The Knightling Is a Platformer That Lets You Use Your Shield as a Surfboard

The comparatively puny protagonist doesn’t have a lot in frequent along with his long-maned mentor, however he does have entry to his highly effective defend. And that brings us again to the Magnustego. Additionally affectionately referred to as Magnus or Maggie, we acquired to take this potential-packed machine for a check drive throughout our latest hands-on demo with The Knightling.

As our preview kicks off, our masked hero hoists the outsized, ornate defend earlier than gazing upon the stretching lands surrounding him. Dubbed the Outskirts, the medieval-inspired, fantasy setting options a colourful, cozy look extra akin to Breath of the Wild’s welcoming, out of doors environments than, say, the moody, foreboding lands dotting a Darkish Souls’ sport map.

Marked by lush, rolling hills, vibrant, flora-filled valleys, beautiful cliff faces, and majestic waterfalls spilling into crystal-clear lakes and streams, the charming universe packs loads of eye-pleasing enchantment. A more in-depth examination of transferring objects – such as spinning windmill blades casting shadows on the bottom under – additionally reveals some immersive lighting results.

The world’s most spectacular visible feat, nonetheless, is that it organically blends its pure magnificence with a platforming paradise simply begging to be performed in. At first look, The Knightling’s sprawling landscapes look just like the excessive fantasy-inspired settings you’d navigate in any variety of open-world action-RPGs. However its give attention to fast-paced platforming and peppy traversal begets a seat-of-the-pants secret — your defensive machine doubles as makeshift transportation, permitting you to rapidly surf atop it all through the Outskirts and past.

Shield-sliding isn’t essentially a novel gameplay mechanic, however The Knightling manages to evolve and elevate it by not solely making it the first technique of transportation, but additionally tailoring the world to encourage its use. So all that fairly surroundings spied on the demo’s begin additionally serves as a playground of types. Sloping rooftops are literally steep ramps, winding wall surfaces work as pathways, and shallow, snaking streams are basically rails ready to be grinded at prime velocity. After all, you’re additionally welcome to traverse extra apparent hills, trails, and different pure formations whereas piloting your new good friend Magnus.

Utilizing this distinctive methodology of transportation for fast journeys is enjoyable, however leveraging it to journey higher distances – by chaining the varied interactions collectively – is an absolute blast. And that’s earlier than you think about extra agility-fueled tips, such as double-jumps or the flexibility to catch much more air by bouncing off large mushroom caps.

Whereas we love treating the Outskirts like our personal private skate park, we quickly uncover there’s rather more to do than spike our adrenaline. Confused-out villagers need assistance and, unsurprisingly, their issues quickly morph into quests for the knight-in-training to simply accept. Earlier than we all know it, we’re settling land disputes and corralling livestock.

These mission sorts may sound a bit like boring chores, however Maggie – or Magnus – manages to make even essentially the most mundane duties extra enjoyable. The actual property argument, for instance, is resolved by measuring the space between two factors by way of a fast race-like problem, whereas the animal-wrangling introduces a little bit of shield-based puzzling and fight.

The conundrums largely contain throwing the software – Captain America type – at targets to set off particular actions. It’s a lot like lever-pulling and button-pushing in different video games, however with the defend working as a kind of middle-man. There’s additionally a dynamic day/evening cycle, which might be sped as much as support to find options.The puzzling is a bit easy, however these examples additionally characterize the sport’s very first head-scratchers, so hopefully they’re going to develop extra inventive and complicated deeper into the journey.

Fight behind the defend feels extra refined, as the protagonist can unleash primary bash assaults, as nicely as block, parry, and convey ache from above with aerial blows. Hurling the weapon mid-jump additionally slows the motion, permitting for some further technique and cinematic type. As with the platforming, combating is way extra rewarding when combining and chaining the varied choices in your arsenal.

And it appears there’ll be loads of potential in that regard, as The Knightling options an in depth combat-focused talent tree full of upgrades for the protagonist. Our demo doesn’t dig too deep into the development paths, however we’re capable of make investments some shiny, collected forex into a highly effective transfer dubbed the “Velocity Assault.” Leveraging the momentum of a shield-slide, we execute the maneuver to forcefully knock again targets with a collection of lightning-quick spin assaults.

Regardless of some finicky concentrating on, we’re capable of couple our default skills with this newly acquired talent to make mild work of low-level minions. That stated, we’re rapidly despatched packing upon encountering extra aggressive threats towards the top of our hands-on time. Whereas being diminished to pulp is rarely enjoyable, our unceremonious defeats verify the button-mashing that’d served us so nicely earlier didn’t characterize the extent of the fight’s depth. Upon respawning for the third time, we start adopting extra methods and techniques to take down bigger, sword-wielding enemies.

Sadly, even our extra considerate strategy to fight can’t save us from the primary armored attacker we meet. Swinging a respectable blade and sporting a beefy helmet, the baddie must have its armor knocked off earlier than we will convey it down. Sadly, our prior funding within the “Velocity Assault” doesn’t go away us sufficient coin to accumulate the improve essential to strip the foe of its defenses.

This disheartening realization quickly brings our preview to a shut, nevertheless it additionally hypes us up for our inevitable return to the Outskirts. Along with revisiting the talent tree with hindsight on our aspect – and demanding a rematch – we stay up for tackling another unfinished enterprise.

For starters, our time got here up simply as the story was getting good and the gameplay was evolving. It appears Sir Lionstone has set off on a very harmful quest, and his courageous apprentice is set to affix him. Doing so, nonetheless, requires the present of flight, a Magnus mod that seems to be subsequent on our to-do listing. Even higher, a second, shield-focused talent tree suggests the machine gained’t simply see us hovering, however will finally earn sufficient upgrades to disgrace a Swiss Military knife.

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After all, The Knightling’s proposed 15-hour marketing campaign additionally guarantees collectibles, aspect quests, and different actions that’ll little doubt be made extra absorbing when tackled with the Magnustego multi-tool. We will’t wait to search out out, and uncover all The Knightling has to supply when it lands – most likely earlier than Doom: The Darkish Ages – someday subsequent yr.