Well, what do we have here? Just for a change, it is yet another retro styled, pixel art game. I seem to have played and reviewed many games presented in this style just recently and Knowledge Keeper looks set to keep the streak going.
Coming from Usanik and Sometimes You, Knowledge Keeper is more puzzle oriented than others in the genre, ensuring that it can give that big grey muscle between your ears a workout!
The story of the game uses a whole lot of words to explain a relatively simple premise, and while I applaud the effort that has gone into the back story, it really doesn’t matter for the purposes of the gameplay. Still, I’ll attempt to explain what is going on…
Basically, a while ago, the world was protected by two crystals. As is so often the case, one of the crystals was stolen by someone who wanted its power for himself, and after a long battle, the crystal was recovered and then both were smashed to prevent it happening again. Of course, doing this then made the world fall prey to “universal evil” and this has now begun to infiltrate the world. We need to reassemble the crystals to prevent the end of the world. Fetch the superglue!
The presentation of Knowledge Keeper is on the retro end of the scale with a cute pixel art look. Our character is a hooded monk type fellow, and each level that we visit is viewed from a top-down perspective. The levels are nice looking, quite varied, with many items to interact with as we go. There’s really not a lot more to say about the presentation, as it is somewhat on the minimalist side. However, the music is okay, whilst the sound effects are serviceable. While nothing here is going to wow you, it does its job.
So, with the story nailed on and the graphics failing to set the world on fire, it is down to the gameplay to keep us hooked, to drag us in and keep us playing. And here the news is somewhat better, which comes as a relief.
At its heart, Knowledge Keeper is a fairly simple, zen-like experience, as we wander around each level with the only goal of collecting the shard of the crystal that is present. To do this, we have to be the same colour as the shard. Confused? Let me explain.
When we begin a level, our little guy is usually wearing a rather fetching yellow robe, and while his robes are yellow, he can pick up yellow crystal shards. Passing through a yellow door will turn his robes blue, and then we can grab blue crystal shards. So far, so easy, right? Well, it rapidly gets a lot more complicated, as there are certain people that only exist in a certain colour state, and can either block a doorway or allow passage, depending on our state. There are pitfalls in the floor, there are crates that can be moved to fill said pitfalls and water traps, there are levers to find and throw; there is a lot going on.
Finding traps is all part of the game, and learning from your deaths is a huge part of the procedure. For instance, rounding a corner may see you shot by a laser that you hadn’t noticed. That does mean that on your next run, you can push a candlestick in front of the weapon, rendering it harmless. Crates can also block turrets that fire at us, and learning what is around is vital.
There are objects to collect besides the crystal shards, such as weapons. A sword will allow you to remove the people that block your way, thus allowing access to whatever they were blocking, and there are many more things to pick up and use. One thing that is missing though is any kind of tutorial or explanation as to what is required at any point – although to be honest, I found this lack of hand holding interesting as it allows the chance to experiment and see what works. A brief note on the controls would not have gone amiss, however.
All in all, what we have in Knowledge Keeper is a game that is greater than the sum of its parts. Initially rather simple and, dare I say it, a little bit boring, when you start delving into Knowledge Keeper you’ll find it capable of drawing you in, providing a bit of a challenge. Learning the levels, understanding what you can and cannot do, and experimenting to see what happens is surprisingly engrossing. As a nice relaxing experience, Knowledge Keeper delivers.
