Knightinโ€™+ review for PS4, PS Vita, Xbox One, Switch

Platform: PS Vita
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 โ€œZelda-lite.โ€

Now, there are a couple of assumptions you may make based on that sentence. The first is that itโ€™s similar to The Legend of Zelda. The second is that, because of the dropped โ€œgโ€ in the title, this game pokes fun at Zelda-like games. The third is that the โ€œliteโ€ is there because the game is a rogue-lite.

Remarkably, none of these assumptions would be true. Itโ€™s only like The Legend of Zelda in that, like the first NES games in that series, itโ€™s 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 itโ€™s 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. Itโ€™s a dungeon-crawler, sure, but thereโ€™s nothing here procedurally-generated, there are no permadeaths, your progress carries over from one dungeon to the next โ€” I mean, I donโ€™t think thereโ€™s any strict rule about what defines a rogue-liteโ€, but if Knightinโ€™+ is just a dungeon-crawler, itโ€™s 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-litesโ€ฆsure, there are occasionally jokes in the scrolls that unravel after you beat a level, but thatโ€™s about it. There are probably more jokes in the gameโ€™s trailer than in the game itself, in fact, so if youโ€™re hoping for some kind of satirical take on, well, anything, this isnโ€™t it.

Despite all my complaints about what Knightinโ€™+ isnโ€™t, Iโ€™ve still got to say that itโ€™s a worthwhile game. As someone whoโ€™s never had much patience for endless dungeon-crawling, the streamlined nature of the game really spoke to me. As Iโ€™ve written before, when it comes to Ratalaika games, itโ€™s always a good sign when I keep on playing even after the Platinum Trophy has popped, and thatโ€™s 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, Iโ€™ll 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, youโ€™ll probably get a lot more out of it. Itโ€™s not ground-breaking in any way, but itโ€™s 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.

Grade: B
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