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 Information
| Release Date: | August 28, 2007 | | Rank: | 371 (136 in PC) | | Rating: |
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| Cheats: | None available |
Reviews Amazing, hypnotic, remarkable - and still, a simple 2D platformer, August 15, 2008 Rating: 9.3/10 By PiJaMar Most of the good, remarkable games are fun for obvious reasons. Stunning graphics, innovative gameplay, dense storytelling. Usually, it´s easy to point out the best aspects about a classic game. But a few special titles are not like that. You´ll probably remember that awkward-looking toy that made you happy like a puppy for no particular reason when you were a kid, and I know the same thing happened a few years later with a couple of games. Knytt Stories is one of those games.
Hypnotizing is the word for it. I came to stumble accidentally upon that little piece of electronic entertainment - one guy posted “Hey, guys, you should give this game a try. It´s the best” in a card game message board I often read, making me freaking curious. Well, the game isfree, so I took no time deciding what to do next, and a few minutes later Knytt Stories was downloaded, installed and my life was never the same. After that, I simply had no choice but play the thing for hours and while it absorbed second after second of my time, I kept thinking “Why is this so AMAZING?!”.
It´s never quite finished
About the game
Yeah, run towards it and you´re toast.
2D PlatformerKnytt Stories is one of these simple PC games, product of one evil mind, swedish Nicklas Nygren, a.k.a. Nifflas, and is, with no doubt, a piece of art. One special thing about it is that it was developed entirely on Multimedia Fusion 2, a visual programming tool for designers who hate writing lines of code. To be honest, I would NEVER think something thatgood could come from Multimedia Fusion. It is so good to be wrong.
The game is everything a platform adventure game should be – atmospheric, intuitive, and insanely fun. It´s concept is as simple as it gets, but almost limitlessly complex. You play as a long-haired skinny girl that could, and the storyline is minimalistic, but more than enough. In the first episode, the main character receives a weird letter that turns out to be a call to a real adventure - she must save the world from a machine built to end all life. It takes about 4 hours to finish it, but you can download additional levels on the website, or even design your own little Knytt stories with the level editor that comes with the software. Thanks to that, a huge collection of player-made episodes is available online, and most of them are surprisingly good.
The little gal that could
Gameplay
Crazy power-ups will make you go “weeee”.
Knytt Stories´ gameplay is power-up based, which gives it a puzzle-like feel. Your character starts out as a dull jumper, but as the game advances, you´ll need to collect all sorts of gadgets, to be able to do all kinds of cool stunts, such as dashing, double-jumping, detecting enemies and secret entrances, climbing walls, seeing invisible stuff and making a holographic copy of yourself to deceive the bad guys (cool!). You´ll have a vast world to travel around searching for these little power-ups, and when you do, they will grant you access to new areas, and trust me – it is as exciting as it gets. Enemies are out to get you and every one of them is funny looking and creative, some of them will require secific power-ups to go through. You will not kill enemies, better point out now, but will have a lot of work in avoiding and escaping from them.
There are flashy save points to help you along, so if you ever get lost you could simply press CTRL+R and go back. To clarify all things, Knytt Stories has a very intuitive tutorial that will give you everything you need to start adventuring.
Let yourself be taken
Graphics & Sound
Take a moment to enjoy the sight before going back to save the world.
The soundtrack, by Nygren himself, is beyond words. Plug an earphone in your PC and you´re definitely in for a treat. The designer was able to fit the music perfectly in the game, by changing it accordingly every time you reach a new area. This gives the perfect sense of actually going through a real adventure.
Also, one must not allow him or herself to be mistaken by the simplistic, 2D artwork. Here, the graphics were created carefully to achieve one of the most cinematographic experiences I´ve ever had while playing a game – last generation console games included. The characters are greatly animated, and the perfect synch with the sound effects makes the effort for every simple maneuver worthwhile. You will find yourself double jumping around only because it´s fun. The way you control your character is something like playing with action figures (since the game has nothing of realistic), and that is not the only comparison you will find yourself making with your childhood while playing Knytt Stories. The game will take you somewhere fantastic and is a lot toy-ish.
Dream-like and unforgettable
Last words
Well, are you looking for a flaw? Yes, there is one. The game is quite short, and even though you can download additional Episodes, I felt like I wanted a few more hours with that particular story, even after I found all the secrets.
Knytt Stories is hypnotizing. It´s atmospheric like a dream and insanely well developed. It is simple, but accomplishes everything it should accomplish. It is without a doubt remarkable. But why is that?
We tend to over-analyze stuff. I think it´s part of us as humans. Why do we get that weird but cozy feeling when it rains? Or why does our mother´s homemade brownie smell better than every other brownie we´ll ever taste? I´m sure there are answers for questions such as these, but are they really needed? Well, back to one – this is a game review, then absolutely yes.
For me, the greatest aspect of Knytt Stories is how I´m taken by him. I´d like to compare the game to a dream again, because it seems so right. Once you´re there, you are bonded to it. As in a dream, the game will draw you in and make you anxious to find out what´s next. It will surprise you, maybe sometimes scare you a little, but mostly, it will amaze you. I believe that if a simple platform PC game is able to absorb the player into it like Knytt Stories does, then it´s a classic.
I said “for me” up there because I think you should figure what is the greatest aspect of the game yourself. Go to Nifflas Games website, download the game and get ready.
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