Took my time and wanted to peruse Steam’s demo page a pick a really obscure-looking game and I definitely found one. I had some reservations about the game, but in the end, it really surprised me. This week I take control of a fish and seek revenge on something, this week is Knights of the Deep.

Knights of the Deep is an action-adventure game (with bits of platforming) from Wander Brain. It will release on PC and is currently labeled as “Coming Soon.”

The plot of the game is really non-existent here but I feel like it is safe to say that there are predators running rampant in your part of town and you are the only one who can keep the kingdom safe, so you pick up a sword and go on an adventure. The developer note really says it all:

“As a wandering fish, you find yourself inside an ocean maze full of predators. While you anxiously try to find your way back, you discover a mysterious sword. As you pick it up, you feel its power flow through your veins, filling you with courage that sends you venturing deeper into the abyss. There you find other helpless creatures in hiding. They speak of a dark oppression that looms, which threatens their once blossoming kingdom.”

The game is simple at its core. Move the fish with WASD, and it has probably one of the most useful dashes in any video game that I have ever played. You can interact with a range of aquatic life, complete quests and explore an unexpectedly large world.

The Knight has the standard three fish hearts and when those go away, they return to the last shell that you have rested at. Enemies are tanky and take a few hits to dispatch, but as of right now there are only a few enemies that pose an actual threat outside of being reckless while swimming. Learn their movesets and the game becomes easy.

I will always like pixel graphics and this is no exception. Knights of the Deep, so far, is a very clean very colorful game that I liked swimming around in.

The music is soft and really fits the aquatic theme.

Knights of the Deep’s demo last about twenty minutes. I was plagued with an issue when talking to the sea turtle and I could not get out of the text bubble, so I had to close and re-open the game. I did not have this issue with other NPC’s. The traversal and combat are super fun. I really like when you are a fish out of water, but that is okay because there is a dedicated “flop” feature that allows you to traverse certain sections. I also like how, with the sword, the fish just flings themselves up instead of flopping.

GENIUS

I really have no issues with the game besides the fact that there are sometimes the game can lock you out when you talk to certain NPC’s.