- Joined
- Oct 6, 2016
If you've been following the big "funny RPG" boom you may have heard of this one. It's one of the ones that fell into development hell.
Anyway, it's liable to release in a few months. No date yet but the last few enemies are being polished and final playtesting will begin soon.
The battle system was reworked mid-development (Which caused a huge multi-year delay) and I'm conflicted on how it's turned out. It was a fix to a legitimate issue (Enemy tells weren't explicit enough to dodge their attacks reliably and the fact that they stuck in place instead of moving to their target only compounded the disconnect) but the end result is very mixed.
Enemy attacks now mostly take place in a little window in the centre of the screen where you dodge them in 8-bit minigames. Think UNDERTALE mixed with WarioWare.
The Good:
- The graphics are quite good. Overlooking everyone's tumblr noses, it's like a GBA game that was never released. Effective use of bright colours without being an eyesore.
- The music is also quite good. A variety of artists are on the soundtrack and their tracks are definately memorable. This game's sound design (apart from the "8-bit" attacks) is generally well done.
- The tone. How do I describe this without giving it away? It fucks with you. The majority is what you'd expect from an indie game about having a shitty job ...but then it splices in something completely off-brand and you're left unsure of how to feel. Some of the inspirations the developer has talked about in old interviews are interesting.
- Battle minigames are quite long and drag things out
- Damage dealt on getting hit in a minigame isn't immediate. If you die mid-minigame, it won't be revealed until the end.
- The minigames are a very mixed bag aesthetically. Some look OK, but quite a few take the "8-bit means ugly indiscriminate squiggles" approach. They also really abuse those irritating sfxr bleeps and boops.
- This has seeped into the special moves. You can look at earlier gameplay footage and see better designed versions which filled the entire playfield and had really good aesthetics.
- When the tone isn't fucking you about it looks like standard indie game holding pattern.
- The creator is a massive homo. Standard bitching about "da gamerz", wheelchair ramps for journalists.
- One of the villains may or may not be an unsubtle ersatz of Pmurt Dlanod (can't confirm). Can you tell that this game had serious schedule slip?
Play the demo if any of this sounds up your alley. It paints a nice picture of the good and the bad and it especially demonstrates the conflicting tone.
Knuckle Sandwich on Steam
Knuckle Sandwich is a turn-based RPG by Andy Brophy. Get a job, beat up some monsters, and solve a mystery that's plaguing Bright City.
