Publisher Curve Digital and developer Sky9 Games have just released their new action adventure title A Knight’s Quest on all the current major platforms. A Knight’s Quest features a expansive, colorful open world and will likely remind you of games like The Legend of Zelda and Jak & Daxter. For those of you who are looking for a game that reminds you of some older classics this one may or may not be for you.
A Knight’s Quest is all about our hero Rusty who just might be the hero because of events he himself set in motion. At the start of this adventure Rusty interacts with something he shouldn’t have and ends up setting a bunch of evil demons free who then want to cause havoc. The mayor on the island the game takes place on, who just so happens to also be Rusty’s old man, asks Rusty to set off and find three well regarded warriors in order to help stop this threat. Along the way you’ll talk to many different people and creatures all of which is done through dialog boxes with no spoken audio. The story doesn’t do anything special and it isn’t all that memorable but it isn’t bad either. The writing does have plenty of humor in it so if nothing else you’ll likely get some laughs out of it while playing.
The world of A Knight’s Quest is open and free for you to explore as you wish, at least somewhat. Much like other games like this you’ll gain new abilities as you advance which then allow you to access areas you couldn’t get to before. Magic abilities gained later on allow you to harness the elements like ice and fire to open up new areas. A geyser of water can end up being frozen for instance to give you a new platform to stand on. You’ll also gain the ability to grind on rails opening up a new way to traverse. You are guided along your quest with a marked waypoint and will have to use different traversal methods to reach it. The game features things like wall running, climbing, and plenty of good old jumping from platform to platform.
You’ll travel through plenty of different biomes as you play too such as icy locations, deserts, dangerous lava, and more. Outside of the main quest there are side quests you can take on from various characters and collectibles and challenges to seek out. Unfortunately, while having the freedom to go where you want is great, getting to where you need to be or want to be can be annoying. The map in the game isn’t very detailed at all which makes finding things like shops and such difficult when you need to find them. It’s also easy to get lost and just find yourself aimlessly trying to find your way to your goal despite the waypoint. You’ll also be spending a lot of your time backtracking through areas you’ve been through. This is a long game but it’s one of those games I feel like is bigger and longer than it needs to be and it suffers because of it.
When you’re not out in the open world you’ll be traversing through dungeons in the game instead. Dungeons bring more platforming as well as enemies and puzzles. The combat in this game is probably one of the weakest parts about it due to just how simple it is. You have a basic attack, a counter button, and a lock on button at your disposal while in combat. The simpleness of the combat was likely done to make the game more approachable to players but for more seasoned veterans like myself it just comes across as being a bit too boring and repetitive. Also one of the annoying things about fighting enemies in this game is that you can’t stagger them while attacking at all which means they can still damage you while you are damaging them. Outside of your basic attacks you also have those magic attacks you can use as well. You’ll need to use them at times too as some enemies have barriers that can only be dispelled by magic. The game features quite a few boss battles as well all of which have the typical attack patterns that you’ll have to learn in order to conquer them. Every time you beat a boss Rusty will also get an extension to his health bar.
The game looks pretty good visually thanks to all the colors, the lighting, and the variety of locations you travel to. Downsides to it would be that the character design is a bit goofy and there was some noticeable pop-in at times but nothing that was too bothersome. The music in the game was solid although some of the sound effects, particularly some of the noises Rusty makes, got to be annoying at times. As I already said above the game has no voice acting so don’t go in expecting that either. Those interested in the trophies will be glad to know it has 32 in total including a Platinum. A lot of them come naturally through the story for beating various bosses, using the different magical powers, and for collecting all the collectibles. Some others require you to do specific things like kill 5 enemies at once or kill 3 enemies with all 3 weapons in 15 seconds. Overall it’s an easy list so long as you are a completionist.
I did have fun with A Knight’s Quest but it does come across as a little basic in areas such as the combat and story. A better map would’ve also made it a bit more easier to traverse the world that I found quite enthralling. That colorful and varied open world is probably my favorite thing about this game although the humor was pretty good too. In the end if you want something a bit deeper on the combat side look elsewhere but if you’re fine with a big world to explore and simple combat mechanics consider taking on this quest.
*A Knight’s Quest is out now on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC. Reviewed on a PlayStation 4 Pro. Review copy provided by the publisher.