A chibi blend of real-time strategy and RPG elements | Review - Knightcore: Sword of Kingdom

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✨Overview

Knightcore: Sword of Kingdom is a tower offense game with real-time strategy, RPG, autobattler, and gacha elements. Players assume the mantle of a Lord, leading a team of Heroes and forging your Legions on a quest to reclaim Camelot's lost glory. It promises a unique blend of strategy, real-time tower offense, a diverse array of collectible gacha heroes, and various armies. It recently launched globally last October 20, 2023.

🟩Pros +Charming chibi-style visuals +Strategic layer in combat instead of a full-auto battler +Diverse array of hero and units types

🟥Cons -Story is forgettable and not interesting -Weak combat AI for your army -Grindy progression from the start -Many of the gameplay modes are locked further in

⭐️Score: 5/10

📖Story and Premise

The game's premise revolves around the players' role as Lords tasked with leading their Heroes and Legions to restore Camelot, which is ravaged by the Time Holes that players will need to close. It sets the stage for epic battles and strategic conquests, but honestly it’s not that interesting. I find myself not caring about the story especially that the presentation is underwhelming, from the pretty static visuals to the text-based dialogue without voice acting, its likely that you’ll skip these long and drawn out cutscenes to get right into the action. 🎨Graphics and Art Style

Knightcore: Sword of Kingdom fully embraces a chibi-style graphics for combat and gameplay, which is refreshing to see. The chibi-style graphics infuse a certain charm into the game and add a unique appeal. It's important to note that the use of chibi style is consistent throughout the game, creating a cohesive visual identity. In contrast, gacha banners and dialogues use Anime-style designs, adding variety and excitement. 🗺️The World

The world design is notably Chibi-based too, with mini-castles, structures, and units battling on hexagonal tile-based maps. The in-game world is replete with diverse regions, each uniquely designed with its own distinctive style and culture, contributing to the immersive experience of governing and developing reclaimed lands. 🎮Gameplay

Knightcore offers a distinctive blend of tower offense and real-time strategy, which sets it apart from many idle or autobattler mobile games. Players are tasked with balancing the deployment of their units, and they must decide when and where to deploy various heroes and army types for maximum impact. The game provides players with a time limit of 99 seconds for battles, while points are given to you over time to use and to deploy units. The 99-second time limit forces quick thinking and decisions, making every moment of the battle count. I've had many moments where I barely beat levels with only a few seconds left, adding tension and excitement to matches. While battles are automated, players maintain a degree of control over unit deployment and prioritizing targets, which adds a layer of strategic depth that is often missing in other mobile games. This control gives you the ability to fine-tune your approach and adapt to the battlefield as needed. Players can also activate the ability of their units once the meter fills up, but they can opt to have it automated. The world has multiple regions to progress into, and every region has multiple areas with 3 levels to beat. You need to meet the required conditions to achieve a 3-star rating for each level. If you successfully beat all three levels in an area, it unlocks a boss fight level before you can proceed to the next. After that, you move on to the next region and the next map to progress in the game. ⚔️Combat

The actual combat itself is also automated, it incorporates a Rock-paper-scissors Weakness system, where unit types counter each other. There is also an option to sped up the battles, auto-deploy units, and skip cinematics. However, it's worth noting that boss fights cannot be automated, demanding players' full attention. As far as autobattles go, the AI needs improvement in how it controls units. I've had an experience where, even though I exceed the power level recommended by the game, auto-generated troops still barely manage to win. Additionally, I've encountered some soldier units getting stuck and standing around doing nothing during combat. ⏫Progression

The progression in Knightcore has both positive and negative aspects. On the plus side, the game offers diverse army types with specialized abilities, encouraging players to experiment with various compositions to create formidable Legions. Players can also build upon their reclaimed lands to get some passive resource bonuses. However, I found the progression very grindy even in the early stages, and energy/stamina limitations can become a constant hindrance, requiring patience or in-app purchases to keep going. At my first hour of play, I’ve already hit a soft wall that need me to utilize the game’s gacha mechanics to improve my characters. At my second hour of play, I already ran out of energy/stamina to use to keep going and must buy from the store using gems or wait. The game has other features such as PVP or Guild, but it’s locked deep further in the progression that it’s hard to keep invested in. There’s only so much the initial gameplay loop can do, and it gets repetitive, grindy, and monotonous without a constant stream of interesting gameplay elements. 💵Monetization

Knightcore follows the typical gacha-style monetization model commonly seen in mobile games. The game has gacha mechanics that can be used to improve your characters. While gacha systems can be enjoyable for some players, it's essential to approach them with caution to avoid overspending. In addition, the game includes options for in-app purchases related to stamina or unit upgrades, which is necessary for continuous gameplay and to overcome the power level requirements of levels. 📊Technical Performance

I’ve also encountered some minor bugs, especially when you are trying to do other stuff while the tutorial is trying to point you in another direction. It sometimes bugs out and locks you out of the game unless you restart. The UI navigation could use some more work too; transitions are slow, it’s quite confusing to navigate, and I feel like there are too many steps to do anything.

In terms of performance, it isn't the most fluid game I've experienced, but the game runs decently. One minor quirk I find weird is that the loading screen uses a 16:9 aspect ratio with borders instead of utilizing the full screen of my phone. There are no extensive graphics settings; the game features only one where you can choose between performance, balanced, and efficiency. ⚖️Conclusion

Knightcore: Sword of Kingdom is a chibi blend of real-time strategy and RPG elements, offering an intriguing twist on the tower offense genre. With its chibi-style graphics, Rock-paper-scissors Weakness system, and strategic combat, the game seemed poised to deliver a decent gaming experience. However, it didn't do much to keep me invested and entertained, even during its first few hours of play. Certain aspects, such as the forgettable story, grindy progression, and technical issues, affected my overall experience.

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