A Knight Never Yields isn’t a game that will change your life or entertain you for hours, but it’s a quirky little game that’ll make you feel good.
A Knight Never Yields was given to me by Indie Gamer Chick (Thanks Cathy if you’re reading this, you’re one of my favorite people!)
This game is a side-scrolling adventure, action-platformer game that features very conventional platforming mechanics but with an unexpected twist. This review is gonna be a short one because the game is only about two hours long. Let’s dive in.
Story – There Isn’t Much of It, but It’s Kind of Profound
You’re a boy aptly named “the Kid.” You wander into a mysterious castle after you get lost in the forest one day. You don’t remember how you got there. One minute you were wandering through the forest, minding your own business. The next minute, you’re enveloped by darkness.
You’re taken to the Castle of the Blind Knight. A mysterious Shrouded Man becomes your guide and tells you that you will eventually be enveloped by darkness and never able to see again. All who are enveloped by the darkness make their way to the castle. The castle is designed to help them live with it.
You don’t take this well. Being blind sucks, but it’s especially a problem for you because you like painting.
The castle is littered with floor spikes, buzzsaws, swinging traps, and all that ggood stuff. You’re mission as the Blind Knight is to storm the castle and make it to the other side. Pretty standard medieval fantasy adventure stuff so far.
The catch? Once you make it to the other side, you have to do it again. Blindfolded.
That’s the core gameplay loop. Do the death-trap obstacle course once with your eyes open, then again with your eyes closed.
A Knight Never Yields makes you see with your other senses. And by your other senses I pretty much mean just your ears.
A Fun Little Action Romp That Will Last You A Few Hours
Mechanically, A Knight Never Yields is a platformer rhythm game.
You have to complete every trial at least twice. Once with your eyes open. Once with your eyes closed, and your helmet visor over your eyes.
You’re not completely blind. You’re given a cube that pulsates in time to the music, and lets you “hear and feel the castle.” You’ll also hear musical cues and the noises of the things around you as you storm the castle from left to right.
Every few rounds you’re given a new mechanic: a double-jump, a sword, a shield etc.
A Simple Story and Fun Gameplay With A Good Lesson
A Knight Never Yields is a fun little mini-example of a game that seamlessly interweaves story with gameplay. This is a game about learning to overcome your shortcomings, and of learning to deal with bad situations as well you can. Sometimes, bad things happen and there’s really not a lot you can do about it.
You can get resentful. You can shut people out. You can give in to despair. Or, you can choose to make the best out of the situation. It’s really up to you.
In fact, The Kid does all of these things through the course of the game, but ultimately realizes that his forthcoming blindness is just the beginning of a new chapter in his life.
A Knight Never Yields is a cute little game about perseverance in the face of adversity and of dealing with unfortunate circumstances.
It won’t last you very long, but at a $6.99 price tag there’s no real reason why I shouldn’t recommend it. And I do.
It has a pretty catchy tagline too. “Blindness is not the end of it.” Games never have taglines anymore. Why is that? You can support the developers by following Bread Over Games on Twitter or purchasing it on Steam.
