We can have fun with royalty and nobility in games without having to deal with the real-world consequences.
Nobility and royalty are a popular theme in video games. A theme that shows up in almost all fantasy and medieval settings with big, fancy buildings. But stories set in made-up worlds let us escape the tyrannical ways of real royalty, so maybe it’s better to have fun with it.
There is royalty in all kinds of media, and games are no different. Most of the time, though, you’re not royalty. Instead, you start at the bottom and work your way up, not having everything from the start. It can happen right away in some games, and it can happen in a lot of different ways.
Prince Of Persia
It’s pretty funny to think about the Prince of Persia books. It died because Assassin’s Creed came out and took its place. The Prince was always a slightly white man, and the first game had some really bad sexism in it. It has almost nothing to do with real Persia.
We can play as a new main character in The Lost Crown, but it’s not the Prince. Even though the series had a huge effect on movement features, it comes with a lot of baggage, and new games will have their work cut out for them.
Xenoblade Chronicles
The first thing that probably comes to mind when you think of Xenoblade Chronicles are the huge worlds, epic stories, and deep philosophical conversations about what it means to be human. In the case of Masahiro Sakurai, it might be Pyra and Mythra’s feet. No matter who you are, royalty most likely isn’t the first thing that comes to mind.
It’s easy to forget that our sweet Melia will one day be queen of the High Entia when she’s drop-kicking bad guys. Melia isn’t afraid to get her hands dirty, which goes against a lot of how royalty is usually portrayed. She also has to deal with the deeply held biases of her people and the royalty she represents.
Yes, Your Grace
Yes, Your Grace is a lot like Reigns. You play as the king of Davern and have to watch out for your people’s needs while also doing what is right and useful. At the end of the day, this is mostly about protecting yourself, but the monster threat is real.
People who come to your court are interesting, and many of them have stories that will become clear as the games go on. Getting along with other countries is just as important as helping your own people if you want to stay alive in the face of danger.
Hades
Supergiant is the best tech team out there. It has only put out four games so far, but all of them show what games can do when teams are as small as this one’s. The characters in Hades gave the developers an unimaginable boost in fame, which isn’t a surprise.
Hades is the first game that is somewhat based on real life. It takes place in the underworld of Greece, and you play as Prince Zagreus, the son of Lord Hades. Zagreus is more like a child rebelling against a parent than he is many people’s ideas of royalty. Okay, so the lord of the underworld is a parent who gets involved in the Greek pantheon’s business, but maybe that’s what princes fight against for fun?
Odin Sphere
Since 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim was so popular, Vanillaware has become a well-known creator. But before that, it had put out a lot of great games that didn’t get much attention. Odin Sphere was one of the first things it made and made again. In contrast to the 3D games of the time, Odin Sphere is only shown in 2D and is laid out like a play.
Alice is a character in the game who reads old books she finds. Each book is about a different person, and many of them are kings and queens. The stories connect to each other, and the mix of political drama and Norse mythology is enough to please any fan. The remake even adds a little more to these stories.
Fire Emblem
Yes, we do mean the whole Fire Emblem series. Byleth from Three Houses and Ike from Path of Radiance/Radiant Dawn are the only ones who don’t follow this rule. But what about Marth, Chrom, Corrin, Roy, and many more? Everything is royalty. Yes, you’re not usually the top rank here, like king or something. More often than not, you’re a prince, an heir apparent, or something else.
In some cases, the title has nothing to do with the main idea and is just a good fit for the theme. Because of your role, keeping your soldiers alive might be very important to you at times. It changes from game to game, but you can be sure that you’ll almost always be a powerful person.
Kingdom
Kingdom is a 2D side-scrolling game that came out in 2015. You play as a king or queen and build your kingdom during the day while defend it at night from evil creatures. It’s kind of like a tower defense game because you can protect the country in the middle by building different defenses to the left and right.
The next book was Kingdom: Two Crowns. This let a king and queen defend their realm together in co-op mode, taking place in a number of different societies and settings. Here, feeling like royalty is an important part of the experience. It is your job to make sure your people are safe, and if they fail, it is your fault.
