Team Good Knight and Doublethink Games’ Good Knight is out now on Steam Early Access, dishing up a “butt-clenching” heavy metal bullet hell steeped in Filipino mythology.
Drawing inspiration from everything from Dante’s Inferno and Greek classics to Super Hexagon, Castlevania, and rhythm and puzzle games, Good Knight is a game about a knight’s journey into hell to fight the horrors of Filipino folklore. The game revolves around surviving the onslaught of bullets as you move around a central pillar, with a minimalist control scheme designed around a single button. (“You only need one button because you only have one job- survive from the bullet hell!”)
It’s designed to appeal to both hardcore and casual players, with the option of unlimited continues and a bullet time mechanic to help rookies, and a combo-centric scoring system that rewards expert play. In fact, though desroying bullet-shooting enemies is one of the best tools you have for survival, it’s apparently not required; “After you master the ‘dungeon dance move’, you won’t need [to destroy] them anymore- show some mercy to the pitful dungeon!”
It packs a fittingly frantic metal soundtrack, and an atmosphere inspired by the likes of Devil May Cry and Castlevania. But instead of the European monsters seen in those games, Good Knight pits you against the likes “a reverse Centaur (a man with a head of a horse) called Tikbalang, a Smoking treeman who smokes so much, that creates fog so people get lost in the mountains, and the Aswang which is a traditional Vampire but with a twist where it dislocates its lower body and flies away looking for victims at night.”
In its current state, Good Knight offers a complete campaign, four-player multiplayer, “and a lot more”. Team Good Knight plans to use the early access period to add additional levels and game modes, a level creation tool, online play, replays, mod support, and additional visual flair, while also getting community feedback an input on the game.