When Hungarian studio Digital Reality, come together and work on a game with Suda 51′s Grasshopper Manufacture, then you know you can expect something that really isn’t the norm. This is certainly the case for Black Knight Sword, an action platformer that has its roots firmly set in the glory days of 8 and 16-bit platform gaming. Although the actual gameplay is nothing we haven’t seen many times before, it’s the art style that Grasshopper Manufacture describe as “Interactive Kamishibai”, or Japanese paper drama, that really brings it to life. The game also takes what appears to be a heavy inspiration from Terry Gilliam’s Monty Python style animations, just often darker and far more twisted; but then what else would you expect from the mind of Suda 51?
The art and style is so good, that you forget the basic hack and slash platforming and instead feel more like you’re really creating a paper drama in your own small theatre. As you traverse each area, killing the many twisted enemies with the titular Black Knight Sword, the backgrounds slide in like back drops to a theatre stage. This not only seamlessly creates new scenes and areas, but also help set the twisted tones running throughout every part of the game.
The only problem with a title like this, is that it’s better portrayed in motion. No amount of words or screenshots can do it justice. So, with that in mind, while we went hands-on with the game we also had the chance to chat to legendary Sound Designer from Grasshopper Manufacture, Akira Yamaoka, about the game. You can see all this, along with plenty of gameplay, in our video preview feature:
Black Knight Sword will be available on Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network later this year. Thank you for watching this DJP:tv special, be sure to check back for more soon.
