When you’ve been excited for a new video game for a long time, I find there’s always a little sprinkle of concern mixed in with the excitement when it finally arrives. We’ve likely all had one or two bad experiences with a new release not hitting the mark, and personally I’d rather avoid crushing disappointment wherever possible. Although I’ve covered The Knightling for multiple previews at this point, a tiny voice in the back of my head kept trying to tell me to not get silly with the hype. Well it turns out the voice was wrong, and The Knightling is just as brilliant as expected.
In this charming adventure you play as the Knightling of everyone’s favourite hero, Sir Lionstone. With a massive glowing blue sword and a similarly huge shield, he helps the people across the land deal with monsters and other issues. You start the game under his learning tree on a routine mission, when all of a sudden an ancient evil shows up. Sir Lionstone is quick to save your puny butt and then charges off after the bad guys, leaving his shield behind. The kingdom is left in a panic without their mighty hero, so it’s time for you to step up.
Initially though this is easier said than done, because the people are aware you’re just a Knightling. It’s a struggle to convince them you’re up to the challenge of helping them deter pests from the farm or fix the sewer system, and they’d honestly rather just wait for Lionstone. Thanks to his shield though you’ve got the abilities to save the day, whether they want you to or not.
Lionstone’s shield is what gives you pretty much all of your abilities in The Knightling, because of its magical crystal powers. It’s a fierce tool in combat which you’ll use against all manner of bandits and beasts, swinging it to strike hefty blows in a character action style. Being a shield it’s also rather handy defensively, and fans of parrying will absolutely love deflecting enemy attacks to stun them and beat them senseless.
Your shield is also great at getting you around the sprawling open world of The Knightling, mostly due to the fact you can ride on it. Surfing down slopes and across viaducts feels amazing, and the world is cleverly designed with all manner of hills and ramps that blend seamlessly into the kingdom. Later in the game you’ll unlock the ability to shield glide too which opens the world even more, and only improves the already near perfect locomotion of the game.
There’s so much to see and do in the world of The Knightling, which only serves to make the exploration even better. Hidden chests can be found in all sorts of nooks, glowing currency is atop roofs encouraging lots of lovely platforming, and there are so many side quests and races to jump into. The Knightling is a game where I found myself ignoring main quests for so many sessions because I couldn’t tear myself away from the optional stuff, and I wouldn’t want it any other way.
It’s actually rather important you do lots of side content too, because then you’ll be able to afford loads of lovely upgrades. There are multiple skill trees you can spend various currencies on, which will improve both your combat and movement abilities. Adding new combos to combat will ensure you can take on the tougher enemies of later areas, and adding jumps to the shield surfing is just too good to turn down. There’s a real sense of progression as The Knightling grows into a full fledged hero of the land, and I loved unlocking all these meaningful upgrades.
From my times previewing The Knightling I was expecting lovely platforming, delightful locomotion and satisfying combat, but I wasn’t expecting full Zelda style dungeons full of puzzles. These more thoughtful parts of the game are a great change of pace, requiring you to take in the world around you for clues, move platforms around, and even gain powers to help as you progress.
Everything combines together to create a wonderful package, here. The visuals are vibrant and charming, and the whole experience just feels like one big delightful adventure that gaming can’t always provide. By combining top notch platforming, the best of exploration, character action combat, and thoughtful puzzles: it just has it all.
As wonderful as The Knightling is though I can’t pretend it doesn’t have a couple of small issues. Especially early on there’s a lot more talking than action, and even deeper into the game there was more of a story focus than I would have preferred. My other main issue with the game came from the puzzles, and the lack of direction you’re given in how to solve them. So often you’ll just be pointed to a vague area and told to investigate, and multiple times I’d be stumped for way too long by various pressure plates and moving gears. It’s a fine balance to hit with puzzles, I suppose, but I can’t pretend I wasn’t frustrated when it happened.
The Knightling is a brilliant adventure of a game, that manages to combine so many of my favourite things to create a near perfect package. With wonderful weighty combat, exceptional locomotion and a world worth exploring, it’s hard to imagine anyone not enjoying this charming underdog story.
