Where's Macho Knight Kingdom?
I have become further impressed with Hanako Games' Cute Knight Kingdom. Duh. As if this should be any surprise to you, after I gushed with surprise love for the original Cute Knight. I miss my first-person perspective dungeon, but otherwise I feel the sequel is a worthy successor to the original.

Now I want to see Macho Knight Kingdom! Just like Cute Knight, but you play a dude! Shovel manure just like the Cute Knight, but in a more manly way! And wear armor just like hers, but with, like, skulls and stuff on it instead. Yeah!

Er, or not. Forget I said anything...

Though I make jokes about the pinks and butterflies that make up some of the cosmetics of the game, at it's heart I think the core gameplay is pretty gender-neutral and universally appealing. The thing that keeps impressing me is the depth of choice. While progress is, in true RPG fashion, slow and incremental, there is always the pressure of knowing that your time is finite (see? Another brilliant exception! Except you can't really define much in this game as 'failure.') and the thrill of wondering where your current path will take you. And the knowledge that the week you spend hunting is a week not spent doing something else important. Something that might give you a leg up in an upcoming event, or... something.

The world (and opportunities) seem bigger. And it also feels like it is easier to miss things. The time element means that it's easier to miss a festival going on because you are out on the shore. There's a lot to explore, and while much of the content is static, there are some time-dependent events as well. As in the original, some opportunities for growth are time-dependent. And there are multiple storylines you can piece together or actively pursue - if you so choose. Most of the time, so far (a game does take longer than the original to complete), I've just been catching snippets of stories and relationships between characters that I assume I could more actively pursue if I chose.

Cute Knight Kingdom focuses entirely on two core aspects of roleplaying games - customized character progression and exploration. Curiously enough - from a designer's perspective - the character progression is handled in a procedural, highly repeatable manner. The trainers are fairly static with specific schedules, the job opportunities (earn while you learn!) are regular, the dungeons are positioned thusly, the random encounters off the main roads appear in a consistent manner (and are avoidable!), etc.

While my initial foray into the kingdom of the Cute Knight consisted mainly of geographical exploration - learning where the different pockets of civilization were (I hesitate to call them "towns"), the dungeons, etc. But, as in the first game, exploration in subsequent games moves to what I guess I could call "gamespace." Storylines, unlocked events and opportunities, the magic system, etc. While 90% of the gameplay might be very similar between play-throughs (and if you've only played through a Cute Knight game once, you've not really played it), it's that exploration of that remaining stuff in the game that can't possibly be discovered in a single (or even in a dozen) play-throughs that makes the game fun. And it's a big part of what would otherwise be a straightforward "sim" game and makes it a role-playing game.

And I think it's delightfully clever how the Cute Knight games (admittedly, borrowing from similar titles like Princess Maker) have shifted the balance around. Most RPGs emphasize the exploration or progress through the game world, with character progression being a critical but secondary aspect (tightly limited and "balanced" to make certain you don't "out-level" the content you are supposed to be consuming). In Cute Knight and Cute Knight Kingdom, the (admittedly simpler) plots and activities open up based significantly on your progression choices. It's not exactly revolutionary or anything like that, but it does change things up a bit.

Now, I don't want to be accused of encouraging clones. And I'm a fan of Hanako Games and don't want anybody ripping her off with lame knock-offs. Simply cloning a game is creatively bankrupt, lame, and contemptible. I'm (mostly) joking with my title searching for a "Macho Knight Kingdom." But personally, I think some of the patterns and ideas of both Cute Knight games are really worthy of being pursued by more games. I think there's some ripe territory there, and Cute Knight Kingdom is only scratching the surface.

I can envision a graphical roguelike packed with some hand-crafted storylines, events, characters, and even locations / levels which go beyond the traditional hack-and-slash gameplay and wrap a simple but compelling story around player choice. I mean, that's kinda-sorta what Cute Knight Kingdom is at its core, if you think about it. And squint really hard.

Think about it. And then think of what Dwarf Fortress was able to do with basic concept of the roguelike, turning it into something else entirely. Once you step away from the belief that everything has to be presented with pixel-perfect animation, ten thousand polygons, and professional voice-overs, there's an amazing depth of possibilities to explore. I think Cute Knight Kingdom is just another step away from the beaten path that I hope indies will further explore.

Oh, and if they do - maybe they could consider including those old first-person dungeons again. I loved that... ;)

If you haven't done so yet, download and try out CKK yourself:

Download Cute Knight Kingdom

Labels: Cute Knight

- posted by The Rampant Coyote @ 6:59 AM (Permalink)