Ember Knights Nintendo Switch Review

There is always something to look forward to with roguelike games. Each one brings something different to the table and they almost always provide players with near-endless experiences through their limitless gameplay loops. The genre has expanded to a point where there are several styles of roguelikes, whether it is a platformer, a shooter, or something more classic like a dungeon crawler. Ember Knights is a newcomer in the ring of roguelikes, and what it brings feels familiar but fresh at the same time.
 

 

The developers at Doom Turtle recently celebrated the 1.0 release of Ember Knights, marking the official launch of the title. Much like other gamers of the same caliber, Ember Knights spent some time in public before the game officially made its launch out of any sort of beta or prerelease. This gave the developers time to receive feedback as well as players to give out feedback. With this sort of back and forth, it allowed for a much cleaner and nicer package. This is an element of the newer gaming sphere that is both great and has its downsides. Thankfully the developers have luckily avoided the negatives by not getting stuck in a developmental loophole or where some versions of the game are vastly superior to others.

Even though Ember Knights is in 1.0, it doesn’t mean that everything is safe from glitches and bugs, especially the Nintendo Switch version. There are several moments where the game will slow down in frame rate due to on-screen effects. This is much more noticeable when there are multiple players, but for the most part, it doesn’t get too intrusive. The larger issues stem from crashes to freezes. They seem to be an issue exclusive to Switch, so it is probably more on the hardware side of things, but it still shows optimization isn’t quite achieved yet. While most likely Switch exclusive issues, it is more so likely due to the hardware limitations and not neglect from the developers of the game.

Aside from technical hiccups and issues, Ember Knights is a fantastic time. As mentioned before, it is a roguelike-style game with a top-down view and a focus on combat.  Comparison-wise, it is most similar to Hades, as choosing weapons and getting secondary abilities is done in a very similar way. There are also permanent upgrades that carry over from run to run, as well as some story beats that carry over from the different runs the player will be going through. These are the core elements that will keep players in the gameplay loop from run to run. However, the most compelling element of Ember Knights is probably the draw towards its cooperative abilities, allowing for up to four players to experience the same run.

 

 

The multiplayer found in Ember Knights is really solid and works with the gameplay very well. With the several weapons and secondary abilities to go through, players will often play off each other's weaknesses and strengths, allowing it to be optimized quite well. On top of that, the enemies will scale in both numbers as well as strengthen their health bars when more players are involved to avoid the added players making things too easy. The most difficult part of the multiplayer will come in the form of tracking the player characters as they all look fairly similar and with more enemies on screen comes more effects. It never became a full issue, but it did lead to taking damage in otherwise easily avoidable instances.

Combat throughout Ember Knights is always refreshing, as different upgrades and secondaries will become available throughout different runs, preventing same-feeling runs. For the most part, every weapon and secondary ability feels balanced without too much of something that stands out as too overpowered. The only time something may seem overpowered is when the player really gets used to something or just so happens to get that golden combination of upgrades to their weapons. As for feeling underpowered, it is usually also down to the combination of items but also down to the speed and damage output of the core weapon chosen at the beginning of a run. But that second part is down to simple luck, and that’s not something to factor in when making decisions in a run that could easily end in mere seconds.

Each run will have the same base idea as you go from area to area collecting gold and other forms of loot. Things will differ with alternate enemies, room layouts, rewards, and more. This is where so much of the replay value comes from. Just having that slight difference is great when the areas will be blasted and torn through several times. Even after beating the game, there is merit to come back and unlock more things or go for better times or even attempt to see events or enemies that weren’t encountered before. The only area that will become a bit tedious on repeats is likely to be the very first area as it will heavily decide runs based on what loot is given and how much damage the player takes on their way through.

