The Knightling by developer
Twirlbound and publisher
Saber Interactive—
PC (Steam) review written by
Susan N. with a copy provided by the publisher.
Estimated reading time: 10 minutes
Back in 2019 Twirlbound released Pine which was their first game release but had surprisingly won a number of different awards between 2016 and 2017. Here we are a few years later and they've released yet another spectacular game that almost went completely under my radar. The Knightling is a cute story rich open world experience that I would have missed out on if it wasn't for the title being passed to me. (Although after playing a bunch of the game, I'm wildly curious to see other people play it).
The Knightling begins with a straightforward premise, you're a young knight who has the honor of learning from the legendary Sir Lionstone. He's a big guy wielding a fancy and large shield, but upon being taught basic principles with Lionstone, you both stumble upon a forgotten vault. Where there is treasure, there are other groups who seek it.
At this point, Earthborn show up. These are terrifying stone creatures that have been ancient enemies of your homeland of Clesseia. Both you and Lionstone are shocked at their appearance within a short distance of the city. And while Lionstone distracts the creatures while saving your inexperienced tush at a moment when you almost get grassed by valiantly throwing his mighty shield which blocks a fateful blow. With your quick thinking, you leap around the room to trigger some switches that will hopefully give Lionstone an upper hand in the battle. The Earthborn apparently aren't stupid foes either as they decide to retreat and in doing so cause the legendary knight to give chase. Unfortunately, this leaves you with a broken shield and his glove for you to carve your own path. You go back to the city to report the vault discovery and the missing Sir Lionstone. And while the Queen is focused more on the newly revealed vault, you are free to explore the realm as you try to become a knight without a mentor.
Gameplay
The Knightling captivated my attention rather quickly because it's not a game that drowns the player in tutorialpalooza as is the case with a variety of games. Instead, it gets your attention quickly with its witty characters, shield bashing combat mechanics, and shinies.
Throughout the game there are some hilarious moments. I can think of a couple instances right off the bat that caused me to laugh audibly, like the interaction with the fortune teller... There are characters that cracked me up as well like "Berry" being a farmer in wine country. Some of the enemies have highly entertaining names as well like the Grimbus Swipus caused me to smile from ear to ear. And with their description in the index of foes talking about how 'cranial damage from repeated shell-slam attacks leave them with poor depth perception' had me doubling over with laughter.
I spent a bunch of time running around the map chasing after Knightling Praise which is a currency that is used to upgrade your shield's capabilities. And in this pursuit of shinies, I discovered a couple of important features of the game. Firstly, there doesn't appear to be any fall damage (yet). Now, that's not to say that you can't fall off some unfortunate cliff into an abyss because you mistakenly thought you could use your shield to glide across something you actually can't, because that definitely happened. (And I laughed at myself wildly for doing it). The second most important factoid you learn when jumping around the city is that you can use your shield to swim. Unlike some games that use lakes, rivers, or oceans to block a player from getting to a location, The Knightling doesn't do that at all. In fact, swimming with the shield is quite entertaining and I fully expect there will be a waterslide somewhere in the game...
Anyways, The Knightling has a couple of fun features that I'm all for; like purchase of a few color schemes for your shield and outfit. There is a tailor who has a few different 'hairstyles' you can nab as well. But the meat of the game falls more into the exploration and fun aspects, more than anything. The area you are in is covered with a fog of war that you can't see through until you reach lookout towers where a cartographer will give you a map of the area. Getting to some of the towers can be rather amusing as you platform your way up to them using ledges or fun purple mushrooms. Some of the roof tarps are particularly buoyant as well.
There is a main story line that you can follow, but there are tons of entertaining side quests that you can take on for various rewards and to increase your reputation. For example, you can participate in time trials where you get to use your shield to coast down slopes. Just know that if you do this in the city, you're bound to crash into citizens, and if you do, you might want to GTFO. You know, just in case they decide to chase you down... This can only lead to discussion about combat.
Combat
At the beginning of your solo adventures, you interact with Gynni who is awesome enough to repair your shield and she explains where you can get some upgrades. This takes you to chatting with a member of the Knight's Academy who presents you with an ability skill tree. In it are four spokes of abilities that range from dodge maneuvers, shield bashes, parrying moves, and shield throws. To get any of these abilities, you will need a bunch of shinies. This is part of the reason I began bounding onto rooftops to get all that I could see.
