Kill Knight Review

thesixthaxis.com:

Sometimes, video games are complicated pieces of art. They have multiple layers of intertwining mechanics and themes and inspirations that are almost impossible to summarize unless you open with “okay so, this is a lot but basically…” and pray the person you’re talking to is a really good listener. Other times, though, video games aren’t like that at all. They’re like Kill Knight. You’re a knight. You kill. Done. I didn’t realise how long it’s been since I’ve had a simple, smooth, endless action game to sink my teeth into, but Kill Knight quickly reminded me. Combining the addictive “one more run” mentality of Downwell and Devil Daggers with Hades-style lightning-reflex combat and a sleek yet violent aesthetic has resulted in one of the most electrifying games of the year.

There’s an obscure RPG-inspired artbook series I’m in love with called Vermis. Sold as a lost player guide to a forgotten roleplaying game, it’s full of haunting medieval-fantasy art where something is just always kind of… off. I’ve never seen that uncomfortable yet alluring aesthetic replicated anywhere else until I started playing Kill Knight. Menus and UI are sharp, yet the art and visual accompanying them give off a violent, zine-style setting where you have no idea where you are or what you’re doing but you still can’t help but love it. It’s a game full of barely comprehensible monster designs, equipment covered in spikes and blades, and menu backgrounds lifted straight from screen-printed sludge metal band shirts. I see a lot of new games come out where the mechanics are sharply defined or uniquely inventive, but they lack any sort of visual identity that matches that creativity. Kill Knight delivers on both.

Your goal is simple – survive wave-based combat in a constantly evolving arena, and if you do, you’ll unlock another arena with new visuals, enemies, and hazards to tackle. You’ve got a pretty simple set of abilities to use in order to achieve that, but they all feed into each other in a