 

 

Ember Knights offers unique rooms and secrets throughout its adventure, allowing for more replay value. Most of these secrets will unlock new permanent upgrades or potential gear in the pool of random things. But for the most part, finding these secrets is more rewarding than the actual rewards, and that is not a bad thing. It is an element of puzzle solving in a game that is otherwise, for the most part, an action-based hack and slash. There are hints all throughout the game towards these that encourage exploration as well as repeated playthroughs of the game. The most fun rewards come in the form of alternate skins. These aren’t as in-depth as the full character swaps found in Dead Cells, but it does offer a nice change of color to the chosen character. Not to mention as soon as these are unlocked, any other players can also choose these variants.

Ember Knights uses a pixelated art style for the majority of the game and it looks incredibly nice. That includes environmental designs, enemy designs, particle effects, boss designs, and so much more. It really is one of those games that makes the pixelated art style more of an actual visual style rather than going to it for a retro look. This is most evident in the lighting found throughout the game, as it makes things feel much more natural and not overbearing. While not in a pixelated style, there are also animated elements to the game, like the intro, that are animated beautifully. The 2D style is also for a Saturday cartoon type of feeling and a game with this sort of nature is fully welcome.

While Ember Knights may have excellent use of a pixel art style, there are some clashing bits as well. NPCs will have portraits in the 2D style the cutscenes use, and while they look fine when almost everything else is in the sharp pixel style, it leaves those elements sticking out in a less-than-great way. In a similar fashion is the text. While it's not super intrusive, the font style chosen for the game feels out of place and unfitting for what the game is supposed to be. These two elements damage what would otherwise be a beautifully animated and stylized game. It isn’t awful, but in many regards, it is one of the worst parts of the game, which in a sense is amazing that this little of a complaint is really the biggest downside to the overall experience at offer.

 

 

While on the topic of Ember Knights’ presentation, there is also the topic of the audio presentation. The music here is actually quite great, especially some of the boss themes. While sometimes hard to hear with the mix of noises from combat, the music for the combat flows really well. The music while in calm areas or after beating enemies fits the feeling of the room by either urging the payer to keep going after wiping out all of the enemies in a room or by keeping things calm while the players shop around for new abilities. The sound effects for combat fit well with crunch explosions and sharp-sounding blade swings. The NPCs and player characters also make little noises that match their cute little sprites quite well.

The story in Ember Knights isn’t anything that’ll blow anyone away, but it is fun for all its worth. It’s a typical story where the heroes are summoned because something awful happened to a sacred object. There are a few character interactions throughout the game that add to the story but again, they aren’t anything amazing. They just serve as elements that build up the NPCs more than the wise old man or the technical genius. The main heroes, the ember knights, aren’t anything more than blank slates to push through the action with. These elements of the game aren’t bad, but they could be fleshed out a bit more. What is here is nothing more than simple fun, nothing deep.

Defeat only ever felt unfair while learning Ember Knights, but from then on, losing a run will only feel like an error in how things were played out. Not many games of this genre feel that way, as there is usually a hand full of enemies or areas that feel like they blindside the player or like the damage output is just too much. The end area is the only time that the game feels this way, but at the same time, this feeling is justified by the journey that is built up to it. Mastering the weapon of choice and mastering the dodge roll is all it takes to be good at Ember Knights and its balance is amazingly pulled off. This is the sort of game where the difficulty feels fair and not just hard to be hard.

 

 

Ember Knights is an addictive roguelike that is hard to put down, especially with friends. The cooperative play just fits so right with what the game is. The length of runs sometimes feels short for a full playthrough, but for a quick session with friends, it feels perfect, which also goes towards the “one more round” mentality as well. Those previously mentioned unlockables and secrets are what make the longer play sessions really worth it in the long run.

In short, Ember Knights is an addictive blast that is just a good time. Here’s hoping that there is the drive from the developers to make expansions or updates that add bonus content because this is a game that deserves to have its flame burn on for a while. But as it is, the game is still amazing and perfect for a night with friends to just grind away at some enemies and bosses.
 

Jacob Cowsert (@TweetJAJ)
Editor, NoobFeed