A Knight’s Quest review

Sometimes we need to get away from the day to day stresses of life, and what better way than to immerse yourself in a fantasy adventure. In a world of fantasy, we can invest in our character, live and dream their world without any worries.

We can embark on fantastic journey’s filled with mythical creatures and fight the good fight against evil, you might even save a princess along the way.

Indie developers often thrive when they create something out of the ordinary. Some of the greatest talent in terms of designing and building games is out there waiting to be discovered, itching for there big break, and thankfully for them there are some great developers and publishers out there, ready to reach out and nurture these creative talents.

Sky 9 Games and Curve digital have joined forces to bring A Knight’s Quest to the realms of Xbox.  They are the perfect duo, combining a real passion, bringing originality and a fantasy adventure to the broadest of possible audiences all over the world, and through Xbox it achieves that goal.

A Knight’s Quest is a gorgeous adventure, built on an epic scale likened to Zelda. You take the role of Rusty, a kind-hearted, lovable fool of an adventurer, who accidentally sets the motions in play for the end of the world.

Playing as the character Rusty, you must solve mind-bending puzzles and fight the good fight against challenging enemies. Defeat huge bosses and platform your way through an enlightening and charming open world, filled with fantasy style action elements in a grand journey. A Knight’s Quest is a lavish take on a classic action adventure games, incorporating intriguing platforming game play.

Rusty begins his quest with nothing but his trusty whack stick and a makeshift shield made out of wood, but as he sets off on his journey, trying to undo the wrong’s of his awkward clumsiness he quickly discovers there’s more to this enchanting world then he first thought. Stumbling across friends and foes, trading his weapons for a proper knight’s sword & shield and unlocking ‘Spirit Powers’. These spiritual powers allow Rust to harness some spectacular abilities which not only have the ability to enhance himself but transform his surrounding world.

As Rusty, you must get to grips with his newly acquired powers and use them to devastating effect. With the ability to command and warp the elements of Fire and ice, not to mention the power to manipulate time in the same process. This clumsy adventurer may just turn out be the knight the realm requires, and it takes a hero to conquer the many enemies in battle and command the elements to solve some rather challenging environmental puzzles.

A Knight’s Quest features a 3D world to set the tone for a quality adventure. The world is wonderfully crafted, using gorgeous rich colours and textures to create an enchanting world, a world that captures your heart and soul. The level design itself, combines some classic platform gameplay and intertwines that with action and adventure in a breath-taking open world.

There’s plenty of jumping, wall running, and rolling in this quest, with good use of combat and mystical elements in order to help you on your way. There’s also an element of discovery used in A Knight’s Quest as you loot the treasure chest for goodies that will not just grant you health, but give you options in the harder fight’s against enemies where you appear to be out of your comfort zone.

With lots of opportunity to upgrade, trade, and acquire potions, this game appears to have it all in terms of depth.  The world itself is huge and certainly hit’s the fantasy angel right on the head, add to that a huge cast of hilarious characters to interact with, each with there own unique style of dialogue, all contained in a text box system with light hearted engaging conversation to help you go about your quest.

The control system used in the game is very effective, the games developers could have easily have gone for a more complicated approach, especially when you consider the element powers and potions at play in the game. However, the control system is that of an easy to play, pick up and go style, with an effortless combat system allowing almost anyone to pull off some epic combos, and it really helps balance the in-game world with it’s simple yet effective techniques.

And what of the enemies themselves, well for all the cuteness of the backdrop of the game, these enemies can be challenging and quite gruesome in a friendly graphical cuteness kind of way. As you delve deeper into the world these creatures not only get harder to defeat, but they also seem to hunt in packs, so keep your wits about you and  by retreating a bit might not seem knightly, it could just be the best approach from time to time.

With a stack full of areas to clear and puzzles to solve, it would be totally out of character to not include some sort of boss battles in the game, and I’m pleased to tell you not only does the game include these kind of battle, they are absolutely huge, colossal in fact.

A Knight’s Quest is full of atmospheric moments and enhances the game with a excellent sound effects and a truly awesome soundtrack that builds with the adventure, setting the tone for the areas that your trekking for the first time, and building in tempo for those awesome boss battles. The soundtrack itself leaves you feeling as though your involved in quest, and you will get that feel, right from the get-go.

The game is a wonderful treat, full of fantasy adventure play, packed with a sense of exploration and a real need to conquer. The story is nice enough to follow, and the character’s themselves are charming little cute things, that you just want to eat up. They really do come out with some comical lines, I just feel that the characters could have been brought to life a bit more, had the text box quietness been replaced with voice actors. But then I suppose I’m knit picking there, especially for an indie developed game, I just feel the game loses its atmosphere at these point’s in the game.

I can’t fault the controls; they really are so easy to pick up and play and complement the games approach which is so inviting. Overall, A Knight’s Quest is a lovely quirky experience, that is huge in size and packs a punch.