I approached this title cautiously, given it is one I have been following for many years as a HUGE fan of the books and HBO series.

The open-world recreation of Westeros is certainly the highlight of its game. The experience of walking around King's Landing and looking up at the Wall in Castle Black really gave me chills. The meticulousness everywhere makes the world living and real. Whether whittling through crowded city streets or trekking into the wild, it captures that bone-crunching realism of Game of Thrones.

However, the combat in particular is great. Omitting wanton magic in favor of steel-on-steel action was a daring but right decision. The manual controls have a responsive feel to them, with dodge/block/counterattack mechanics that score skill over mashability. With the Weapon Switching system now included, players will need to be more strategic and mix up their gameplay style for different enemies rather than just using one strategy.

Knight, Sellsword and Assassin are all starkly different classes. My first playthrough was as a Knight because I enjoy the slower, more defensive combat of that class — but splitting your time between Sellsword and Assassin in one campaign makes it worth going through multiple runs.

The Northern bastard trying to rebuild a fallen house is an interesting idea that marries well with the themes of honor vs survival within the series. Some story beats feel predictable, and some of the new characters (especially if you know what happens in parts of Season 8) seem less than deep compared to their show counterparts.

Game of Thrones Kingsroad channels the political drama and grisly fighting of its parent series into a notable action RPG. Not perfect, but an absolutely beautiful world and satisfying combat makes it a must for fans with tonnes of fun action RPG content.

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