Every moment in a game is a decision. Granted, sometimes that decision is “I’m going to stand here and check out the view,” but in combat the options tend to be attack, defend and avoid. In the best games there’s a good number of ways to do each of those options, with frequently no clear line between one and the other, but there’s generally a clear flow to combat that’s going to work best in most situations. Dial in that multi-hit combo, learn to read different enemies' tells and sink into the rhythm of the fight to emerge victorious. That’s not going to work too well inShady Knight, though, because while it’s possible to grab a sword and beat on every enemy you see, the game does everything in its power to encourage discovering how all its moves can chain together to turn combat into violence-parkour.
When Every Tool And Move Needs To Be a Multitasker
At the start you’ve got every single power and ability you’re going to have throughout the entire game, but without the experience to understand how everything works. Trapped in a tower by a dark knight, you’ll need to break out through a series of short tutorial missions that go over the basics and provide opportunities to learn the subtleties ofShady Knight’s actions. The first-person action is as much about movement as it is hitting things, and both features are used in multiple ways.
Shady Knight Fully Embraces its Hi-Res PS1 Art Style
The chain-dagger, for example, latches on to green rings and pulls you to them, but will also yank enemies and environmental objects into the air. The slide covers ground quickly and is great when paired with a jump for clearing large gaps, but also acts as a dodge to go under certain enemies' moves while chaining nicely into a kick to send things flying. The kick can be used on enemies and the walls, great for bouncing up a bit higher, but also useful for kicking a sword into the air and then straight into a black knight’s face. Even something as simple as picking up a weapon is a move with mobility options, with the weapons dash featured in more than a few towers where one is hovering in mid-air and needs to be used to generate momentum to clear the jump. Every move has multiple features, andShady Knightis clear that it’s going to leave a good amount of them up for the player to discover.
Thankfully there’s lots of room for discovery, thanks to each level being a short tower designed around a handful of encounters. They’re by no means easy, and the later ones will take a good dozen attempts or more to get through, but there’s a logical flow to the action. One tower may teach the intricacies of the chain-whip jump, using it not just for climbing but also zipping across the level to get some distance from a crowded encounter, or releasing swinging crates that are a great amount of fun to tempt the enemy knights into the path of. The scenery doesn’t change much from one level to the next, but the challenge keeps refreshing itself, and frequently getting through teaches a new combat or traversal tool that can improve the score in earlier levels. TheShady Knightspeed-runs are going to be incredible to watch and most likely feel like almost a different game from what I’ve been playing.
While it’s possible to grab a sword and beat on every enemy you see, the game does everything in its power to encourage discovering how all its moves can chain together to turn combat into violence-parkour.
Going fast and looking stylish, though, are going to require equal parts physical as mental dexterity due to a control scheme that can take a bit to come to grips with.Shady Knightcan be played with a controller, but being in first-person and with the speed it wants to deal with threats, mouse and keyboard is probably best, and that’s going to give your hands a workout. The standard WASD is movement, of course, and the ever-reliable space bar is jumping, but there’s also the kick on the E key, chain-dagger on Q, slide is Ctrl, shift is the weapon-dash, plus left mouse button to attack and right mouse button to throw your weapon. It’s not a lot on the face of it until it’s time to put everything together in a high-speed dance of jump, kick, slide and throw, at which point it’s easy to die due to hitting capslock rather than shift, or fall off the tower due to forgetting the chain-whip is tap to send flying and release to latch on.
Usually A Good Challenge, Sometimes Just Hard
Most of the towers are short enough that retrying is no big deal, and only a few have the exit locked so that you need to kill all the enemies rather than run on past when the challenge is a bit much. As the game progresses, though, more towers need to be gotten through not only on a single life (that can end in two hits in quick succession with no invulnerability frames) but also without falling into the water. Usually falling just sets the knight back at a checkpoint, but some towers set him back at the start instead, and the ones where near-perfection is needed can inspire a rage quit or two. This isn’t helped by having multiple paths upwards which might be nice to explore rather than sticking to the safest route, which is already dangerous enough with the enemies. There’s a place for “get good,” but it shouldn’t be at the expense of playfulness or curiosity.
Closing Comments:
Shady Knighthas come a long way since its early days, back when the enemies were blocky and the move-set still coming together. The action was impressive then and it hasn’t toned down any in the intervening years, and every trick and technique will be necessary to survive. The black knight’s minions are tough and fast, but even unarmed the combination of kicks, environmental hazards, chain grapple, and aerial moves can take any of them down. Weapons are cheap and disposable because in the hands of a trained knight everything is deadly, and the towers ofShady Knightare strong enough to need every advantage possible to reach the top.
Shady Knight
Version Reviewed: PC
A lone knight tears through a series of towers using parkour and combat skills interchangeably. Most abilities are used to for both fighting and parkour, making for free-flowing action that never fails to look as cool as it feels.
