Working the Knight Shift
Ah yes, King Arthur, Britannia’s great mythical king, a cornerstone of British folklore. A tale of knights, heroism, love, honour, magic and circular carpentry cradled in the dark mists of ancient Albion.
So then, dearest reader, how shall we weave this tapestry of souls, by what means shall we convey their story? What great voices shall play the part and sing this song of heroes and villains?
A lone hand rises above the eerie silence as many minds contemplate the answer, “what about…” they pause, “…American accents?” A blood curdling scream rings out, it’s anguished howl chilling the hearts of both man and beast alike and yet, they smile, they nod, a pact is sealed, evil is born and torment made manifest.
Friends try to console me in this darkest of hours; for many who do not speak English as a first language, accents are largely interchangeable and who knows what finance was available given the many lines to be voiced? I acknowledge their words, but the pain lingers, the mind reaches for a conciliatory thought but all it finds is desire for bloody handed vengeance.
Alas, I fear there are few amongst my kin to which such sorrow and grief will matter. Tis a small thing surely, barely of note in the wider concerns of design and execution? Perhaps, tender reader, perhaps, but even alone one must speak true of one’s heart, and here mine is so laid out.
In fairness, not everyone is cursed in such a manner, but when they do appear, such as in the first encounter with Arthur himself, it jars violently and the willing suspension of disbelief is yet again cast to the ether. Why could they not keep to Anglo-European accents? Why not Welsh, given its folk roots, why not even in Old English or the developer’s native Hungarian with subtitles? Almost anything else would have been preferable to long-island Lancelot and Milwaukee Merlin (the TV show, Mr Merlin, had a San Francisco Merlin during the 80s but I shudder to even imagine).
Yet accent alone isn’t the only cause for my ill temper, the performances themselves are as variable as if forged from the capricious hands of fate itself, from Boudicca’s affecting despair at her family’s torture, to Sir Yrain’s staggering, unyielding awfulness. Then there are the mispronunciations, the lack of personality, and the amateurish profusion of ineptitude stifling any semblance of emotional connection. The number of grammatical and spelling errors only serves to deepen the horror.
But for all of this, I cannot pull away. For this tale is one of turn based combat and of role-playing, both of which are deftly designed for the most part, and make the adventure worthy of one’s time, if not always one’s patience.
The role is that of Sir Mordred, Arthur’s mortal enemy and nemesis. Having both been slain in the mortal realm you find yourself in the mystical land of Avalon, beset by all manner of plague and violent woe. The lady of the lake, having failed to revive the fallen Arthur, seeks your aid to put down the foul abomination that calls itself king. In this task you will call upon the aid of former friend and foe alike and forge a new Camelot to confront this monstrous terror.
The nature of this Camelot however, is yours to determine. Will you be righteous or cruel, embrace the ancient gods of old or serve the ever burgeoning Christian faith? Beyond the narrative implications, such choices yield other, more quantifiable consequences. The loyalty of your knights, your brothers and sisters in arms, is affected by how you choose to lead, altering their prowess in battle. Additionally, new allies and boons can be unlocked through devotion towards each of the 4 points on the morality compass. Devotion along one axis however, comes at a cost of its opposite.
As with any castle, it must first be built, and through battle and world events you gain gold and building resources to construct and improve it with all manner of upgrades. These include training facilities for knights unused in missions, places to heal your wounded and merchants to sell your unwanted loot. The process can feel slow at times and incremental, yet invaluable to ensure you have a well-equipped force from which to embark upon the various quests and side quests available.
The quests themselves take the form of standalone missions accessed via the map, and are real time isometric adventures where battle turns the action into classic turn based gameplay a la X-Com. Each unit has its own set of action points and skills and thoughtful use of them will grant victory. The system is familiar yet consequently well-crafted and intuitive, but at the cost of novelty. NPCs are encountered, loot is plundered and experience awarded upon completion from which new skills are gained.
There isn’t anything new here, the mechanics are all pretty well worn at this point, but the setting and the role-playing elements help to make the experience unique, if not original. As a fan of the genre it works almost like comfort food and I found the dark mysticism of this particular take on Arthurian legend almost instinctively appealing, with lots of nice twists on old stories, despite the often risible dialogue. The art design, music, even the menus fit the tone, and do the best they can to immerse you in the setting.
All of this would be fine, but there is a problem in that the maps don’t feel much like places or part of a wider world, they feel like maps. The world doesn’t come across all that cohesive (much of it due to the inconsistent voice acting) and for all the lore and background there is little sense of place as you explore each new area. Beyond the main quests, locations often feel copy pasted and lack distinctive landmarks or arresting views to stir the imagination. The art is generally solid, but the colour palette is invariably monochrome where grim quickly gives way to dreary and dull.
As a result, and despite there being much to admire and enjoy, King Arthur: Knight’s Tale really feels like a missed opportunity. The ingredients are all there for this epic and engrossing adventure anchored with thoughtful, tactical battles, yet the travesty of the writing and much of the voice work poisons whatever might otherwise have been gained from the world and its characters. It leaves the combat to carry the adventure and repetition means that it struggles to manage over the course of a lengthy campaign. It’s far from a deal breaker, and if you can look beyond the issues it’s a pretty fun time as you develop your own choice set of knights, but this Camelot could certainly benefit from a touch more magic.