Game Review: ‘The Knightling’ Embarks on a Whimsical Adventure
The Knightling is a single-player open-world adventure title developed by Twirlbound and published by Saber Interactive. While I describe the game as an open-world adventure, this only means that exploration and some side quests can be done out of order. This game is a charming title where it feels like I’ve been taken back in time and am playing a lost title for the Nintendo GameCube or the PlayStation 2.
Thankfully The Knightling is available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and the PC storefront Steam, and at the time of this writing, the planned Nintendo Switch release has been cancelled. Another thing to note is that while this game has been deemed as “playable” for the Steam Deck, I and others have had very little issue in getting it to run on the handheld device.
The adventure of The Knightling
When you start your journey in The Knightling, you are placed in the world of Clesseia and are introduced to the knight Sir Lionstone and the titular but nameless knightling. The tutorial of this game is designed to not only introduce the characters and show off how the basics of the game work but also to show the players what to expect during gameplay.
After you’ve made your way through the game’s introduction, the player is tasked to go back to the kingdom’s main city with only the knight’s shield, named Magnustego. Once you’ve reached the royal city, you must inform the queen and other important figures of what happened during the intro mission.
The world of Clessia is a large one where you are technically given the freedom to go anywhere you want, but most of the areas are locked behind techniques that are only given to you once you’ve completed vital story missions. If you try to explore past the starting areas, you will be greeted with impossible-to-pass bridges, rivers, and more dangerous hazards. I found it a little frustrating that the game claims to be open-world, but really it is not due to gated progression.
Twirlbound delivers engaging gameplay
The basic gameplay loop that you’ll experience in The Knightling is primarily focused on using the magical talking shield Magnustego and various acrobatic moves you’ll unlock through the main story’s progression. In addition to the skills you’ll learn using the shield, there are also several optional power-ups and abilities you can unlock using money or through a skill currency called knightling praise that’s scattered all throughout the world. Enemies you’ll also encounter also drop the knightling praise, so be sure to get into combat often if you want to maximize your skills.
I found that throughout the course of my gameplay, I was frequently running into difficulty spikes because I did not have the right power-ups or endurance to handle some of the tougher enemy encounters. This game seemingly punishes the player for going out of the way of the main story missions too early, requiring the player to locate more side quests and optional objectives to better prepare the player for the tougher fights. I did not find this structure of doing side content as a negative because I thoroughly enjoyed the side quests as they helped better flesh out the world.
Once you’ve spent a few hours in the world of Clessia and gotten a better understanding of how to control the main character, you will find delight in the combat mechanics. I found myself establishing a nice rhythm with movement and flow, learning how to block and parry enemy attacks, and found myself overcoming the seemingly improbable challenges the game was throwing at me.
In addition to the combat, there are many puzzle elements in The Knightling that will sometimes have clear instructions on what to do and some puzzles that will have intentionally vague details, leaving it to the player to figure it out. I found that some of the solutions for puzzles to be incredibly obtuse and left me scratching my head on where to go and how to complete said puzzles properly. That said, once the harder puzzles clicked for me, I felt a sense of satisfaction that I had been able to solve a puzzle.
Whimsy through game design
The world of The Knightling is a gorgeous place where you can encounter beautiful vistas of plains, mountains, swamps, and more, all covered in breathtaking views and vibrant color. I was constantly in awe of the environmental design of this game. Exploring the open-world map constantly somehow left me both intrigued and wondering what sort of graphical journey the game would take me.
The best way for me to describe the music in this game is to call it whimsy. The music invokes a feeling of adventure and hope, so much so that I would often stop playing for the moment just to take all the music in. Every area in the game, from the castle town to the outskirts, has a different feeling, which was carefully composed by the Berlin based Tumult Kollektiv, a group of musicians made up of composers Jonathan Howe, Leonhard van Voorst, and Alexander van der Kruijf. The original soundtrack for The Knightling can be purchased both directly on Steam or via the website Bandcamp.
Another neat detail of the game is the voice acting. A special note regarding the voice acting is that nearly every character speaks in a way that is completely muffled, but it is easy to tell that despite the muffled speech, every character is uniquely voiced. The biggest standout is that Magnustego is completely voiced and understandable when speaking aloud.
Final thoughts on The Knightling, available on Steam, Playstation 5, and Xbox Series X|S
As previously mentioned at the beginning of this review, The Knightling is a wonderful throwback to games of the sixth-generation consoles such as GameCube and PlayStation 2. The modern touches and quality of life improvements over those older titles is much appreciated and the graphical and audio fidelity are lovely.
Aside from some of the designed puzzles and lack of waypoints for many of the side-quests, I wholeheartedly recommend this title especially if you are a fan of exploring around in adventure games. Is this game perfect? Absolutely not, but the game still offers a delightful experience. I was able to complete the critical path in just under 10 hours, but I imagine that completing the game with all side content could bring the total time to 12 to 15 hours.
My rating for this game: 4/5
While I do recommend The Knightling, as it is an experience that I will never forget, I’m not sure if it’s a title that I will revisit. But my goodness, it’s been an enjoyable experience. I give this game 4 out of 5 stars due to it being extremely competent and polished, but some of the obtuse elements leave me wanting a little bit more.
Also check out: Game Review: Sword of the Sea from Giant Squid Studios
