Necromancer Returns

I've spent time with a lot of King's Bounty-adjacent games, and Necromancer Returns sits squarely in that family tree: a hex-grid, turn-based tactics game where you command a growing army across a traversable world map, level up a hero, and loot artifacts to buff your spellbook. The comparison to that lineage is useful because it sets expectations correctly. This is not a grand reinvention. It is a competent, small-scope execution of a formula that was already well-established before the developer, Greenolor Studio, put their hands on it. The structure is a single campaign following a princess trying to reclaim her kingdom. Combat takes place on hexagonal battlefields with a bird's-eye view, where each unit type has a distinct move range and attack pattern. Over 20 recruitable characters can be upgraded, and the hero gains levels through a skill tree while collecting artifacts with unique properties. There is also a spellbook in play, plus side content in the form of bonus quests, dungeons, and an endless arena mode for players who want to keep grinding after the credits. The world map adds a layer of exploration that its predecessor, Beasts Battle, lacked, and that structural upgrade does make the campaign feel more cohesive. Where the game gets honest criticism is variety. The unit roster, while functional and reasonably well-balanced in combat, is thin compared to the genre giants it draws from. The story leans on well-worn fantasy tropes and the writing rarely surprises. Quest tracking is handled through dialogue rather than a proper log, which means side objectives can slip through the cracks if you skip a line. The Steam community has also flagged occasional AI freeze bugs mid-battle, which is the kind of technical roughness you want patched before sitting down for a focused session. The developer did iterate post-launch based on feedback, so later builds are in better shape than launch day, but the game is not polished to the standard of a major studio release. Here is the pitch for the right buyer: the campaign runs roughly five hours for a focused playthrough, the combat balance holds up throughout, and the hex-grid system is approachable enough that players new to the tactics sub-genre can orient themselves quickly. There is no multiplayer, no mod tooling, and no branching build strategy deep enough to justify replays the way a larger tactics title would. Experienced players who have exhausted Heroes of Might and Magic 3 and want something in the same vein at a much lower price point will get their money's worth. Players expecting that depth at full price should temper expectations accordingly. The tier tag on this one says it all: this is a sub-five-dollar game at heart, and evaluated on that basis, it delivers what it promises without embarrassing itself.

Diego · Scout Team

Strategy & simulation

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