At the end of November of last year, the last jewel of 2022 arrived, as we saw the launch of Knight Witch on Nintendo Switch and Steam on PC, followed by PlayStation and Xbox consoles a few days later. Some time has passed since its launch and after having finished it at 97.7% I can say that it was the last gem that left us last year and here I will tell you why.
The Knight Witch is a new kind of metroidvaniabecause it combines the combat of the games bullet hell with type card abilities RPG for an experience that feels truly unique. However, The Knight Witch is not just an interesting mix of genres, as the developers of Super Mega Team They can boast of having done everything they set out to do well.
The Knight Witch is one of those cases in which while you play you realize the effort that its developers put into it, since each game mechanic, level design and even the way in which its story unfolds seem designed to maximize the “fun” factor. , removing all the fluff that could bore players or make the experience more tedious.
A full-fledged Metroidvania
The Knight Witch presents a story set in a magical world, on a planet whose surface is left uninhabitable after years of depleting its resources and as a result of a long war. In the prologue we see the end of said war, in addition to serving to present the abilities that we will have later by letting us play with a more powerful Knight Witch, something common in games of the Metroidvania genre.
After this we meet Rayne, a former Knight Witch candidate who lives a peaceful life with her husband until another invasion of the War Golems happens. This time Rayne must become a Knight Witch to find her husband, protect the people from her and repel the invasion of Golems, because something strange is happening with the original Knight Witches. In this way, the game shows us how we will be when we become powerful before making us start from scratch.
The structure of The Knight Witch follows that established by the best metroidvanias, with areas that reward your exploration and new areas that are unlocked as you gain new abilities. The main difference of The Knight Witch with other games of the genre is its combat, because by having a bullet hell-type gameplay we can explore the maps with more freedom than ever, although danger will follow us at every corner.
The Knight Witch has everything we can expect from a Metroidvania and the best thing is that everything feels well done, from its exploration and collectibles to clichés like the aforementioned prologue or an escape section, although all done in a way that feels natural within the game. The Knight Witch is full of secrets and the best thing is that the game leaves enough clues to discover them, but not too many to solve the puzzles for us.
A story that inspires you to get the true ending
The Knight Witch not only has very interesting gameplay, it also has a very good way of integrating its story into the gameplay. In the world of The Knight Witch, witches obtain their powers thanks to the linksa magical power that binds them to the people they have saved and transmits their strength to them, something like a passive genkidama.
You can rescue citizens locked in cages around the map to increase your link and level upalthough this is not the only way. In the plot there will be moments in which Rayne, the protagonist, communicates to the people of her city, where you can choose to tell the truth or tell white lies to keep everyone happy and quickly increase your Link.
In the event that you decide to tell the truth, your speeches will not generate much Link, but there is a system that allows us to spend the money obtained in our adventures to improve the quality of life of citizens, increasing the Link in this other way. Of course, this option is more difficult since it makes you defeat more enemies to obtain the money necessary to buy the upgrades, but it is worth it to stay consistent with what the story of the game presents us with.
This multiple-choice system, where you can either lie and take the easy way out or tell the truth and try harder, connects perfectly with the way The Knight Witch approaches multiple endings in a Metroidvania, because without doing spoilers I will say that the “bad ending” really motivates you not to leave things as they are and to put 100% in to get the true ending.
A game that motivates you to improve
In reality, all of The Knight Witch is designed to motivate you to search for 100%, as the game offers you many options to play as best suits you and even has a Cheats section that works in a very interesting way. The cheat system works with a four-symbol password that you can figure out on your own, so it can be treated like a minigame, and its effects can make a huge difference to gameplay.
Some of the tricks we find help us to have unlimited mana, get double crystals or more life units, which can make The Knight Witch easier in case you find it very difficult. Honestly, The Knight Witch is one of the most difficult metroidvanias that I have played in a long time but at no time does it feel unfair, precisely because of the number of options it presents to the player.
The perfect example of this is the automatic aiming system offered by The Knight Witch, because having to explore a labyrinthine map while shooting and being shot from all directions it is possible to get lost with what is happening on the screen. For such instances, it’s possible to drop the left stick to just focus on movement, with Rayne auto-targeting the closest enemies but slowing down her damage.
The Knight Witch is difficult, but not impossible
The Knight Witch is hard and it is not afraid of being so, but at the same time it offers us options to reduce its difficulty in the case of feeling that we are not up to the challenge. With the exception of the final boss, I think the entire game can be passed without the need to use cheats, and even the final boss can be beaten without cheats if you get the necessary skill.
Apart from the cheats, the best way to “lower” the difficulty of The Knight Witch is by obtaining the items collectibles, because they all serve to increase your power in one way or another. The prisoners that you free increase your Link level, which in turn is used to level up, but we can also find Y Coins for Lord Yupi to give us additional magic cards, recipes for the necro-pastry chefs to build you better armor and a few secondary missions that they increase what you can do on the map.
the deck of Magic cards offered by The Knight Witch also allows us to expand our playstyle quite a bit, as each card offers a different effect and these range from new types of shots to extremely powerful summons and area attacks. As you progress in the game you will be able to equip more cards to expand your strategies, which is necessary given the high difficulty.
Visually The Knight Witch looks spectacular and its character design is very good, as well as its stage design, since each one feels like a totally different place and its variety of enemies doesn’t disappoint at all. The soundtrack of The Knight Witch is also very good, so in terms of presentation it has nothing to ask of other games in the genre.
Verdict: A new metroidvania that does everything right.
Without a doubt The Knight Witch was the last jewel that 2022 left us, because in addition to proposing a new way of playing Metroidvania, it can boast of being a video game that does everything right, from its gameplay to its presentation and history. If you want to get an idea of how The Knight Witch is played, I recommend that you download its demo, because only then will you be able to know why this combination of metroidvania, bullet hells and RPGs works so well.
The Knight Witch is available on Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PS4, PlayStation 5, and Steam on PC.
The good:
- Great bullet hell type gameplay
- Excellent Metroidvania-like map design
- High difficulty that forces you to get good or explore new options
- Plenty of play style options thanks to its magic cards and tricks
- Entertaining story with multiple endings
What could improve:
- A minor bug in ganks prevents them from being completed occasionally.
