➤ Knighthood, the review 🎮

After almost two years in soft-launch, King's fantasy RPG arrives in definitive form and we are therefore faced with the Knighthood review, which explains that the expectations for the game were largely well placed. First of all, there is a premise to be made: it is another matter RPG mobile free-to-play with microtransactions and elements that can be traced back to the gacha mechanics, moreover developed by a mobile gaming giant with easy monetization like King. Knowing a little about the environment and the genre in question, there is to be super suspicious about this game, and it is therefore with great surprise that we discover how instead Knighthood works very well and can also attract those who can no longer even hear the game. smell of mobile RPGs of this type. This is because, in fact, it is a game that on the whole can be considered decidedly different from the standard of role-playing games seen on smartphones these days, demonstrating a remarkable study carried out on game design and progressive mechanics that push us to bind us to this kind of gameplay.

In the role of a new Rage Knight, or Knight of Fury, we are directed towards the art of combat by a veteran warrior who launches us on the great adventure of saving the known world from the threat of a dark power, which has corrupted even great knights a valiant time. There isn't much room for it history in Knighthood, because basically it is about advancing from battle to battle by opening new roads on the map and reaching other environments, all inserted in a constant progression that is reflected in the increase in experience levels, the prestige and power of weapons and armor and in the rarity and power of allied heroes that we can deploy alongside us. However, this insistence on fighting, loot and stat boosting works, because it is embedded in a game structure that is mechanical but not too mechanistic, also leaving room for the player and his choices in the combat system and in the management of the players. personages. There is a moment when you find yourself bumping into the wall of microtransactions, in particular due to the stamina that in the long run becomes a problem when the missions start to require a lot of energy points, but if you manage to dose the matches and not get too caught up in the competition in PvP, it is possible to face the game without the hassle of additional payments.

The first thing that strikes you about Knighthood is its characterization graphics, with an extremely clean and coherent pseudo low-poly style, somewhat reminiscent of Ashen, even if here everything is much more detailed and above all with an almost humorous vein in cartoon stylization. However, it is clear that the production value is considerable, for a game in which King wanted to invest heavily. We are well above the average standard of mobile productions, in terms of artistic direction and stylistic coherence, elements that only increase the attractiveness for this title. The downside, with a technical realization of this caliber, is the fact that smartphones tend to go under stress, heating up and consuming the battery considerably.

The hard life of the raging knight

Knighthood mostly takes place on one map divided into different areas, which can be explored through paths dotted with points of interest: usually these are combat areas but in some cases we have to do with villages where to make provisions and buy weapons and armor or meet NPCs who assign us secondary quests. We are not mistaken: the game always requires us to face clashes that always take place in the same way, even with opponents that have numerous variations, but the demands that are placed on us manage to make the action a little varied. There are, for example, the hunting areas, in which we can obtain numerous special materials to enhance the equipment, or special requests may arise with the need to take down particular enemies that infest certain areas in the various territories.

Whatever the pretext, the gameplay however, it is based on combat, which follows a very precise structure: within different scenarios we find ourselves fighting teams of enemies made up of various types of creatures, each requiring a particular approach in terms of weapons and skills to be used. A Knight of Fury, who is the protagonist of the game, is distinguished by the use of a special glove that is added to the standard equipment, with which it is possible to directly attack enemies as a weapon but above all to summon the support of two heroes that act as real elements of the party, fighting alongside us with their weapons and special abilities, which can have specific advantages on certain types of enemies. These heroes animate the gacha element of Knighthood, since their unlocking depends on the conquest of certain crystals that are found as loot, linked in particular to the opening of chests that can also be purchased through gems, or the in-game currency. The specific characteristics of the various characters and the possibility of having many different skills to choose from, starting from the pool of unlocked heroes, make this summoning system interesting, which to tell the truth does not even seem too focused on pay to win, given that the drop rate of the crystals is low but also balanced, at least in the first phase of the game.

On the battlefield we have to face three progressive waves of enemies with increasing difficulty and in some cases with a real boss at the end. The combat system is simplified as befits a mobile RPG but still requires a minimum strategic approach: it involves touching the enemy to attack with the classic weapon (there are a large quantity and different types to buy or find in the loot) or with the glove, or make the heroes attack by touching the corresponding icon, which charges as the fight progresses and requires a certain period of cooldown after use. By charging the Fury bar it is then possible to launch a special attack with the support of one of the two heroes at our side, with different effects based on the characteristics of the latter. The depth of the system derives from a certain strategic approach to battle: it is in fact necessary to choose the right heroes with the specific abilities that have the greatest effect against certain types of enemies, as well as the most suitable equipment for each fight. For this reason, before each battle, you access a preparation screen in which the types of enemies we will face are indicated and we therefore have the possibility to modify weapons, armor and support heroes in order to have the best chance of success.

To vary the action it is also possible to try your hand at multiplayer PvP inside the arena, where it is possible to take part in clashes on average much more demanding than the standard ones, having to face a knight with heroes in tow and support monsters. This mode also introduces an additional mechanic linked to the capture and training of monsters that deepens the gameplay even more, even if this is obviously the privileged field to unleash the pay to win effect, unfortunately.

Comment

Tested version Android, iPad 1.1.3 Digital Delivery App Store, Google Play Price Free Resources4Gaming.com

7.5

Readers (4)

8.3

Your vote

There is a playful soul inside this King's title, which clearly emerges from the very beginning and pushes us to keep going for a long time. This is the fundamental difference between Knighthood and many other mobile RPGs that have passed through these parts recently: the active part of the player has a considerable weight in the general economy, although this is still tending to the continuous pursuit of the accumulation of experience and loot. . The combat and management system of knight and heroes brings out a greater degree of initiative, which makes the player the driving force of the action, more than mere cogs. Despite the inevitable repetition, the clashes are easily stimulating and the amount of power-ups and heroes to be collected is enough to keep the interest high for a good amount of hours, although the pay-to-win elements may start to appear in the long run.