Like their previous games, Knights and Bikes is a multi-pronged attack of visual, narrative & co-op excellence. Not just for children, it's nuanced, tragic & endlessly entertaining.

Me seeing Knights and Bikes for the first time.

There's only one bad game in Knights and Bikes and that's Luxulyan Warriors in Demelza's caravan with its otherwise blinder of a name. A Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots-esque game that bathes Demelza's tiny slice of home in both light and disappointment. As much as I'd love to carve out a niche of reviewing only games within games, Knights and Bikes at least deserves a final review before I make such a transition. An utter spam-fest, I tell ya - Warriors, that is.

Horsepower.

Knights and BIkes simply couldn't be confined to a single video game. It already has multiple illustrated children's books and a TV show on the way - and it's not difficult to see why. Its highly transferrable métiers loom large out of the gaming landscape like fantasy citadels (to quote Stewart Lee). It's completely unsurprising given it's within touching distance of astonishing titles the likes of Little Big Planet and Tearaway, but this is something special.

We'll probably find Theresa May in here.

For one, its artstyle is primed for TV - a visual spectacle of fizzy pastels and chalks where the image never quite stays still with stop-motion style animation. The stylised impossible building structures that otherwise convey something very recognisable, the sheer detail in every scene (despite artist claims to the contrary) - it's a cohesive artistic vision that's wondrous to behold. The true genius at the heart of it is the setting. Based on Rex Crowle's (artist/designer) birthplace of Cornwall in the UK (specifically in the Thatcherite 80s), it's an inherently juxtaposing congeries of the economic hardship and sheer dilapidation of the (then) present in its shabby caravan parks and rubbish-strewn beaches and the heady mythic stories of King Arthur, knights, treasure and castles of the past. Being British myself, depictions of poverty in such a gorgeously fascinating way as this, given the last decade of austerity... it both hits close to home and gives it a mature edge you might not expect in such a child-friendly title. Or should I call it a franchise now? I wonder if the TV show can strike a similarly striking 'beautiful ugliness' that Knights has quite perfectly achieved here?

All aboard Boaty McBoatface.

I'm no big fan of a child's imagination abstraction of the world in media, but perhaps that was because I hadn't seen it done RIGHT. To name an example, My Memory of Us similarly has a child friendship born of hardship and their interpretation of the Nazi occupation of Poland as some robot invasion. Immediately, it's the kind of holding-your-hands-up-excuse for anything to manifest on screen no matter how outlandish. A noble attempt at artistic freedom, but it's simply not grounded and doesn't ever seem to ring true (why robots?). Here, however, every fantasy enhancement is drawn over reality very distinctly in chalk and often (if not always) excitedly delineated by Demelza. At low points of self-criticism they even throw away their imaginations and have some recognition of their reasons for parting with reality. It's pure, compelling tragedy (familial, friendship and economic) with some meaningful things to say over mere excuses for artistic freedom. Knights perfectly evokes the inherent tragedy of children ever having to exist in the real world.

My washing machine's been a bit crabby lately.

That it's also central to the plot helps. You won't be surprised from the inherent tragedy at the heart of their defacement of reality that this tale of two young girls in Demelza and Nezza is a heart-stirrer. It depicts a child's friendship (the self-proclaimed Goonies-like 'Penfurzy Rebel Bicycle Club') in a very nuanced way; executing these perfect, earned moments. I never felt there was contrived conflict- the typical stumbling block of even the best-funded entertainment (looking at you Disney). I too got caught up in their quest to find the treasure and fight the land-consuming mist-like curse as you descend deeper and deeper into increasingly more convincing fantasy. It's twists and turns are simply compelling enough and might even have you questioning what's real. More importantly, its dialogue is always so constantly entertaining and witty. This doesn't feel like a game composed of 'moments.' The two are constantly chatting away in a high-quality, story-relevant way and there are evermore things to interact with in the environment, whether its going down a slide or insisting on putting jam on a scone first - there's no intermittent 'death of the characters' to make way for gameplay here. This is a game for which if you over-exert on your bike, a comic book panel of taking an inhaler pops up over your character. Knights thrives on intoxicating micro detail.

Me and capitalism.

To not touch on its audio dimension too would be criminal. The score perfectly underscores its emotional highs and lows (I don't think I'll ever get 'I want to ride my bike' out of my head now!). The audio design is filled to the brim with experience enhancing details that help convey a descent into fantasy. The eventual whinny of a horse when the girls mount their bikes, for instance, solidifies that they're not simply playing anymore - they're modern day knights. Even the substitution of character-distinct banging of pots and pans in place of actual voice-acting - I'm glad for it! I feel avoiding voice acting on this occasion might have helped eliminate any potential for annoyance at constant child-chatter. I realise that makes me sound like I already have the soul of an old man swinging a cane on his front porch, but it's not entirely unjustified a thought! Nevertheless, the two are so excellently visually emoted throughout with their moods so micro-detailed (no conflict with events once in spite of its pace) that there's really no loss here. It will be interesting to see how the TV show's introduction of voice acting compares.

