Let’s ride.
Knights and Bikes has gained a fair amount of attention since its Kickstarter campaign launched. This is hardly surprising, given that developer Foam Sword is a company comprised of creators who worked on the outstandingly original and fun titles LittleBigPlanet and Tearaway. It is immediately apparent this game is something of a melting pot: one need only to have played five minutes of either aforementioned game to notice their influence throughout the digital fabric of Knights and Bikes, in the form of the distinctive art style, sticker loot and co-op mechanics.
This game is set in 1980s Britain, on an island named Penfurzy. A self-proclaimed coming-of-age story, Knights and Bikes uses this setting to as a backdrop to explore the fantastical mind of young Demelza, and her burgeoning relationship with friend Nessa. A once thriving tourist attraction, Penfurzy has fallen on hard times as Demelza and her father struggle to adapt to a world that has seemingly forgotten their home. Demelza wants to go on quests with her friend Nessa, and appropriates aspects of the adult realities of her environment – economic decline and bereavement – to weave wild tales of adventure. These creative escapades feature knights, robots, and all sorts of whacky interludes; and form the background of the game’s primary quest: the hunt for Penfurzy’s lost treasure.
MSRP: $19.99
Platforms: PC, PS4
Thrill of the hunt
Nessa and Demelza pick up a variety of skills and items during the course of their treasure hunt that help them navigate simple puzzles and combat. These are an outlandishly varied mix including Frisbees, toilet plungers, water balloons and a boot stomp. Playing solo, the player can switch between the two at any time in order to take full advantage of each character’s playstyle. Using these different ‘weapons’ is satisfying; especially Nessa’s power move with the Frisbee. However, combat – such as it is – quickly becomes repetitive. Encounters with enemies are largely page breaks – a means of progressing the story. As such, they can sometimes drag on.
It goes without saying that the art style is something to behold. Visually, Knights and Bikes is a lovingly crafted game. At Penfurzy harbour – a beautifully crafted location clearly inspired by the British coast of Cornwall – Demelza and Nessa will start to encounter a varied bunch of characters; such as the too cool for school rocker who is too captivated by the latest release of her favourite punk band to talk with our adventurers. ‘Thatcher Out’ graffiti adorns the wall outside; a nod to the 1980s setting. The personalities of the characters and the player’s interactions with them are among Knights and Bikes more interesting moments. That said, it does often feel as though there isn’t much of a purpose to many of these interactions, other than to play a mini-game or just have a conversation for the sake of quirkiness. Too many of these tertiary background characters feel like scenery filler, as opposed to meaningful individuals.
Memories
Demelza and Nessa’s story of the friendship – of making sense of the world around them and trying to translate their experiences accordingly – is an appealing one. In particular, the moments in which the two try to sensitively discuss the death of a person close to Demelza are poignant and touching. Through this lens, the Penfurzy treasure hunt and its quest filled with knights, possessed golf balls, bewitched librarians, and robots can be read as the escapist fantasy of a child struggling to process her grief. It’s an interesting concept, and one which the video game medium is perfectly situated to explore. Unfortunately, the many moving parts of this narrative aren’t entirely sustainable and as a result, this concept gets lost in the noise.
Knights and Bikes feels like a game that’s pitched at ‘whimsical and delightful,’ but too often veers into nonsensical. There are too many disparate reference points for it to be charming; even though it attempts to ground itself in a moving family narrative that centres on the loss of a loved one and the struggle to carry on life in the wake of that absence. Nevertheless, the personalities of, and interactions between, Demelza and Nessa are by far the game’s strongest point.
Good, not great
All this is to say, Knights and Bikes is a game that struggles to showcase its own individuality and message. Narratively, it tries to do a little too much at once, which obscures the stronger parts of its story. Similarly, subconsciously or not, it leans heavily on the iconography of both Tearaway and LittleBigPlanet. There is nothing wrong with having a distinctive style – as noted, the team at Foam Sword have crafted a beautifully distinctive visual experience here. Unfortunately, it simply lacks the unique charm of those games.
Foam Sword has advertised Knights and Bikes as a Goonies-inspired adventure, but nostalgia is a tricky beast. A game steeped in imagination born from childhood memories requires the player to commit to this vision to get the most out of its story. Foam Sword’s attempt to pitch this vision of nostalgia and childhood as a universal one is not entirely successful – largely because memories and cultural experiences are not universal. Knights and Bikes did not entirely captivate me. That said, its sincere leading characters and exquisite art are certainly aspects to be admired.
Review copy of game provided by publisher.