A deeper look at Knytt Stories
As with his earlier look into the subtle complexities that made World of Goo so rewarding, David Rosen has turned his attention now to nifflas's Knytt Stories, a game I chose as one of the top five freeware releases of 2007 in a former life.
As I said there, Stories takes the best parts of Cave Story (the similarly excellent freeware game), particularly the joys of its pure platforming and exploration, and Ico/Shadow of the Colossus's "propensity to strip away all of a game's unnecessary layers until its shining core is revealed," both of which Rosen expounds upon nicely with his attention on Knytt's smart handling of "progression" and control.
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endotoxin
#1 – 10:29 AM December 10, 2008
I positively support this game. I've been playing Knytt Stories, as well as all of the other Nifflas games since they've debuted. They even run well under Wine!
Zenanon
#2 – 11:56 AM December 10, 2008
The best parts of Cave Story? Not really. Despite the name, Knytt Stories lacks the engaging story that Cave Story had, and doesn't have the intense combat elements.
Not to belittle Knytt Stories, mind you. I think it's a great game, easily one of the best freeware titles out there. It's just not exactly comparable to Cave Story.
DavidPFarrell
#3 – 1:50 PM December 10, 2008
I really enjoy these, and hope Offworld continues to post them.
I checked the wolfire site and there didn't seem to be any way to just subscribe to the design tours?
So I'm counting on you Offworld to keep me informed!
macisaguy
#4 – 2:18 PM December 10, 2008
Really been enjoying Rosen's videos. One of my favorite features of this site. And I think I'm going to have to look into Knytt Stories tonight...assuming that is it's available for a mac.
Iron Wallaby
#5 – 4:19 AM December 11, 2008
One other thing to note (that impressed me) is the animation.
The still screenshots of the game do not do it justice, since it (pretty honestly) looks poor statically. But the animation is very lively -- every character has a bounce in their step and is very smooth, despite the very low resolution; little bugs fly around, and little critters scurry along the ground. The animations actually create a feeling and help to draw you in a little deeper.