Owl you doin'?

Gameplay-wise, it's intriguing. What it reminds me most viscerally of is the Traveller's Tales Lego games. It has its open hub to explore throughout in the fictional Cornwall island of Penfurzy, but primarily its linear chapter areas and objectives to complete. You're constantly rewarded for exploring off the beaten path with its trinket collectables that can be exchanged for (addictive) cosmetic upgrades to your bikes. Levels are surprisingly varied in both tone and plot as well as content. Both characters are constantly gaining new curse-fighting abilities in the form of frisbees, water-balloons, boom-boxes, etc that also double up as environmental/light puzzle-solving tools. Like the Lego games, these abilities have a metroidvania-lite aspect in how you can use them to access previously inaccessible areas. Fights with the predominately cursed objects are perhaps too chaotic and free of much strategy (using water balloons to extinguish fire enemies is more or less the level of complexity here) to compare to the rest of Knight's quality. That said, they too are varied and allow for some synergies between the character abilities (e.g. Nezza can place water balloons which create puddles to be kicked or thrown up by Demelza's plungers). I feel bad for even criticising combat accessibility given its potentially younger audience and the sheer characteristic creativity still on display, but its my honest take - cursed as I am with a few more years under one's belt!

There's a cat killer who disembowels cats in my neighbourhood, so this is as close to this as I'm getting!

Knights is built for co-op play. The fun you can have simply from racing around on your bikes and spamming your bells is competitive with most things out there. Then you have the more structured races, combat synergies, puzzle collaboration, healing each other with a high-five, etc - it's all excellent. I played a significant portion in co-op and outside. It works well either way. The AI is quick to do its part efficiently in the collaborative puzzles, even if it sometimes starts solving some of them before the solution even enters your conscious mind! It doesn't employ the Lego games' dynamic split screen at all if you venture too far from each other, but this rarely annoyed due to your slower movement. Without overly-tantalising, as with the very best of co-op experiences like A Way Out, there are even some surprising moments where every expectation is turned on its head.

Playing war is almost as fun as the direct opposite of the real thing.

Puzzles, as mentioned, are of the 'lite' variety, but you'd be surprised. Where some games might hold you hand throughout (particularly if they appeal to a younger audience), Knights trusts your intelligence with puzzles like interpreting the lines of a poem or simply making connections between your abilities and the environment/enemies. It's funny to think that in the latest Gears of War you'll have someone screeching about the exact way to kill a boss mere moments within the encounter, whilst a more child-friendly Knights actually respects your mind and its turning gears.

Guess I'm getting thrown into the sea, then.

If there's one slight against Knights that could be mentioned, it's that it can actually seem a tincture on the lengthy side! With its slow dispensing of character abilities and none of its plot exactly feeling like filler, it does everything to fight the feeling, but it's there. It may well be the most peculiar piece of warped human psychology to wish for something I'm enjoying so much to end, but when you're in the grips of its story and tantalised more than once by a suggestion of imminent closure, it makes some sense. It may well not be an issue most people have!

My least favourite crazy golf course obstacle.

Off the back of that, it seems a small point, but I majorly appreciate the save system here. It retains your save state for each chapter and let's you load it for both local and online co-op. Since my girlfriend couldn't quite survive the lengthy play sessions required to finish the game, these were invaluable to make some progress in her absence without giving up on our save together! I can see that for resorting to playing with strangers online too, this would be invaluable.

The UK brexit offices.

The final paragraph before I conclude must be very unfacetiously dedicated to Captain Honkers, a much friendlier goose than the one in the recent Untitled Goose Game. He's a key player and the absolute star of the show. He accompanies you for the entire game - leading the way, requesting food, enjoying a tummy rub, etc - and embodies all the heart and soul that Knights is bursting at the seams with. Not content with providing one of the best animal companions, Knights has even more surprises abound, however! I shan't say more.

I'd be angry if I had to play that game of theirs one more time.

There are some games that just heal your soul and steal your heart. Knights and Bikes is a multi-pronged attack of visual, narrative and co-op excellence. Not just for children, it's nuanced, tragic and endlessly entertaining. I eagerly await everything 'Knights and Bikes' in the future with its upcoming TV show, as well as everything these developers put out. It's truly honkers how good this is.