More and more often my trust, in choosing a title to play or review, falls on the publisher rather than on the development studio behind the title. Too much cocent have been, in the past years, the burns suffered with Bioware and its Anthem or DICE and its latest "Battlefield" (what happens, both directed by EA... but we do not open this chapter).
And if I have never hidden my love for all that Digital Developer i have to say that, lately, team17 is making its way to my "videoludic heart". Just recently I found myself reviewing Ship of Fools, a funny cooperative roguelite, and always on the lids of Kotaworld, you can find, for example, our opinions on excellent titles such as Sunday Gold or Marauders.
In short, publishers pointing on fresh products, made with passion, that mix and reinvent genera, that free us from the usual hegemony of AAA copy-paste produced by multinationals than video players must respond to their shareholders.
With The Knight Witch, Team17 he went back to center. And how could it be wrong when the development study behind this mashup of Metroidvania and Bullet Hell shmup as well as Deck Builder his name is Super Awesome Hyper Dimensional Mega Team?
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The Battle of Heaven
It's past 14 years from what, to all, seemed the Apocalypse: in the name of progress and technological progress daigadai house it dominated the whole kingdom, committing unspeakable acts against its subjects and ecosystem thanks to an indestructible mechanical golem fleet, or almost.
To protect Children of Gaia, i.e. those who opposed the destruction of the environment in favour of mechanical evolution, encourage the development of the environment Knight Witch, four formidable warriors able to fly and unleash powerful magic that can decimate the armed legions of the Daigadai. Faruru, Sykra, Irine and Robyn, the strongest of the quartet, get their strength from the so-called "Link", that is the trust and hope that the people feed towards them.
The Battle of Heaven Infranto and the fall of the house of the Daigadai sanction, in fact, the end of hostilities, but at a terrible price: a tear in the sky prevents life on the surface, with the surviving population forced to take refuge in a system of underground caverns built by the ancient people of Hexkari, system that will soon become a real city by the name of Dungeonidas.
Here begins our history, or rather, that of Rayne a Knight Witch in that, despite being subjected to the same training of the four famous Knight Witch, he did not participate in the Battle of Heaven Infranto being repudiated by the group and losing the chance to become a real Strega Knight (as it sounds bad in Italian). Rayne, however, seems to have been behind those days and now she brings a happy life with her husband.
This until, from nothing, the golems make their mysterious reappearance.
To guide them Kalypso Daigadai, proclaimed descendant of Erebus, the commander as well leader of the house defeated 14 years earlier by Robyn, and now back to office to get his revenge. With the four Knight Witch unable to fight, who if not Rayne, the "Knight Witch failed" can stop what a real genocide of the population of Dungeonidas is predicted?
I admit it: in the beginning i had underestimated the plot, on the other hand, how mainstream can be a good story of rivalry by theunderdog in turn? But I have to say the developments of the plot surprised me, hiding in the final a depth and plot twist that, although they did not properly leave me open, were the fuel necessary to push me towards the end of the game to see the final, cursed several times the whole calendar because of a small small problem we'll be right down here.
Are you ready, Miyazaki?
OH, MY GOD. I didn't expect to be in front of one non canonic spin-off of Dark Souls. On the other hand, how do you expect it when the beautiful settings and characters made with handmade drawings (and the same page Steam of the title) do not suggest: hey, play me, "you can adapt the game to your skill level. " page Steam officer.
Never words were more false than these. But let's go straight.
The Knight Witch starts also with the right foot: a short level where Rayne shines his fighting skills, the player who slowly learns how to move into the game environment and defend himself from the threats that stand before him and finally the official crown as new Knight Witch of Dungeonidasi'm having fun!
Rayne can shoot a magic bullet that will represent our standard weapon: directing it with the right stick we will give it more strength, but thanks to its magical abilities, Rayne is also able to "Turn with instinct", basically allowing you to concentrate only on shooting and leaving the automatic lock of the enemies to our butcher, obviously at the cost of loss of power by the arcane bullet. But know that technique will be useless for most game sections seen the small damage able to inflict in front of enemies who are real "bullet-sponges.".
The interesting addition of Super Mega Team to the game formula is that of Deck Building: Rayne will have at her disposal a grimoire of magic cards, that it will be possible to expand in the course of the adventure, with which to form a bouquet that will be possible to launch and that will in fact constitute the main source of damage of our Knight Witch.
