Mobile game reviews

James Pinnell reviews the latest games for android & iOS smartphones & tablets.

Knighthood

You can customise and upgrade your character with equipment you either pickup or unlock from chests, as well as team up with heroes that feature a skillset or element that exploits a weakness in battle.

Free with IAP

Developer King has been famous for building applications like Candy Crush, but recently has attempted to broaden its appeal by creating experiences that cover adventure or action themes mixed with a little bit of puzzle. Knighthood continues this evolution by building an RPG with fixed levels but introduces a new style of combat – utilising taps and swipes from a third person perspective, mixing a turn-based battle system with one handed controls.

You can customise and upgrade your character with equipment you either pickup or unlock from chests, as well as team up with heroes that feature a skillset or element that exploits a weakness in battle. There are guilds, events, and team battles that allow friends and groups to focus their strategies to take down larger bosses, and like most King games, the presentation and polish is slick and fast.

Unfortunately, it’s also shallow over the longer term. Quite a lot of the higher levels introduce a difficulty curve that’s linked to equipment and requires that payment be made if you want to stay competitive in the PVP battles as well as some of the more advanced guild bosses. Additionally, it can also feel quite grindy, as much of the core battle system’s depth just isn’t there, and much of it involves high damage response rather than uniquely exploiting weaknesses in your enemy.