At the risk of igniting yet more discourse about weapon durability,The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wildis undoubtedlyone of the most important and groundbreaking games of the last decade. Ever since Link stepped out onto the grassy plains seven years ago and looked towards the distance where his wide-open adventure awaited him, countless games fromSabletoElden Ringhave tried to replicate that same magic.
While it seems like you can’t go five minutes without seeing an open-world game thattries to replicate Breath of the Wild’s climbing, cooking, puzzles, or even just its atmosphere, there’s one mechanic that is woefully underused - shield surfing. One of my favourite things to do in both BOTW andTears of the Kingdomis finding the tallest point on the map and then yeeting Link off with his shield like he’s trying out forSSX.
Lil Gator Gameis the second-best game to use shield surfing, alongside being a total gem in its own right.
Shield surfing might largely be useless outside of snowy areas, but it feels so satisfying to shred around Hyrule that I don’t care if I’m burning through all of my pot lids and wooden shields. It’s the main thing that I’ve wanted to see other games take from Breath of the Wild and it seems that Twirlbound read my mind, as that’s exactly what its new game, The Knightling, is all about.
O' Brave And Noble Knight…
The Knightling takes place in Clesseia, a land where knights are more than just heroic monster slayers, and act as kind-hearted peacemakers who help out with whatever tasks they’re presented with. You play as the titular Knightling, an understudy and squire of the most powerful and beloved knight in the land, Sir Lionstone, who has made a name for himself with his legendary shield, Magnustego, who also talks to whoever wields him.
When Sir Lionstone suddenly goes missing, it’s up to the unassuming Knightling to take up his duties and turn into the hero that they’ve been dreaming of becoming. It’s a simple set-up, but one that’s presented with a lot of whimsy and charm, from the colourful cel-shaded graphics to the well-written and surprisingly funny characters. There’s more depth and lore than I expected from such a bright world too, like how all of the civilians wear masks that represent their roles in their society.
My preview picked up relatively early on in the game. Sir Lionstone has been missing for a while, and The Knightling has already become familiar with Magnustego. As a knight, my sworn duty is to help people, so I set off to talk to some farmers who were having trouble with their Bunnoxes (which are basically this world’s version of cows) being attacked by monsters.
This Shield Was Made For Surfing, And That’s Just What I’ll Do
Despite the farmers thinking that The Knightling was too inexperienced to deal with such an important problem, and they would’ve preferred to just wait for Sir Lionstone to come back, the infectiously optimistic and bright-eyed Knightling refused to back down and went ahead to investigate a nearby stable. This led me to the thing that stands out the most about The Knightling - its movement.
As you’ve probably gathered, the main method of traversal in The Knightling is shield surfing, which you may use Magnustego for at any moment without giving a damn about durability. I instantly launched myself off of the tallest tower and aimed for the nearest of many curved buildings to fling myself towards the paddock, using bouncy purple mushrooms to stay in the air and effortlessly swapping between jumping and surfing.
At least, that was what Iplannedon doing. Despite my enthusiasm and previous experience with shredding the gnar, it took me longer than expected to get the hang of The Knightling’s physics. Unlike Breath of the Wild, you can do it at any moment and the terrain has purposefully been built to accommodate your skater-boy sensibilities, but getting a hang of the shield and its idiosyncracies, like its penchant for curving to the right (hey, it happens to the best of us) was something I struggled with in the opening moments.
With a bit of practice, though, I was off to the races and using the shield to get around everywhere with ease. I was shocked at how fast it felt like second nature and not like its gimmick, which speaks to how well it’s been implemented. Combine that with The Knightling’s natural jumping abilities, and getting around the world is where it really comes into its own.
I do hope that a few more movement abilities are added in the final game, as a mid-air dash would do wonders for the platforming and to keep the flow moving.
Cap Would Be Proud
The shield isn’t just used for surfing around, though, as it’s also the primary weapon in combat. Unlike most knights, you’re not armed with a sword or spear, and instead use the shield for everything, from whacking and blocking enemy Miscreants up-close to slinging it like Captain America (or an even more unstoppable shield-user, Goofy) at far-away targets.
So far, the combat is relatively simple and mostly focused on blocking and whacking, but there’s also a dense skill tree filled with moves like launchers, delayed combos, and dash attacks that made things a bit more in-depth. It’s simplistic, but the unique focus on the shield does make it stand out, which is The Knightling’s MO anyway.
The miscreants I fought at the Bunnox stable were peanuts and went down with a few bashes, but a later mission focused on making a stinky cheese had me going up against some tougher monsters that required a bit more skill and focus. It still wasn’t exactly Elden Ring in terms of difficulty, but the tougher fights did let me see the best of the combat, which I hope carries through to the final game.
Once I’d finished the short preview’s main quests, I couldn’t help myself from surfing around the world and taking in the sights. Combine that satisfying movement with a whole world of civilians to help and The Knightling looks like it’s going to take up a lot of my time when it launches in 2025.
