Box Knight Review: Defeat the Office Blues | The Gamerheads Podcast

Platform reviewed: PC (Steam)

Price: $14.99

I love roguelites. And I’m a huge fan of great animation. Box Knight does both of these things really well. Add in the fact that it plays like a side-scrolling beat-em-up, and you’ve got the makings of a fantastic game.

Monsters have taken over the office, and it’s up to me to defeat them, save my co-workers, and become the legendary Box Knight. I’m the Box Knight because I don a cardboard helmet and wield a paper towel roll as my sword. It’s a fun and quirky concept, but it works.

The art and animation in the game are fantastic. The aesthetic has this great cartoon look and feel to it. I love the character and enemy designs, and the animation is really good. When I strike an enemy and perform an execution move, the monster splits in half. To pull off that kind of animation while still making the action feel smooth and keeping the hitboxes accurate is a feat in itself.

The level design is also impressive. Sure, it’s an office, but the rooms all look a bit different. There’s an apocalyptic aspect to everything, so things are on fire, rooms are destroyed, and chaos reigns. One thing that impressed me was the warm glow from the fires, which made the art and animation really pop. The lighting is really well done.

My only complaint about the level design is that I wish there were more destructible objects in the rooms. I would have loved to see desks blow up and chairs smash as I hit them with my weapon. But then again, it is a cardboard weapon, so maybe it’s more realistic that I can’t cause more destruction with my sword.

The game is a roguelite, so there is going to be a lot of dying. And starting over. But one thing that surprised me was how far I was able to get. Even on my first run, I was able to make it to the first boss. That’s due in large part to the fact that the mechanics are well balanced.

The game starts me off with a sword and a basic cardboard helmet. As I progress, I earn gold coins by completing quests, like killing a certain number of enemies or making it to a certain point in the game. I can use those coins to buy new weapons and helmets. The two additional weapons are a spear and a broadsword. I wish there was a cardboard bow. Unfortunately, there isn’t a ranged weapon available.

Each weapon allows me to perform two special moves. One is a jump-and-smash attack that stuns the enemies around me. The other is a special ground attack. The sword and spear fire a projectile, while the broadsword performs an area attack. I preferred playing with the spear because it has the most range.

There are also outfits and helmets that I can purchase with the coins I earn. Each provides me with different stat upgrades. Besides coins, I can also earn steins of beer that are used to purchase upgrades, including things like unlocking elemental attacks or increased luck for finding rarer in-run upgrades.

Clearing a room also gives me upgrades that are used during my current run. The better I do, the more options I have available. Upgrades include things like elemental attacks, increased speed, or weapon boosts. This is a clever way to handle upgrades. Most roguelites and roguelikes have me earn experience points to level up my character and then choose between several options. I appreciated Box Knight taking a different approach to the system.

I also earn experience points that grant me skill points I can use to level up my character. There are a lot of different skills available in the skill tree. The progression in the game feels meaningful, and it’s one of the reasons I absolutely love this game.

But the gameplay is the heart of Box Knight. I love that it’s a side-scrolling beat-em-up, and it plays really well. There’s also local co-op. The enemies are unique and provide different challenges. Some are healers, while others spawn additional enemies, and I found myself strategizing about which ones to defeat first.

There are three waves of enemies in each room, and as I progressed, the number of enemies increased and their abilities became more challenging.

The boss battles are well designed. The first time I reached a boss, it took me a minute to learn their attack patterns, but once I did, I was able to defeat them the next time I faced them. Yes, it’s a roguelite, so I ended up facing the same bosses a lot, but with each run, they became easier.

Final Grade: A

Box Knight brings a fresh perspective to the roguelite genre. The art is fantastic, and the leveling system feels meaningful, which is important in this genre. Add in the fact that it’s a couch co-op beat-em-up, and it makes for a perfect game to play with friends.

https://youtube.com/shorts/7wLXU3k0Au4?si=pLyJW7-EJbpHHkIs

Review key provided by Pirate PR On behalf of WeMat Studios