Ember Knights is a departure from the kind of games I usually write about here. But I had such a great time with it. I spend the first weekend of June at Dreamhack Dallas, my annual delusion that I'm not getting old.
This game caught my eye because I like pixel art and I like the RPG aspects of Rogue. The term roguelike gets thrown around like sitting in the backseat unbuckled in my dad's old pickup. For me, a key aspect is that I need to unlock cumulative power, like an RPG, not options for changing each run, and fortunately Ember Knights does both. Each run you can unlock skills and relics (equipment) that become options for future runs. But you can also purchase upgrades at the "Tree" that provide passive strengths for all of your future runs. This second point is what makes it feel like there's some RPG element.
Anyway, Ember Knights is a solid roguelike and best of all, it's even better multiplayer. Up to four players can co-op through the three worlds, which scales in difficulty as you add players.
Graphics, Art, Animations, Combat
It's been a long time since I've played a top down 2D pixel art game with such high quality animations. The art is not 100% pixel art, which is good. This allows fluid animation that rarely locks you in to a move. I've included animation and combat in the same section because of how important animation is to action combat. Animations are fast but pretty and they feel incredibly responsive. Because of this the combat is repetitive but never feels repetitive.
There are three worlds, each with a different theme in the same art style. Grass, Snow, Haunted House. The enemies fit the theme, both in terms of look and animation. Grass enemies are plants that spit, Haunted House wizards shoot eye lasers, etc. It all fits really well and feels cohesive and fun.
Each world has a mini boss and a boss and these are absolutely the most fun part, even if they are the easiest. Yes, I find the boss battles easier than the mini-minions. Mostly because you only have to track one enemy's moves.
I can't emphasize enough how great this game looks and feels. The screenshots don't do it justice because you can't hold it and feel it and pet it with out the controller in your hand.
Conclusion
This is an incredibly fun game, very polished. Grab a few friends, and play the hell out of it one weekend.
