A Knight’s Quest | Xbox One Review

Disclaimer: Here at The Gaming Outsider, we try our best to “beat” a game before we review it in order to give it a fair shake. As of this review’s publishing, however, I have not yet completed A Knight’s Quest. As you’ll read below, I’ve had some frustrations with the game that have prevented me from rolling the credits just yet. If I’m able to cross that bridge, I’ll update my review to reflect any changes in my feelings towards the game.

Have you ever loved a series, but wished you could get a bite-sized, reimagined version of the game? When I saw the trailer for A Knight’s Quest from Sky 9 Games and Curve Digital, that’s exactly what I was hoping for. The game screams The Legend of Zelda for a number of reasons, and I eagerly awaited a similar experience. While this original adventure begins with a great amount of promise, it’s plagued by nonsensical issues that left a bad taste in my mouth. It’s worth checking out for the multiple moments of joy it provides, but be prepared for frustration if you plan to finish this adventure. Let’s find out why.

Stop Me If You’ve Heard This One

You play as Rusty, a red-haired kid in a colorful fantasy world. The game opens with Rusty discovering a purple crystal. As expected, he can’t keep his hands off the mysterious item and winds up unleashing an unknown force that sets the nearby town on edge. The town’s mayor tasks Rusty with seeking the help of three spirit guardians to rid the world of whatever evil he set free. Thus begins his adventure.

The formula may be familiar, but A Knight’s Quest is fresh in its tone. Despite its fantasy setting, the dialogue is very modern and witty. The characters are very well defined and speak in a very tongue-in-cheek manner. The charm is strong in this title, and it’s one of the game’s many strengths. I won’t go as far as to say I cared a great deal about the inhabitants of this world, but they definitely made me smile. The story, cliched as it may be, feels right for the developers were going for.

A Grand Adventure…At a Price

Even a casual glance at A Knight’s Quest should remind any Zelda fan of Ocarina of Time or Majora’s Mask. Rusty has a sword and shield, which he stows on his back. There are treasures chests hidden through its dungeons. There’s even abilities to acquire that help you progress through the world and uncover hidden items. It may not mimic those games as much as the Darksiders series, but it’s pretty close.

Still, Sky 9 Games packed in a lot of originality that is very welcome. For starters, there’s a much greater focus on platforming than any other 3-D Zelda title. To its credit, the mechanics are spot on. It looks like it will be more difficult than it actually is, and completing areas feels satisfying. There’s even a wall-run feature that reminded me of the Prince of Persia games. You’ll even get an ability to grind on rails to reach new areas.

The combat, which includes its own Z-targeting system, isn’t the least bit fun, however. At first, it’s very rudimentary. You simply hack at enemies until they’re defeated. Later on, the same enemies have elemental protection that must be broken with the corresponding elemental weapon before being able to do any real damage. It’s a clever way to complicate battles, but I found myself dreading encounters. They simply impeded my progress, and I found myself avoiding them whenever I could.

Deja Vu

My biggest issue with A Knight’s Quest is that it feels like the game doesn’t respect my time. At all. It should take 10-12 hours to complete the story, but there’s a great deal of unnecessary padding to make it appear lengthier than it actually is. The biggest offense is the fact that fast travel is locked until way later in the quest. Although you may see warp crystals scattered around the world, you won’t be able to use them until you receive a special item in the final third of the game. Even then, you still have to actually get to the warp locations in order to use them. It’s maddening and serves no purpose other than to force the player to walk to the same areas at least three times each.

On top of that, it feels like the game just refuses to end. On at least two different occasions, I thought I was in the end game. Since I had been spending an unnecessary amount of time traipsing from A to B, I was more than ready to be done. But no. It just keeps going and going. It’s like The Return of the King of video games. I would have enjoyed this title much more if it didn’t work so hard at wasting my time. Unlocking fast travel earlier in a patch would be a very welcome change, and one that I think is needed if they expect a good amount of people to finish.

A Knight’s Quest Final Verdict

If it sounds like I’m being overly negative about A Knight’s Quest, I don’t mean to be. There’s a lot to love in this game. The world is shockingly large and fun to explore once you have all the upgrades. There’s a ton of charm and love put into the world, the dungeons, and the traversal mechanics. I would even dare say that the music rivals some Final Fantasy scores. But I would only softly recommend, and that’s only if the fast travel were available earlier on and if the combat weren’t such a hindrance. I don’t expect it to be the next Zelda by any stretch of the imagination. But if you’re going to pay homage to a fantastic series like that one, you need to respect your player a bit more.

This review is based on an Xbox One copy of A Knight’s Quest provided by Home Run PR for coverage purposes. The game is also available on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and PC.