Knight of Exile – Best Indie Games

Well after a long break from our ‘Best Indie Games‘ series I’m glad to say we are bringing it back. In fact, not only are we bringing it back we’re making it even better by giving out an award. So on the first Thursday of every month we’ll release a ‘Best Indie Games’ article about a game that we’ve bestowed our ‘Best Indie Game in Development Award’ on. These awards won’t be dished out willy-nilly, a lot of work will go into deciding on which games deserve the award. Our first award will be given to an amazing looking open-world hack ‘n’ slash called Knight of Exile by DonXuglo Games – read on to find out why.

 

From simple cutesy style to sleek rugged pixel-art in Knight of Exile

 

From Cutesy to Rugged

I’ve been watching Knight of Exile for a while now as it’s been in development for a few years and it just keeps getting better. The original art-style was simple colourful cutesy pixel-art but definitely good enough to go with. This wasn’t good enough for DonXuglo Games though, oh no. In 2018 they released images and videos of a completely reworked art-style giving the game a more realistic look yet still keeping to a pixel-art style. The game now looks so much better for it. The main character looks amazing and the combat animations look really fluid.

Strike a hero pose over the body of a fallen enemy in Knight of Exile

Story of a Dead Knight

Knight of Exile has an interesting story focused on a Knight called Cormac that is presumed dead returning to his home kingdom to restore the kingdom whilst taking revenge on the people who overthrew it. To do this he ventures to a sacred island to find a powerful artefact which grants him great power.

In the videos of the game that I have seen you can see that Cormac’s left arm is gold plated. Whether this is a replacement arm or armour I am unsure but it allows it to double up as a retractable shield. The combat flows really well, Cormac slashes and stabs then quickly fires off an arrow with apparent ease. Enemies flash white when hit making it obvious that damage is being dealt. DonXuglo have shown Cormac using a range of weapons from swords, to hammers, to a bow. They are all superbly animated and hint that the game will allow you to play the way you prefer.

 

Sleek and fluid combat animations in Knight of Exile

 

Exiled in a Gorgeous Open-World

The game boasts an open-world, a day-night cycle and a dynamic weather system. As a developer doing something similar on our metroidvania action-RPG, The Flawless: Art’s Tale, I know how difficult this can be to do well. The Knight of Exile videos showing the weather change or darkness descend look absolutely gorgeous. The world is really brought to life by these systems as well as the developers keen eye for detail. The 2 dimensional world appears brimming with life. Trees sway in the wind, rays of light break through the canopy in forests, as rain starts to fall the light dims, the world truly breathes and begs to be explored.

https://youtu.be/QDmgsgMwwgg
Extended gameplay from Knight of Exile

A Noble Award

I’m really excited to see the future progress of Knight of Exile. It looks like it is going to be something special to sit along-side games like Hollow Knight and Slain. I can see from the screenshots and videos that the game supports controllers which is great. I hope it will come to consoles as well as PC and Mac. So without further a do. “By the power vested in me, Knight of Exile; I crown you ‘best indie game in development’ for December 2019!”. If you like the look of Knight of Exile show the developers, DonXuglo Games, some love. Follow their game on Facebook or Instagram, or join their mailing list.

Better get back to Super Mega Space Blaster Special Turbo, it’s launching on Nintendo Switch, PS4 & Steam very soon. Then it’s back to developing The Flawless: Arts Tale and its world of cats. See you in space, happy blasting! To keep up to date with everything BKD join the Discord: discord.gg/J4ynrFD or follow us on TwitterFacebook, and Instagram.

 

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Ste Wilson is a director, game developer, and programmer at Bare Knuckle Development Ltd. When not coding away on BKD games he can be found playing video games on console and PC. He also makes music under the music maker name of ‘Electric Fan Death’ and loves playing guitar, writing tunes, and producing music.

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