King's Bounty: Armored Princess Preview

RPGWatch is offering up some hands-on impressions of King's Bounty: Armored Princess after checking out Katauri's expansion pack firsthand during GamesCom.
However, the most important change in my opinion is that you no longer have the four Spirits of Rage. They were in a box and that box disappeared when Bill Gilbert did. Instead of them, you will have a pet dragon that you can get by going to a dragon farm where you select your own pet dragon (that looks like Stitch) to accompany you. There are different dragons with different colors and each of them has somewhat different characteristics, but they all start at the same low level as princess Amelie. The dragon also has fewer skills than the four spirits; nine compared to sixteen, but like the Sprits of Rage the pet dragon can only take action when it has enough rage points. Once it has done its trick, the dragon goes to sleep at the edge of the battlefield for two turns. Instead of casting a spell the dragon can also fly over to a chest on the battlefield, if there is any, and collect the loot in it for you.

The original Kings Bounty already had quite some hours of gameplay and this sequel is apparently pretty big as well. You start in the same area as Kings Bounty from where you quickly move to areas you have not visited before, by means of portals or a boat...the new game world is not one big area but consists of different islands, instead. The game should offer at least 30 to 40 hours of gameplay. More, if all the side quests are done as well.