There’s nothing more menacing than a game that breaks a grown man into tears… not that the story and its writing is a huge tearjerker or anything although I’m not saying yet that it’s not but the fact that it’s both relentless and unforgiving. The Knight Witch is that game. Published by Team17 and developed by *inhales* Super Awesome Hyper Dimensional Mega Team *exhales* and no it’s not a fighting game super art finish though it could very well pass as one. It’s a game that brings back the Metroidvania genre while also putting its own quirky twist in the form of deck-building to gain powerful spells in battle. Put it on top of a beautifully handcrafted world and it brings a lot of potential. How much potential you ask? Let’s find out…
A fairytale adventure filled with choices and consequences…
Starting off with the narrative, The Knight Witch brings you several years back to when society is ruled by the Dalgadai clan. An industry-driven society filled with technological marvels focused on progress at the cost of its environment which by the end of it all led to a civil war with the titular Knight Witches at its forefront. The Knight Witches prevailed in toppling that society yet the damage done was insurmountable which led them to flee underground where their happy and easy-going life continued. But this is not a story about them, it is in fact a story focused around a young and aspiring Knight Witch that didn’t happen to be ready for that battle several years back… Rayne, the supposedly fifth Knight Witch who lived a carefree life with his husband after that event now faces a new threat. The remnants of the Dalgadai clan come knocking at their door seeking revenge and with the current Knight Witches broken and scattered to fend off their attackers, Rayne steps in to live the action she’s destined for.
There’s nothing grand nor shocking to the whole idea but it does keep you interested and invested because as each level gets cleared, each door unlocked or even every boss toppled, Rayne has a very important choice to make here. But to put it more into context, Knight Witches generally get more powerful through the power of all that cheesy stuff like trust and to lose that kind of trust makes you weaker and lose some of your powers. So every now and then you’re faced with choices… one of which will make you more powerful than the other at the expense of hiding the truth and hogging all the glory.
But beyond its narrative and choices comes the real meat of the game. Much like the Metroidvania sub-genre of video games, The Knight Witch follows the same true and trusted formula along with its bullet-hell shmup shenanigans. It mixes both of them well enough to make the twin-stick shooter and spell-spewing witch adventure a fun yet unforgiving undertaking. But there’s a bit of complexity to the whole idea that The Knight Witch is trying to build here… deck-building being the worst offender despite something that caught my attention even before I started this whole thing. To me, it’s a system that didn’t really work in a fast-paced action-oriented environment where you fight through enemies in tight areas and have to slip past projectiles and obstacles while also trying to play around with the RNG system of cards. There’s a bit too much going on at any given time so being able to do all of that perfectly is a bit of a huge undertaking. Because in some situations you might get a mix of cards that don’t particularly blend well or situations that you’d want a weapon upgrade or a free mana card yet you end up with a handful of three spells that won’t do you any good in dire situations.
Exploration is rewarding as it is riveting…
Levels are also laid out in the traditional maze-like dungeons with multiple entries and exit points with most of them being gated by locks for later or the need for an ability. You encounter enemies in these rooms filled with enemies and traps aside from the usual puzzle-like yet floating platforming shenanigans. There are a lot of twists and turns but still feels a bit more linear due to the need to backtrack to unlock abilities to get past obstacles however each biome provides a beautiful hand-drawn environment that makes the exploration that much more enticing. There are quite a few neat things for each one of the levels as well as the sort of themes that it tried to achieve. The first level for example mostly involves using your newfound ability to teleport short distances which unlocks more places to get around while other areas would give you some other form of traversal or ability to solve certain puzzles unique to that level. And going through optional areas rewards you with more link levels when you save a civilian which is this game’s way of saying you levelled up instead of gaining a level based on the enemies you’ve killed while other areas house a chest of spell cards to build your deck around or currency to buy armour or refill health.
The Knight Witch also gives you another choice… would you rather be a Knight or a Witch? Raising Rayne’s link level through certain story points and saving civilians are just some of the things that would raise her link level and as such there are two ways to go around it. Investing in the Knight’s skills would power up her basic shots or increase the fire rate among other things while going through the Witch line would provide you with more spell damage or mana drop chance. Going through either one or a mix of both has its ups and downs but either way is viable and having that sort of freedom to build around a deck that can utilize the type of playstyle you’d want is the best thing the game has to offer.
Visually though, the game looks and feels great. It really draws me in with its fairytale-like environment and A+ art style. There’s a rich and vibrant environment that differs going from each biome to the next so you never really feel bored with the same level of hues and tones. Pair it up with a great soundtrack and you end up immersed in all its glory. It’s a fitting style that really fits in with its overall narrative thanks to the level of detail in the background that makes it look “lived in” with every set piece of the world.
The speed of progression does kind of put me off here though. The game isn’t particularly long which would’ve been a great plus if it wasn’t as short as it is and there’s only a handful of areas to go through which only really makes the game’s run time longer the more you die which is probably why this game is so difficult, to begin with. Though it’s probably because of that or the fact that the health bars are pretty low early on in your choice. Meanwhile, load times and frame rate is abysmal. Going into a new biome or level takes a long time but on the bright side, going from room to room on that same level would at least be much quicker. It’s not the perfect game by any means but that only makes me feel like it could’ve done better.
Conclusion
In conclusion, The Knight Witch provides a riveting experience of exploration and action only barred by mechanics that didn’t really play out well or the short run time for completion. It doesn’t give you the most engrossing story ever told on a video game but it does provide a very interesting concept of the choices you made along the way. If not for these things, I would tell you right now this is the best game I’ve had for a while… but it’s not, it’s a pretty good one but still not. The hand-drawn visuals really played well in selling me this experience and if not for its high difficulty ceiling, I would’ve replayed this more than I should.
The Knight Witch was reviewed on switch and xbox
You can purchase the Switch version here or you can buy the Xbox version here
Developer: Super Awesome Hyper Dimensional Mega Team
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows, Xbox Series X and Series S
Publishers: Team17, Team17 Digital Limited
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