The good and great:
- I love that players can add their own MIDI files and listen to their own songs. It's charming, while maintaining the N64's sound limitations.
- The visuals are so of-the-time it's incredible. The models, textures, and lighting are all basically perfect at evoking the N64 hardware.
- Good sound design is imperative for giving the player cues for them to respond to. Said design here is done immaculately while still being unique in how weighty it sounds.
- The challenges of this game are like puzzles, in a good way. Once the player has that "a-ha!" moment, it's all up to execution, which is, in all honesty, pretty fair.
Issues:
- Like puzzles, a lot of this game's challenges are also one-trick ponies that, while difficult on a first go, become a cake-walk on subsequent playthroughs. Souls-like games for example, rely on memorization, like Knight's Try. However, said moments of memorization are randomized in their order to keep players engaged and on their toes. This is why obstacles like the cannonballs and skeletons were so difficult for other players and me, because they forced the player to always pay attention. However, said cannonballs and skeletons are SO random that they have the opposite effect, being frustrating in their unpredictability.
- There is so much dead/open space. I get that the creator is trying to evoke Hyrule Field and the like, but sometimes it just feels gratuitous. The long dark hallway right before Checkpoint 4, for instance, is, again, a one-trick pony meant to build atmosphere that, on future playthroughs, is just a waste of 20-40 seconds that makes failure feel even more like a waste of time.
- The camera. It has a slight delay with player movement, making the player character rarely center-aligned, which can be disorienting. Additionally, the camera clipped through or got stuck on the environment on multiple occasions, often causing me to mess up a jump. This was especially the case after Checkpoint 1, with that ceiling right before the wooden posts.
- When you die, the camera will zip back from where you die to where you respawn, often making the player unable to see where they are for up to 3 seconds upon revival while the camera clips through walls and objects without a care. That is, unless the player presses the left trigger, which will instantly teleport the camera to where they respawn. At that point, why not just teleport the camera to get us back in the action faster?
- Options reset every time the game is closed, often leading to my ears bleeding whenever I try playing my own music in another window before turning on the game.
- The player knight's repeated CLINGING and CLANGING sound effects when they move and jump can get pretty grating.
Recommendations:
- The singular stage's design is more evocative of a Mario Maker level, in the sense that its assets feel as if they're being used for a more malicious purpose. With how smooth and finely-tuned the controls feel, I would love to put them to use in a less haphazard environment.
- Either get rid of long stretches of land, or add some wind that pushes the player through faster, so said stretches don't drag on or overstay their welcome.
- Don't have the camera zip back to a checkpoint. Instead, try having it teleport back. If that seems too quick, then another option would be to use a sped-up version of the knight helmet iris-out transition already used for environment changes.
- Options save on exits.
Verdict:
Despite this game's many problems, I had a pretty good time. Granted, I say this as someone who was once addicted to The World's Hardest Game, so take what I say with a grain of salt. And if you're someone who is above average when it comes to platformers, give this a go.
