GN Reviews: Knights Contract- It must have looked better on paper.

Knights Contract.  Where to begin, where to begin.  A story of immortal life, witchcraft, the ignorance of man, and humanity's seemingly only redeeming quality, compassion.  Sounds like a pretty worthwhile premise to explore through virtual interaction, doesn't it?  Well, it certainly could be one day, but that day isn't today and the game to do it certainly isn't Knights Contract.

Let's start at the beginning, when we are first introduced to Heinrich and Gretchen.  Heinrich is an immortal, and since the idea of not dying makes little sense for a video game, the developers saw fit to give us Gretchen, a companion witch who serves as a never-ending escort mission from start to finish.

This Knight must share an agent with Nic Cage.

As far as the story, it goes as follows: Heinrich was an executioner during the time of the Witch Trials and is responsible for the death of six witches, Gretchen included. The witches, although actually a force for good, are blamed for a disease called "The Black Death" which is spreading across the land.  Before she was beheaded, however, Gretchen placed a spell of immortality on the executioner because she saw the uncertainty in his eyes of not wanting to take a possibly-innocent life.  Now resurrected 100 years later, it is Gretchen's job to stop her fellow witches from exacting revenge on humanity for wrongly executing them.  Why doesn't she want revenge herself, you ask?  Because it's part of the "Witches Code" to protect people.  Yeah... that's it.  Anyway, after running into Heinrich she forms a pact with him, the knights contract, which binds him to aid her in her journey and is promised mortality in return so he can finally find peace.

From here the gameplay unfolds, although I hesitate to call it "gameplay" for two reasons.  The first being that the game is broken up into short episodes a la Bayonetta.  At the end of each episode, 20 in all, players receive a grade based on the time it takes to complete a stage, the number of kills, number of finishers, and a bonus on top for skillful combos.  One problem with this is the episodic breakdown makes the game feel chopped up due to poor decisions on where stages should end.  Most episodes end at a random spot in the stage, so the next episode begins without any plot progression, as if episodes were merely separated by loading screens of new areas.  Fragmentation is actually a major flaw with this game, and it's immediately noticeable from the very beginning.  For the first 12 chapters, every literal minute of combat will afterwards result in a cut scene so that characters can speak.  Dialogue that should just be implemented during gameplay becomes standalone, non-playable cinematics.  And it actually happens every few steps, making the vast majority of the game a dislocated mess.  Combine this with the frequent and painfully long load times, and the end result is a jarring, joyless jaunt that feels utterly unsatisfying.

Verderinde. She's one bad-ass bitch witch.

The other reason I hesitate with the term "gameplay" is because there's little fun to be had even during the action sequences.  Combat is a tricky mess, making use of almost every part of the controller for every single fight.  Heinrich will constantly have to battle horrific camera angles and useless partner A.I, all while making sure Gretchen isn't being attacked by an off-screen enemy, making combat a frustrating chore that leaves everything to be desired.  Specifically, Heinrich has a normal and strong attack with his Scythe by tapping X or Y (XB360 controls,) a Grab with B, and a Dodge/Roll by tapping A.  Then to use Gretchen's magic, the right trigger must be held to access magic again using the four face buttons.  Or, to use powerful energy draining spells, which are replenished by collecting souls (killing enemies by using combos/finishers,) the left trigger needs to be held again opening up new actions for the face buttons.  Combine all that with one thumbstick for movement and another for adjusting camera, which you'll be doing VERY often, and a left bumper for lock-on, you have yourself a control scheme that's almost as absurd as a second season of The Cape (too soon?  Of course not, that show sucked.)

To replenish Gretchen's health, since her death results in a game over, Heinrich must carry her in his arms.  How does this replenish her health?  Ha, silly reader, Knights Contract doesn't bother wasting it's time with petty explanations.  The game is too busy spouting out senseless dialogue to match it's equally unintelligible gameplay mechanics.  That's right, for all the obnoxious cut scenes and excessive dialogue, most of it is entirely skippable, which thankfully is an option with Knights Contract.

At the end of every few episodes is a boss fight against one of the witches.  For the most part, these are the easiest parts of the game so long as Heinrich is holding Gretchen the entire time until her spells recharge.  Spells, once upgraded, do enormous damage and are often game-breaking.  One spell in particular, which ensnares enemies in a floor trap, can still be used on bosses to make them vulnerable to attacks.  Of course, there's always a catch, as rings true here.  For all the unsatisfying ease of each combat section of a boss fight, there is a dreaded Quick Time Event sequence to strike a killing blow.  These QTE's are merciless and unforgiving, giving only a moment's notice before disappearing.  The penalty for failing a sequence, which thankfully stays the same upon retrying, is to replay the boss battle with your opponent at half health, and Heinrich not regaining any previously exhausted magic or health.  In a word: Unreasonable.

Bad Dialogue and Impractical Nudity? Sounds more like a Porno.

While I hate to make a review feel so decidedly one-sided, Knights Contract has little merit worth mentioning.  The graphics are substandard for this point in this console generation's life cycle, although the environments do offer some diversity; ranging from a snowy mountain to a burning town and a castle covered in hair.  (Yeah, there's a witch named Repunzel and she has long hair.  It's okay, I yelled "WTF" too.)  The game does offer a new game plus feature, allowing all the upgraded magic and collectibles previously obtained to carry over to a new difficulty, and episodes can be replayed at will.  Unfortunately, the negatives far outweigh the positives throughout the entire experience.

Knights Contract ends up being an adventure that should have been subjected to early termination.  It's incredible issues with pacing (The last eight episodes of the game take place at the end of the journey.  That's almost half the game dedicated to the ending.) and painfully frustrating gameplay make it an adventure surely worth leaving behind.  Even though the game encourages replayability with it's wealth of post-game unlockables, it's still not enough to save this tortured title.