Also on: PS4, PC, Switch, Xbox One
Publisher: Ratalaika Games
Developer: Muzt Die Studios
Medium: Digital
Players: 1
Online: No
ESRB: E10+
Knightinโ+ describes itself as a โZelda-lite.โ
Now, there are a couple of assumptions you may make based on that sentence. The first is that itโs similar to The Legend of Zelda. The second is that, because of the dropped โgโ in the title, this game pokes fun at Zelda-like games. The third is that the โliteโ is there because the game is a rogue-lite.
Remarkably, none of these assumptions would be true. Itโs only like The Legend of Zelda in that, like the first NES games in that series, itโs top-down and built on 8-bit graphics, but once you get past that, the comparison is a little shaky. Knightinโ+ has no overworld, and itโs a series of four dungeons, each a little more difficult with a few more puzzles/enemies/levels than the last. While Zelda had similar elements, the same could go for any number of games from that era that Knightinโ+ is drawing from.
Likewise, calling it a rogue-like is kinda borderline. Itโs a dungeon-crawler, sure, but thereโs nothing here procedurally-generated, there are no permadeaths, your progress carries over from one dungeon to the next โ I mean, I donโt think thereโs any strict rule about what defines a rogue-liteโ, but if Knightinโ+ is just a dungeon-crawler, itโs just a dungeon-crawler. No need to try and shoehorn it into another genre just for the sake of a catchy genre name.
As for whether it pokes fun at Zelda or rogue-likes/rogue-litesโฆsure, there are occasionally jokes in the scrolls that unravel after you beat a level, but thatโs about it. There are probably more jokes in the gameโs trailer than in the game itself, in fact, so if youโre hoping for some kind of satirical take on, well, anything, this isnโt it.
Despite all my complaints about what Knightinโ+ isnโt, Iโve still got to say that itโs a worthwhile game. As someone whoโs never had much patience for endless dungeon-crawling, the streamlined nature of the game really spoke to me. As Iโve written before, when it comes to Ratalaika games, itโs always a good sign when I keep on playing even after the Platinum Trophy has popped, and thatโs exactly what I did here, too. It also helps that Knightinโ+ features cheat codes, which go a long way towards helping you max out your stats and not have to worry about backtracking through the same places over and over again โ though, Iโll hasten to add, even before I discovered the codes exist, I was still enjoying my time with the game.
In other words, if you go into Knightinโ+ expecting the right things, youโll probably get a lot more out of it. Itโs not ground-breaking in any way, but itโs a solid game nonetheless, and it offers a fun way to pass a couple of hours (and boost your Trophy count/Gamerscore in the process).
Ratalaika Games provided us with a Knightinโ+ PS4/Vita code for review purposes.