Kingdom Battle is Nintendo Switch exclusive that is a joint venture between Nintendo and Ubisoft. The game starts with the arrival of Rabbids, mascot characters from Ubisoft, into the Mushroom Kingdom. More so, the Rabbids have taken on the caricatures of the iconic Mario cast. The announce trailer, for example heavily features a rabbid version of both Peach and Luigi. Some rabbids have also taken on the forms of iconic Mario enemies. The rabbids’ arrival has also warped the Mushroom Kingdom and made it an even weirder place.
Kingdom Battle is a turn-based tactical shooter, and a role playing game. Mario and his spend some of their time exploring a newly twisted landscape. While doing so they discover secrets and treasures. They will also find combat challenges.
Combat plays out on a grid based battlefield. Players spend each turn moving their characters along the grid, traveling through warp pipes and hiding behind cover. They can also attack enemies using shooting weapons inspired by the combined Mario/Rabbid aesthetic. In between battles, Mario recruits, customizes, and upgrades his group of ragtag heroes. These upgrades give the team access to more powerful weapons and more complex strategies.
Why is this Awesome?
Kingdom Battle has been under-hyped for a very long time. Many sites, including our own, have glossed it over as the details were slowly leaked. I didn’t even think this game was possible. Tactical shooter RPGs, and tactical rpgs in general, are a genre that is very popular but is often associated with adult content. XCOM, a well loved tactical shooter series , is the first thing that came to mind when I saw the trailer at the Ubisoft press conference. Kingdom Battle appears to be a game that is family friendly, with as much probable animated violence as Splatoon and Breath of the Wild, while tapping into a branch of gaming that was previously difficult to show young adult audiences. This is a great opportunity for strategy fans young and old to share common ground.
Kingdom Battle has the potential to be an awesome game. We can’t wait to play this game when it comes out on August 29th.