The problems of this system are basically two: the first is the randomness of cards that "we will fish", which will be able to put us in serious difficulty if we will not have the right cards at the right time; the second is closely linked to the first and is the mana scarcity available for Rayne, mana that can only be recovered by damaging and killing enemies...but if I don't have the right cards to do so at the right time, how do I do? Uh, good question, write me if you find the answer.
But no, I'm joking, the answer is: just open the pause menu to notice among the various voices a nice "cheats" and click on it. A screen will open where, combining 4 symbols in various correct sequences will unlock real tricks for the game (a little like those of San Andreas of old times...ah I can't, too many memories). We're going infinite life to the infinite mana passing by other "raggiri" to the game that simplify it tremendously.
But if this must be the solution to the intrinsic difficulty of the game, then there is something wrong with game design.
At the end of every mission we will be assigned, Rayne as a champion of the court of Dungeonidas, will be called to lead a real press conference in front of the people to gain consent, consequently Link, as a result of power, represented by progression in levels that will allow us to grow two distinct passive skill trees: the one from Knight (more HP, more bullet damage etc...) and, but think a little, the one from Witch (more card availability in the deck, more mana etc...).
It is also interesting to answer the questions asked by En (practically our personal PR manager) in two different ways: one more consistent with the reality of the facts that will make us gain less Link, one instead more mistifying the reality, but galvanizing the audience and therefore source more Link. An uncomfortable truth or a good lie? Your choice. .
A hard rollercoaster
If basic The Knight Witch cannot be considered a game "for all", what really put at risk the integrity of my joystick is the fearful as frustrating difficulty level ups-downs throughout the adventure.
The peaks of bestem...ehm of difficulty can be reached not so much during the Boss-fights as during the Imboscate, pictures in which the exits from the room will be blocked and we will be assaulted by progressive hordes of enemies to fight with narrow space of manoeuvre and extremely limited resources. There are some that, I swear, I had to try again dozens of times without ever popping up, sometimes even with active cheats (called me pippa, I will accept it, but only after seeing you play).
I thought the good Croix it was clear in his video a few years ago listed the things he hates in the game: water levels do not change.
But how can you developer instruct me to the gameplay of your game made of rapid mobility of my character, of possibility to shoot at 360 degrees, to dodge the blows thanks to the "teleportation" rapid infinite... and then in the second level you throw me into a submarine forcing me to underwater sections where not only my mobility is extremely castrated, but also my offensive ability is seen that i can shoot only in two directions?
At least in Super Mario 64, in times, the good Shigeru Miyamoto instructed the master Koji Kondo to realize the wonderful "Dire Dire Docks" surely because he understood, as a smart and serious man, the level of stress caused in the player by that cursed underwater level and by that giant murena that still torments my dreams.
Those were good times. Those were good games.
Technically speaking
We tested The Knight Witch on the following configuration:
AMD Ryzen 7 3700x @ 3.60 GHz
Gigabyte RTX AORUS Master 3080 Ti 12Gb
Corsair Vengeance RGB RT 32GB DDR4 3600MHz
LG 34GN850 resolution monitor 3440x1440 (21:9)
There is not much to report if not the absence (now date for granted regardless of subscriber) of a true ultra-wide mode. What I mean is that the game, wanting, can be played in ultra-wide, sacrificing however much of the interface and visual active of the screen, so it is necessary to limit itself to a 1440p with black bands, that bitterness.
For the rest there are no technical problems worthy of note, indeed we have greatly appreciated the artistic direction of the title and the fact that it is localized in italian, even discreetly correct.
The music, however not quite unforgettable, do their discreet duty and accompany us in all 15-20 hours necessary to complete the title.
In conclusion
Yes, it is, i was probably a little too hard on The Knight Witch, a game that, ultimately, unexpected difficulties apart, i had fun and got involved also proposing dialogues from the humor intelligent and original gameplay combinations at least.
In addition to this plot that i initially had underestimated and that it has been towed in the final part of the game as well as the availability of the "cheats" that, i regret to say, i had to inevitably activate to preserve the integrity of my poor controller, that otherwise would have flown out the window before ending this review.
It is worth spending about 20€ for this title? Depends, you must be aware of what you are buying and what you are going to meet: a hell of bullets and death disguised as a bucolic landscape.
