Portal Knights Nintendo Switch Review
Summary: Portal Knights is a spiritual successor to Minecraft that thankfully works well and creates an enjoyable experience on the Nintendo Switch
4.2
Knights & Portals!
Portal Knights may be reminiscent of a certain international hit called Minecraft however it has enough differences, particularly with its RPG elements to create an addictive and thoroughly enjoyable experience on the Nintendo Switch. The story of Portal Knights revolves around a prophecy of a hero who can join the ‘islands’ of this world together again after it was torn asunder by the Fracture.
As the Portal Knight, you must reactivate these portals by gaining experience, crafting items and battling enemies as this world’s new hero. Although the game does have parallels to Minecraft, Portal Knight for me anyway felt like I was thrown into the deep end with the game giving you a rather basic tutorial to help find your feet. On the Switch, this game uses the features well such as the touch screen, the ability to play with 2-players locally or up to four players online in this randomly generated sandbox game.
When you do get the hang of crafting and using your skills to explore the environment, you discover quite early on that this world is quite large and more importantly, a very engaging universe with lots to do and people to meet. This includes talking with NPC’s, visiting villages and fighting a wide assortment of villains that all help boost your experience points. As you meet over 100+ NPC’s, build your own home and even have your own pet, Portal Knight gives the player plenty to do in this sandbox world.
Unlike the aforementioned title, the combat system is more challenging and does have some parallels to the current Zelda title in how you fight one and multiple enemies or its epic boss battles. Your statistics play an integral part in how you will best your enemies plus your wide assortment of weapons which you can find, buy and craft. Furthering adding to the game of your customisation is that there are three different classes available to the player which include the traditional archetypes of warrior, ranger and mage.
Each of the classes have their pros and cons but for this run-through, I chose warrior which contained some fun perks for this class, including the ability to custom your statistics that gives you some ownership of this character. So as I explored these different islands, I found myself getting quite involved in this title. Sure, there are elements of grinding which is a common thread of RPG’s but for the most part, it was a fun adventure on the Nintendo Switch, particularly in tablet mode.
Graphics & Audio
Graphically, the game does look better than Minecraft and there’s some decent character design, including world-building that helps draw you into the plight of this broken world. Add in some great special effects, including lighting and this is a decent looking game on the Switch. Sound effects and musics suits the title well and all in all, it’s a good looking and sounding title on this innovative console.
Final Thoughts?
In the end, Portal Knights delivers an enjoyable Minecraft-esq experience on the Nintendo Switch with good game mechanics, detailed graphics and gameplay that really draws you in from the get go. Just be warned that this game will consume your time and make sure you keep yourself motivated at the start, because an investment is needed before things start falling into place.
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