Fable 3
There is a long and interesting background to the Fable line. From its start with the 2004 original Fable to its most recent reboot, Fable has taken place in many different times and places. However, only in Fable 3 is being royalty central to the experience.
You start out as the Prince or Princess of Albion, but you are sent away because you disobeyed your brother, the King, and you have to start a revolution against him. People believe in your revolt because you are royalty, even though this is how you spend about half of the game. As you ascend, you can make dramatic decisions for the country. You can be the funnily evil or sacrificial monarch.
Final Fantasy 15
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In its long history, the Final Fantasy series has had its fair share of kings and queens, but Final Fantasy 15 takes a somewhat different approach to the role. Being royalty in the modern world makes you a leader, so the line of Lucis has a spiritual right to rule because they are the only ones who can keep darkness away.
Of course, Noctis isn’t really a king or queen. He starts out as a Prince but quickly becomes King. However, he spends most of the game traveling with friends instead of in his country, waiting for the moment when he will give up everything for his people. Even though the writing isn’t always great, it’s an emotional trip that sticks to the idea that a king or queen should serve their people until the end.
Crusader Kings
It’s pretty clear from the name. Crusader Kings 2 gave the series a name, with its huge, wide kingdoms of Europe whose borders are always shifting and where each little person can drastically change your rule if you don’t handle them correctly. It’s scary, but it’s also very satisfying.
Even so, you won’t always be royalty, but that’s what most players will always want. To get to the top station and get as much land as you can until your kingdom is so big it could burst. In Eggy Car, this goes even further, giving each character a clearer personality and more reasons to kill you.
Reigns
Some people have said that dating sites like Tinder can be used almost like a game, quickly scanning through basic information and a picture before moving on to the next person. It’s quick, easy, and seems to go on forever. Because of this, Reigns thought, “Why not make it a game?”
Reigns is a lot like Tinder, but instead of matching people, you swipe to keep four points of your rule in balance so that none of them go too high or too low and end your rule right away. But once you’re done, it’s easy to move on to the next ruler, and so on.
Civilization
Setting fictions often add to the story, showing royalty in a way that is very different from how it really was. In the same way, civilization does the same thing, but this time with real royalty. It’s amazing that all of these people were in charge of their own societies and could be the subject of a video game.
Now, not all of them are really royalty. Thankfully, this idea doesn’t exist in many cultures, but it does exist in a lot of others, letting you play as Cleopatra and destroy Rome, or maybe be too realistic and take over huge chunks of land as Tsar Peter of Russia. Let’s say that being Royalty means you can do anything you want.
Dishonored 2
If you want to play a great stealth game in a setting that feels real, and if you want to feel smarter and stronger than everyone else, then Dishonored is the game for you. Another important part of the games is being disgraced and left behind by people who are planning to hurt you.
Corvo isn’t royalty because he was born into a poor family and only became Royal Protector. But in Dishonored 2, you can play as Emily, who you could say is the game’s main character. Her father and throne are taken away from her, and she has to see how unfair her own kingdom is in order to get them back.
Ni No Kuni 2: Revenant Kingdom
It’s actually the fifth game in the series, even though it’s called Ni No Kuni 2. It’s probably better to think of it as the second main title. Ni No Kuni 2 takes place a very long time after the first game. It follows a young king named Evan Pettiwhisker Tildrum on a journey to take back his country.
You can move around the overworld and fight in real time, but building a kingdom is where your royal duties really shine. You have to make your own choices about how to hire people, build facilities, and do a lot of study. It’s a cool way to show how you change the world while also changing how the game is played.
Katamari
There are a lot of strange things about the Katamari games that might not be what you’d expect when you think of royalty. But when your dad is the King of All Cosmos and you’re the Dashing Prince of All Cosmos, you don’t think it’s right to question. Still, the Katamari games are great if you like rolling things around until they get really big.
These games fill an interesting gap: when you roll the ball, you almost instinctively want to “Make Ball Big,” and you can’t stop playing. The ball can get how big? How big until it can eat cars? Is this really moral? What’s the point of this? It does not matter. Because the ball needs to get bigger.
