest feels like a culmination of the art and heart of a 1990s strategy game, with the polish, performance, and production standards we have come to expect of a game released in the 2020s.
In-game artwork aside, Songs of Conquest has some of the best-looking 2D artwork of any game I have ever played, including many AAA titles, which fail to produce cutscenes and loadings to create art that is anywhere near as good as the stunning works of art that feature prominently in each post mission musical cutscene.
Few strategy games have captured the magic and wonder of the late 1990s as perfectly as Songs of Conquest. I honestly have very little criticism of its overall presentation and performance.
That being said, games such as Songs of Conquest need a great single-player campaign to make them truly iconic, and while Songs of Conquest has four very solid character-focused mini-campaigns, they often overwrite one another narratively.
Instead of building upon the story, each mission changes the outcome of key narrative events and encounters to ensure the campaign-specific player-controlled faction wins.
This problem is especially frustrating when important events referenced in one campaign either do not occur or happen very differently in another campaign, making the overall narrative feel broken and, at times, unfulfilling.
While each campaign is pretty good taken separately, most end well before reaching a satisfying conclusion, and being forced to swap between factions is a big part of why it feels that way.
I would love to see the developers revisit the single-player content and create a narrative campaign that allows players to play through a consistent narrative while assuming control of different characters and factions.
Honestly, that would be a whole lot more consistent and ultimately rewarding.
The first mission of each campaign is very easy, while mission two is slightly more challenging, and mission three ups the tempo slightly before the final mission becomes incredibly difficult due to the fourth mission of every campaign often employing new victory conditions or mechanics that the player hasn’t been prepared for in any prior mission.
While casual players can complete these missions on simple (easy) difficulty to avoid frustration, it feels unrewarding. Playing in simple mode is just that, a cakewalk that offers next to no challenge, while the next step up (fair) is harder than what many games call their hard or veteran mode.
Songs of Conquest has a lot of narrative depth; however, the developers appear to have not known what to do with it, considering that three of the four campaigns end inconclusively, while the 4th is slightly more conclusive, it still leaves the player uncertain about what happens next, especially when you consider that all four campaigns touch on the same events, but often in a way that overwrites the outcome of previous missions.
After playing all 16 missions, I don’t know who won the war, what happened to certain characters, or why multiple plot arcs remain unresolved.
In addition, the vast majority of campaigns end on a dour note, with characters being consumed by anger and unforgiveness instead of uniting to combat the very real threat of a mutual enemy (Empress) who wishes to rule over all creation with the help of her undead legions.
No matter how bad things get or how clearly characters are shown that not all X or Y are enemies, too many encounters end in pointless battles, making the main characters of each faction appear immature and unwise due to their inability to work together with former rivals for the common good, despite this being included as a plot arc in the Cecilia Stoutheart campaign only for it never to be touched on again, and even overwritten entirely in the subsequent missions, which ignore the peace mission altogether, let alone not show its promised outcome.
While Songs of Conquest is just a game, It saddened me that the writers could find no way to have the characters work past their issues and instead wallow in unforgiveness to their own psychical (and spiritual) detriment, as it made the narrative seem weaker, the leaders appear selfish, and the world feels like it was not worth fighting for, as a world where everyone would constantly be at war over past grievances and unable to see the good in anyone, including potential allies is hardly a world worth fighting and dying for, as it takes the fantasy out of fantasy and painfully reminds players of the fallen state of our world.
After playing through all four campaigns and meeting all of the leaders, I can safely say only one leader acted upon their morals and showed some remorse for their actions, to the point of sacrificing their lives to make things right.
This was very moving and reminded me of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, who laid down his life so we, too, could have victory over death, and who by his resurrection proved he was and is who he claimed to be, the Son of God.
I would love to see the developers create a DLC that allows the main characters from the three living factions to band together to save the world from the undead menace.
The living should be unified in its war against death, not split into multiple warring factions, especially when you consider that many of these factions are fighting over grievances as old as time, taking place many hundreds and even thousands of years before Songs of Conquest takes place.
Songs of Conquest is a strategy video game developed by Lavapotion and published by Coffee Stain Publishing, it was released on 20 May 2024 and retails for $34.99+.
Songs of Conquest is available exclusively on PC.
Songs of Conquest offers the following matchmaking options:
The following peripherals are officially supported:
Songs of Conquest is unrated and contains:
Overall, Songs of Conquest is an excellent game and one I wholeheartedly recommend; however, it may not appeal to players who enjoy a consistent narrative and scaling difficulty levels.
I love Songs of Conquest; it has potential, but work still needs to be done. Right now, its strongest feature (campaign) is its greatest weakness, which is why I cannot give it the perfect score I feel it would otherwise deserve.
