The Knightling PS5 Review. Grab those Sabaton Shoes, it’s time for an aspiring knight to take up sword and shield to find his master, and all the while he’s a small armoured fish in a large pond-not just because the poor neophyte knight is embarking on an ambitious open-world adventure. Saber Interactive et al are venturing into perilous realms that reflect a certain enormous Nintendo franchise. The Knightling harnesses no shortness of ambition, but can this chivalrous chevalier fill the boots of its greater contemporaries, or does it require more training and a good knight’s sleep?
The Knightling Review – A Knightling’s Tale
The Knightling tells the story of a knight in training under the gallant mentorship of Sir Lionstone. Lionstone takes The Knightling under his wing early on, helping him progress to his destination and slay a mighty foe. However, one day Sir Lionstone disappears and The Knightling has no other choice but to speed up his experience and knowledge and take on the world to not only become the knight he always wanted to be, but to find his master in the wilderness.
Our spritely Knightling is a plucky chap, ready and eager to help out the local citizens with their needs and defending them from hostile creatures. He’s just a knight in training however, and after you depart from Sir Lionstone you’re learning how to acclimate with your spiffing new shield-knowing how to utilize it as a melee weapon, a ranged weapon, and a sled to slide gleefully down steep inclines with. The bond you have with your shield is a strong component to The Knightling, as it feels like a meaningful and reliable weapon with multi-purpose appeal.
While it is appreciable that our Knightling fellow is always at your service, the game itself isn’t exactly eager when it comes to serving up an immediately exciting adventure, preferring to push story beats further rather than throwing you into the world and forcing you to find your excitement.
The build is appreciable, but when you start your tale by following under the tutelage of Sir Lionstone, and then spend a lot of time learning and then solving the townfolks’ problems, it can feel too slow. Sure, it makes sense because a learner knight has to ascend with metaphoric training wheels on his metaphoric knight trike, but those looking for a more immediate experience will find themselves wanting.
A Good Knight
The Knightling is a steadily emergent adventure title, refusing to throw you out to the harshest lands expecting you to survive, instead choosing to be accommodating and easygoing, which despite its snail-paced acclimatization, is the right approach, and is backed up by its punchy combat, springy platforming and straightforward puzzles.
Nimble is an apt descriptor for The Knightling’s movements. The way he dodges out of enemy attacks is swift and smooth if timed properly, and he can defensively parry to keep scoundrels from becoming too overly aggressive. There’s nothing particularly outstanding about The Knightling’s zippiness, but he feels light enough and is readily enjoyable to control.
The sense of speed can be bolstered with purple mushroom-like jump pads that give boosts to bounds, and purple puddle-like splodges on the ground can provide a jolt of agility while sled-sliding on your shield. There’s a lovely, liberating and bouncy feel to it all, which wonderfully contrasts the heaviness of a traditional knight in shining armour.
Knightling’s movement is sleek outside of combat as well, capable of jumping up and onto platforms with a vaulting-like ease, generating a good feeling of verticality. His stealth ability is passable, but mostly because the enemy A.I’s docile walking back and forth behaviour makes it easy for him to slip by without notice.
Puzzles aren’t taxing either, and they usually involve moving boxes around to unlock gates and passages forward. Some puzzles maybe a dab obtuse at times, but they lend themselves coherently with the game’s accessible rhythm, meaning they might be a tad tough to figure out at times, but the solutions are usually easy if your grey matter is in-tune with how the game works.
Though you might assume The Knightling’s basic mechanics are dull and uneventful, it’s through this basic nature that The Knightling becomes fluid and fun to control because movement feels accessible and adaptable. No, The Knightling isn’t laying a new path, choosing to instead tread on some well-worn roads with its mechanics, but it is a serviceable open-world adventure game that is light and endearing enough for youngsters to relate to. The Knightling is childlike himself and is tasked to find his way, just like children will need to find their ways through the rigors of life without guidance at some point.
Adding to the fluffiness of it all is the simple but excellent sense that The Knightling is a perfect counterpart to his master Sir Lionstone. While Sir Lionstone is burly and strong, the Knightling is proportionately small, light on his feet, and can float through the air and skid along the floor with his shield-so of course he’s the perfect platforming hero for a child.
A Knightling In Shining Armour
These days there’s no getting away from comparison, and no denying that The Knightling draws inspiration from The Legend of Zelda franchise, so much so that The Knightling struggles to disassociate itself from it. Whether its the animation style or the open-world design, The Knightling does threaten to unfavourably brush itself up against Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, but admittedly it is far more accessible than either of them, and isn’t rife with complicated systems-it’s just a pleasantly easygoing experience.
While it might be annoying that characters speak like they have scarves covering their mouths, the characters and their voices are somewhat reminiscent of Banjo Kazooie and Yooka-Laylee, though they aren’t as irritable unless you don’t the sound of characters speaking in a muffled way towards each other. And yes, you’ll need to read the text boxes to understand what they are saying as well, which isn’t a huge issue, though proper dialogue without the text boxes would’ve been preferred.
As previously stated, the visuals hit close to what you see in the latest Zelda games, but they almost echo a Sly Raccoon-like quality about them, though that might be because of the blue of The Knightling’s attire and his face. Still, there are a lovely array of colours and glistening waters to admire as you explore the lands of Clessia.
Putting up a brave effort despite all odds, The Knightling is a valiant effort and is far more endearing that you might think. Like the protagonist itself, The Knightling is a small open-world adventure, but it is packed with meaningful quests, bouncy platforming and simple-yet-satisfying combat. Yes, The Knightling lacks new ideas and could be seen as too short and insignificant-but for a fleeting five or so hours, The Knightling is a small delight that deserves your attention.
The Knightling is out now on PS5, Xbox Series S/X, Nintendo Switch and PC.