Toplitz Productions has officially launched Medieval Dynasty on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S (also available via Xbox Game Pass). This console version follows follows the major success of the survival sim which released on PC back in 2021, which currently boasts a “very positive” user rating on Steam.
Developed by Polish studio, Render Cube, Medieval Dynasty drops players into a vast sandbox where they must hunt and build to survive. However, unlike a lot of games in this crowded genre, there’s an emphasis on single player as you explore its story, forge bonds with characters, and manage the growing number of villagers and workers who join your settlement.
There’s definitely shades of Skyrim here, as well as Kingdom Come: Deliverance, though you won’t be duelling with enemies or leading armies. Starting out with nothing but a few simple supplies, you’ll cobble together a handful of primitive tools before constructing your home base. From there, you’ll engage in a rich web of systems, hunting animals, extracting resources, and crafting items that can either be used to upgrade your settlement or sold to local merchants.
Key Features
- Beautiful and realistic open-world 3D landscape with state-of-the-art graphics
- Family life: Expansive questlines with special interactions bring you closer than ever to your medieval family.
- Full 4 seasons with day/night cycle and realistic weather conditions
- Interactive environment with trees to fell, various fruit to pick, stones to collect, caves to explore and much more
- Many different buildings with various levels from hay shacks to full stone mansions
- Hundreds of pieces of equipment to craft, including weapons, tools, furniture and clothing
- Realistic wildlife interaction with plenty of different animals such as wolves, wild boars, deer, rabbits and others
- ​All activities have an impact on food, water, health and endurance status
- Detailed skill tree for individual character development
- Comprehensive trading system that allows for buying/ selling goods across the whole map
- Unique events and decisions with direct impact on gameplay
- Dynasty reputation system triggering events with the king
- Quests, trade and economy, sandbox option, social connections to NPCs and much more ​ ​
First Impressions
Medieval Dynasty is a slow burner, to say the least. While there are survival elements at play as you combat the changing seasons, hunger, thirst, and the needs of your settlers, it can also be quite relaxing. What’s just as satisfying is the amount of control you have when it comes to building your town, choosing what goes where and who is assigned to which task. The game does a solid job of easing you in with its tutorial quests – a blessing, given how complex it can become if you let it. You’ll quickly unlock new skills and recipes though the growth of your settlement will also depend on micro-managing its inhabitants, via menus originally made for PC players. Thankfully, for those players who don’t have much time to spare, there are cheat-like options such as experience multipliers and the removal of inventory caps. Hardcore sim players can ignore these, of course.
The questing and story elements aren’t hugely appealing as you chat with plain-looking NPCs and fetch them the odd item here and there. The busywork that goes into some of the building and resource gathering can also be a drag, though watching your wooden hut gradually turn into a clockwork city is an alluring prospect. Adding threats beyond wild animals and introducing online multiplayer would help evolve Medieval Dynasty though it’s a strong foundation for developer Render Cube.