I’ve not been up to much over the last few days, thanks to a nasty virus which put me in bed for the best part of a week. During that time, I couldn’t even bear to look at a screen for very long, but when I was able to play, I wanted something simple, accessible, but also a game with a good degree of novelty.
A bullet heaven was the obvious pick. The formula is a well-worn one these days, but within the confines of the sub-genre, there is still excitement to be found and new ideas to explore. Knightbane is a nice example of this balance between freshness and familiarity.
What is Knightbane?
Developed by Crucible Studio, Knightbane is a top-down action-RPG with a mixture of passive auto-shooter elements, in-game roguelite progression, and procedurally-generated, fully-destructible environments.
The pixel-art visuals are super cute, from the animations to the enemy designs, and there are pleasing details to be found as you explore. For example, I like how they’ve done the capture points, which are made up of tiles you must walk on twice – once to activate and then once to complete the action. Each one looks a bit like a fantasy dance floor when the hex-tiles light up.
The combat is simple and effective. You’ve got a series of automated attacks to work with, and you can upgrade and enhance them over the course of a run. Similarly, you’ve got an upgradeable dash move, and dodging damage is just as important as dishing it out, as well you know by now.
The in-game progression is very focused, mostly due to the relatively short run-time of each attempt. You do have the chance to evolve certain weapons during play, and I’m looking forward to seeing more of this side of things.
At the end of each run, there’s a boss battle waiting for you. Win or lose, you can complete quests and tinker with things back at base. Frankly, you know how it works by now, and Knightbane doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel from a progression perspective.
Thoughts on the Early Access launch?
I still really like it, though. It’s a relatively inexpensive pick-up, although that’s in large part because it’s an Early Access release and somewhat lacking in terms of content. Yet, even though the game is still very much a work-in-progress that needs more variety stirred into the pot, the thing that appeals to me is the sense of character and identity, and that’s already very much in place.
It might be operating in a very congested space and surrounded by bigger games, yet Knightbane is still able to give a good account of itself because it keeps things simple and knows exactly what kind of experience it is trying to deliver.
I’ve got a couple of hours with this quirky little bullet heaven so far, which was enough to persuade me that this Early Access action-roguelite is one to watch. It’s compact, focused, and yes, it needs a lot more content, but it’s also, it turns out, good company if you’re poorly and need something light and engaging to play for a few hours.
Knightbane is out now in Early Access on PC (Win) on Steam, and I played it via access kindly provided by the developer.
