Overview – developed by Studio Koba in collaboration with publisher Aeternum Game Studios, Future Knight is a 2D run ‘n’ gun shooter that blends frantic action and an LCD style inspired by retro handhelds. As the Future Knight, you have to go in time to save humanity, as the lady from the past has brainwashed and mutated the people. This title is available for Steam, PlayStation 5,Xbox Series and Nintendo Switch, with a link to each version of the game at the bottom of this review.
Disclaimer: before I get into the review, I would like to thank Aeternum Game Studios for providing the copy of Future Knight used for this piece, via the Keymailer service. The provision of this software has not influenced the contents of this review, all thoughts and opinions contained within are my own.
Now with the introductions out of the way, let’s get into the review, starting with the story.
Story – on May 23 1993, the Lady of the Past washed her underwear and brainwashed humanity, becoming the leader of a cult called “Present”. 30 years later, the Future Knight, a robot made from the reanimated corpse of a 90s soap star, with a benign living tumor inside him is completed. Now the Future Knight must travel to the past, 8 hours before the apocalypse and stop the Lady of the Past, before she can wipe the brains of all humanity.
Gameplay – Future Knight is a run ‘n’ gun shooter, where the player controls the robotic hero and his benign tumour Twomore. In this action packed adventure, players must follow along with the day of the Lady of the Past, going through all of the locations she passed on her day. There are eight worlds to travel through, with the Future Knight going through a park, construction site and kindergarten, following the trail of the Lady of the Past.
Each world is split into 3 stages, where the player must make their way to the goal, all while battling the cultists that follow the Lady of the Past. These followers have mutated, becoming horrific abominations of twisted flesh that will attack the player. To fight against the legion of mutants, the player is primarily armed with the powerful Techno-Blaster, which can be shot in all directions. But that is not the only tool players can use.
The Future Knight is also partially mutated due to the tumor Twomore inside him, allowing him to warp his body to attack enemies up close. This is not the only purpose of Twomore, as Future Knight can eject the benign companion from his body to control independently. While outside of the safety of the Knight, Twomore is very fragile with any damage taken killing him instantly, but this is a compromise for the versatility of the mutant.
Due to the size of Twomore, he can move around the tighter spaces of the stages while also being able to climb walls to reach higher points. He can also dash through barrier walls, using a super dash to break through them, as well as a blast attack that can deal damage to enemies. The benign companion is unable to recover energy outside of the Knight, aside from energy items that can appear, which will be needed for puzzle solving.
While Twomore is outside of his companion, Future Knight will be able to recover lost health. This makes it useful during challenging sections, but it can be rather risky. By pressing the switch button, if there is solid ground below, Future Knight will immediately teleport below or ontop of Twomore. The player can also leave Future Knight in a position and dash into him with Twomore, causing an explosive reaction that can damage enemies.
The future Knight can take up to three hits before they are incapacitated. When this happens, Twomore will be ejected from the Future Knight as he explodes, with a countdown at the top of the screen for the Knight to be redeployed. If the tumor mutant takes any damage while outside of the Knight, they will both die and be sent to a checkpoint. In normal mode, there are regular checkpoints, but in hard mode these checkpoints are few and far between.
Throughout the stages, the player will encounter many of the mutated followers from the Lady of the Past in scripted gimmick fights. These include timed survival battles, auto scrolling segments and even a chase scene with a giant mutated baby. This keeps the player on their toes, preventing the standard run and gun action from becoming repetitive. There will also be challenging sequences with instant death traps, that can quickly kill Future Knight and Twomore.
In each of the stages, there will be three triangles for the player to collect, often in out of the reach places. These require a creative approach and some puzzle solving skills to collect, with many of them being hidden behind breakable blocks or hazards. They will often be in rooms that can be missed, so if they aren’t found the first time around, players can try again. If the player can collect all the triangles, something special will happen for players.
In the final stage of each world, the player will face a boss with the player being locked into an arena with the opponent. The mutant combatants that the Future Knight will encounter are tied to the stage theme, including a trio of deadly Sushi Chefs, a man inside a Swan Boat and a Giant Nanny. The attacks that these enemies use will follow some patterns, although they are relatively erratic and can be hard to memorise. If the player dies here, they will start the battle over.
Over the course of the game, the player will collect coins that are placed around the stage, or dropped from defeating enemies. When collected, they will be added to the total that is carried between stages. These coins are used to purchase Casings, which are special decorative cosmetics that change the frame of the screen. There are also some special frames that can be unlocked by completing special challenges, like killing 250 enemies during play.
The last thing to cover is the optional speedrun mode. In each of the stages, there is a time target for the player to meet, which appears below the stage timer in the top corner of the screen. If the player is able to reach the end of the stage within the allotted time, there will be a fanfare and a stamp will be awarded. There is a stamp for each of the main stages, attainable in both Normal and Hard modes, adding more replay value to the game
Now with the gameplay covered, it is time to discuss the other aspects of this release, starting with the controls.
Controls – the control scheme for Future Knight is relatively easy to pick up, with only a few buttons needed to get into the action. In game the action and movement is solid, with responsive inputs that work very well. This is needed as there are sections that require repeated precise inputs, which will get more complicated as the player progresses. With the inclusion of Steam Input, this can be played with a variety of controllers as well as Mouse/Keyboard support.
Difficulty – there is a rather fair and balanced difficulty curve, with the Normal mode offering regular checkpoints in the stages. The Hard mode is significantly more challenging, with fewer checkpoints in each of the stages, which does make it more challenging. The further the player gets into the mission, there will be more hazardous pitfalls, including toxic waste, spikes and conveyor belts. This escalation of danger feels natural and works well.
Presentation – Future Knight uses an extremely unique visual style, with the LCD style display that is reminiscent of the TIGER handhelds. The printed background aesthetic and black outline sprites contrast well, creating a distinct visual style, with a retro option that adds drop shadows. There are also comic style cutscenes, that are nicely laid out. The sound is as quirky as the visuals, with oddball music and voice work that adds to the overall presentation.
Final Thoughts – I love a good run and gun, with games like Metal Slug and Sunset Riders being my favorites. Future Knight has easily secured a spot among the best, as it offers a unique experience that is all its own, with the layered LCD aesthetic. The narrative is bonkers, with off the wall elements and a villain that is just an old lady that suddenly became evil. Combine that with the ridiculous enemies and frantic action, you are in for a hell of a ride.
I didn’t find there to be much if anything that I can fault with this game, aside from a couple of technical creases that are being ironed out. This isn’t a grand adventure spanning 30 hours, but a tight 2-3 hour adventure, that can be revisited often with the secrets, challenges and stamps to unlock. It is one of those off the wall games that does something to stand out, and it does it well, I feel that all fans of the run and gun action genre should check this out.
In the end, I give Future Knight a final score of 5/5. This is an excellent game that takes the style of the LCD handheld, mixing it with elements of Japanese culture and sending players on an acid trip, with absurd mutated monsters to fight and a sentient tumor that fires face lasers. If you want to check it out for yourself, a link to each version of the game will be below.
Link to Steam version (HERE)
Link to Nintendo Switch version (HERE)
Link to PlayStation 5 version (HERE)
Link to Xbox Series version (HERE)
