In the Steam demo for Noble’s Life, I can rebuild a devastated settlement as a nobleman – a brilliant concept behind a terrible game
Under other circumstances, I would have ignored Noble’s Life. After all, after the first glance at a screenshot, I already knew who this simulation was from. Noble’s Life is a game from the Polish publisher PlayWay A large company that brings hundreds of titles onto the market. But also one with a somewhat dubious approach
PlayWay is one of those publishers that try out every concept, no matter how far-fetched, and see what goes down well with players. Hundreds of games are announced, most of which are created with formulaic Unreal Engine assets. These games often have a measly budget and are mainly designed to attract attention with fancy trailers. Whether they ever appear is another question
Noble’s Life is exemplary – but has the great advantage that a demo of it is at least already playable during the Steam Next Fest. And although I was aware of all this, I just couldn’t help myself I had to try this demo!
My life as a nobleman
I am a simple man. I see the promise of a simulation of nobility and am intrigued. So fascinated that I wanted to turn off all the alarm bells first to give the game a chance. I simply love dreaming myself into the Middle Ages At least the romanticized, glorified version of it
And Noble’s Life achieves what the publisher usually aims for: The screenshots and the trailer created a vision of a game in my head that I just want to play! I want to play a simulation like this! This all looks to me like what I already imagined the Royal Court DLC of Crusader Kings 3 to be a bit like.
I am placed directly on the throne of my baron and can view my throne room from here, talk to my subjects, have an advisor whisper in my ear and even just get up from my velvet cushion to stroll through the muddy streets of my barony.
In addition, I must bear the burden of the high position and decide the fate of the barony. I have to decide who gets the scarce resources, which village has to pay higher taxes and also whether a particularly insolent request is simply answered with a few days in the pillory. I also have to rebuild my marauded settlement
But not through direct actions like in a building game, but by giving my advisors instructions and resources. Only after a few days will it become clear whether something is really happening in the village or whether everything is just getting worse.
Something similar already exists with Yes, Your Grace . But in this 2D adventure game, I tend to look at events from the outside and don’t really feel like I’m in the role of a nobleman. Noble’s Life, on the other hand, promises a completely immersive experience.
Dreamed out very quickly
All this is actually in Noble’s Life, all these good ideas that I would actually like to see in a game like thisThe only problem is that the developers of Noble’s Life don’t seem to have any money It feels like not a single cent, because as the demo shows, the production quality is subterranean. Yes, the demo is based on an unfinished game and PlayWay may want to wait for reactions before throwing more resources at it
But a demo should also show a version of the game that comes pretty close to the final version in a limited way. After all, this is a demo, not early access or even an alpha. In this state, however, Noble’s Life is unacceptable
Despite the Unreal Engine, it looks like a game that was at best still contemporary in the early 2000s. The animations are stiff. Of course there are also lots of bugs, sometimes the game just stops working
Noble’s Life is very far from the vision behind it and even further from what is advertised in the trailer. This is what Noble’s Life really looks like:
The thought is good
However, that’s not quite the end of the story. Yes, Noble’s Life is guaranteed to never be the game it claims to be. Or at least what the pictures actually promise. But somehow playing the demo did motivate me to continue playing
Simply because the concept behind it still works and if Noble’s Life does anything well, it’s to create a thoroughly exciting premise I was interested in helping my barony get on its feet. I had to really ponder when it came to granting requests during an audience.
The questions Noble’s Life raises are compelling And they show that all the ideas behind it and the immersive approach are having an impact. Exactly the game, only with slightly better graphics, fancier staging, more varied music and much fluffier controls would be a wonderful simulation. Maybe even with real voice output to strengthen the bond with my advisors! I’m getting all tingly
I’m not fooling myself, Noble’s Life will probably never be that kind of game. But it shows what potential there actually is in this great idea.
Editor’s verdict
My former colleague Jochen always liked to say that I looked like the default setting for a human noble in a role-playing game. What Jochen didn’t know was that I would love to feel like that too. I would love to experience what it was like to rule a region as a baron, at least in the dreamy version of the Middle Ages that we like to imagine.
Kingdom Come already had the immersion, Yes, Your Grace had the concept and Crusader Kings 3 had the stories – now I’d like to see it all come together. Will Noble’s Life be able to do that? Well, rather unlikely. But maybe a studio outside of PlayWay and with more financial resources will be inspired by it! Incidentally, this is a wish I have for many of PlayWay’s games, which often have great ideas but then implement them terribly.