Now, the combat itself is not the most fleshed out aspect of the game, which is something I'm perfectly okay with. As a video game aficionado, I enjoy exploration sometimes more than the other parts of the game. This often gets me into trouble where I stumbled into a cave where there was one bigger enemy and two smaller speedsters. In an enclosed area and my terrible parrying skills, I died horribly. However, I was pleasantly surprised when I respawned before finding the cave and with full health! Now this can be a double-edged sword because if you don't save frequently, you rely on older save points which might not be what you want at times. However, if you don't have all the upgrades you need to take on a fight, then it could also be a nice blessing in disguise.
Anyways, the combat not being the best in gaming history comes from a few reasons. The first is that there were several points where I dodged an attack and the enemy was still able to hit me. Another point to mention about the combat system is that your character can end up attacking a different target than you were intending. Instead of killing the one enemy which has a pixel of health remaining, you end up striking one of the others. Thirdly, the combat isn't incredibly comprehensive, but it also doesn't need to be either. While some people might not be pleased that the combat system is not incredibly sophisticated, I happily killed a strong beast by standing on a rooftop and using my shield throw to stun lock it. In hindsight, I'm not sure if that was intentional, but I did get an achievement for it, so yay?
Essentially, the focus of the game is more on the questing, exploration, and humor than its combat prowess. Although, I do really enjoy using the shield as a crazy carpet as much as I enjoy doing a cool Iron Man shield throw. Honestly, I'm completely fine with the focus on the game than the combat specifically.
Audio and Visual
The world in The Knightling is absolutely stunning with its vibrant aesthetics. Although, at first, I wasn't sure what to think about the graphics until I started playing the game. And that's not because I'm bothered by them, but perhaps it's because I was concerned about how the visual movements would look - particularly because I don't like that some of the movement is too abrupt. For example, if you are trying to inch your way forward, you mistakenly can move too much where you might fall off a high location. Though, it could very well be that my settings were too sensitive because visually the game is incredibly smooth.
While exploring various areas on the map, you enter different zones which have their own unique aesthetics. Each area covered by the fog of war loads seamlessly and doesn't cause much if any lag time. Even using the jumping mushrooms doesn't cause any delay either. The only offensive aspects come from specific instances like loading up your game or getting backed into a corner where the camera can sometimes make it challenging to effectively fight your opponents. Honestly, despite what you may think of the graphics, the game is incredibly detailed and full of life.
As far as the audio goes, I generally enjoyed the audio effects and the music used in the Knightling. The only aspect of audio that I wasn't big on was the muffled sounds of the people when you spoke to them. I've never been big on the 'Simlish' element of a game so naturally I didn't enjoy that audio. But more than that, I was actually confused. At some points there are fully voice-acted sentences given, but they are sparse and made me dislike the muffled audio. I get that the people are wearing some sort of mask, but I think I'd personally enjoy more voice acting or more music and environmental sounds. It didn't detract my enjoyment of the game, I just didn't like the muffled audio.
That said, there are tons of environmental audio sounds that add to the vibrant living world of Clesseia. In the city you start in, there is a hatch which hides a fan underneath it, and when you are close by, you can audibly hear the fan. On one of the main roads, there is a creature trapped in a box that sings a tune. Even when you have completed the quest, the creature keeps chirping away - for better or worse. Regardless, the audio in The Knightling adds to the overall feel of the game, especially when you participate in certain activities.
Final Thoughts
When I say that I have a hard time putting The Knightling down, I mean it. I get sucked into chasing after shinies and exploration that I've lost track of time. It also helps that there are lots of humorous moments scattered throughout the game which made me cackle wildly. Heck, I had a fun time jumping onto rooftops to get to shinies or quest locations - which worked out in my favor because a mere knightling can't just stroll into the Queen's castle without an invitation. What did we do instead? Climb things and sneak in!
Honestly, The Knightling is a fantastic game and has its hooks on me. I love everything about the game, the puzzles, the relaxed combat (mostly), the fun things you can do with your epic shield, the scenery, and several different quests. I never felt like the game was too difficult that I couldn't handle, although sometimes the jumping distance caused some hilarious fails. Anyways, what makes this game even better than an enjoyable and amusing experience is the fact that it is family friendly! You can safely introduce The Knightling to your children and not have to worry about anything. It's such a cute game and I've had a blast playing it. I can't wait for others to experience this excellent title!
Score: 9 out of 10
