Following up from their first title Pine, developers Twirlbound return with The Knightling; a third person open world action adventure. Is this indie title worth your time? Or are you left dreaming of tales of old?
A Knight’s Tale
In today’s gaming ecosystem, we are overwhelmed with options in every genre, making some games slip by the wayside. The Knightling attempts to break that mould, to varying success. Set in the fictional medieval fantasy world of Clesseia, you play as The Knightling. As an aspiring knight, you begin the game following the orders of your mentor Sir Lionstone – a legendary knight known all across the lands. When, at the start of the game, Sir Lionstone goes missing, you are thrust into the role of saving the lands from unforeseen threats, whilst solving the mystery of Lionstone’s disappearance. This is the main crux of the story and whilst you may think at first it’s a basic tale, it packs a lot of heart and intrigue.
The tale of The Knightling isn’t overly long or complex but it did keep me entertained throughout its 15-20 hour story. As the Knightling character is only 13 years old, it’s very much a coming of age tale as you help townsfolk through various main and side quests, whilst trying to find your mentor. What separates this game from other fantasy titles is its charm and humour. Bar the occasional animated cutscenes, most of the game’s dialogue is told through muffled voices akin to Kenny in South Park. This is absolutely hilarious for the most part and really adds wholesome charm to the narrative. The real star of the show is Magnustego, the trusted fabled shield of Sir Lionstone that was left in your possession. This shield is fully voiced and fleshes out the world of Clesseia during traversal sections which helped to keep me engaged during the quieter moments in the story. It reminds me quite a lot of Immortals: Fenyx Rising, another whimsical take on fantasy worlds. Overall, this is a simple, yet highly endearing tale, with mystery and intrigue blended in with a lot of laughs and a surprising amount of heart.
The Sword And The Clunkiness
Gameplay in The Knightling is truly the definition of a ‘mixed bag’. As an open world action adventure title, you can expect a plethora of combat, puzzles and platforming to quench your thirst. Combat is a huge aspect of this game but sadly fails to deliver in the majority of its aspects. A lot of the combat feels like a button-mashing slog as you take out enemy camps and creatures in the open world. The only weapon available to you is the shield which gives the game a truly unique fighting style; it’s just a shame this wasn’t fleshed out more with additional moves and abilities for this weapon. There is an upgrade tree for combat with some abilities but these are so bog standard and pointless, you still end up button-mashing away. In the far too few boss battles that take place, there are some cool combat design ideas implemented, such as the armour systems on the enemies. This requires you to destroy their armour through quick time events which make these fights feel particularly different and varied. Sadly, combat overall just feels far too clunky and boring alongside middling boss and enemy design, making it a true disappointment.
Thankfully, the traversal, platforming and puzzles deliver, for the most part. The movement of The Knightling is absolutely fantastic and such a breath of fresh air. Not only is the shield the main focus of combat, it’s also the focal point of the traversal. You have a number of abilities connected to movement to unlock throughout the game, but the one I am blown away by is the shield sliding. The design of the open world clearly has been catered to this ability as the world is full of slopes and cliffs along with boost pads and ramps aplenty. It is so much fun sliding your way around the world at a brisk pace. Later on in the game you’ll unlock a glider and other upgrades to sprinting and jumping, making this a truly wonderful experience, allowing the player to have such a vast amount of options in how they want to approach traversal.
Unfortunately, it’s not all positive as during some of the precision platforming sections, it’s highly imbalanced, making these sections feel very frustrating as you think you have made the landing, only for the knight to unexpectedly fall. Regarding the puzzles, they are just fine. They are not difficult or particularly bad; they are just forgettable for the most part. The majority of the puzzles boil down to moving a box to cover a pressure pad to open a gate…. yeah, not that intuitive.
A Flawed, Yet Charming World
The world developers Twirlbound have created a visual delight that only is let down by its damning performance issues. Everywhere in the land of Clesseia looks vibrant and colourful, full of this charming art style that borders on being dangerously close to a Breath Of The Wild imitation. It is clear they have taken inspiration from that title, but luckily it does enough to feel like its own concoction. It’s like Zelda, Banjo and Sly Cooper had a baby! Character models look complex and detailed and the animations crafted for the knight are particularly impressive during traversal. It’s just a damn shame the performance issues have soured my views. Too many frame rate drops, screen tearing and texture pop ins ruin the look and feel of this wonderful land.
Conversely, the sound design and score deliver strongly. The clangs and the bangs from the shield against enemies’ armour sounds wonderful, yet brutal, whilst the grunts and the exertions from the knight during platforming make for tense moments. As previously mentioned, the muffled dialogue is voiced to perfection, making most conversations downright hilarious to hear. This game would not be the same without it. Finally, the peaceful and tranquil orchestral soundtrack is superb and really helps reinforce the fantasy theme and setting. Outstanding job across the board in these departments.
Verdict
In an era of an overwhelming amount of fantasy open world games, The Knightling tries its best to stand out with its solid story, charming visuals, unique dialogue and musical score. In a world of far too many bloated open worlds, it’s refreshing to see a compact and brisk story, set in a vast world. Whilst combat can become far too repetitive and platforming can be tedious, I truly admire the developers’ attempts to think outside the box with some of their design philosophies. Sadly, performance issues may sour your experience but overall, this is a tale worth being told!
