One kingdom gets invaded by the monsters. One brave knight goes to save it. Your typical plot, right? How about a twist? The Grumpy Knight is everything but a typical game, featuring an aggressive hero and almost completely tame monsters.

Storyline

The story seems to be a simple story focusing on the classic tasks. You have to eradicate the monsters and save the land. What makes it different from the other games is the fact that there is nothing serious in the plot. It is comical, lighthearted, and unique in a way. I’m not a big fan of such games, but I must admit that playing it was like a breath of fresh air.

The story’s flow is nice, beginning with the cutscene full of interesting dialogues. It gives a good, yet not completely detailed overview of what to expect. First off, the story is very creative and it develops in a nice way. You need to speak with some people a couple of times to unravel some pieces of the story. The dialogues tend to be very long, but in this case it’s not a bad thing since they are entertaining and can make you smile once in a while. The cutscenes featuring the villains are pretty interesting, and they fill the plot with a certain dose of mystery, thus preventing it to become boring and making the player eager to play and see what their real motive is.

I have nothing bad to say about the story except two things. I have the feeling that “I hate/don’t need men” thing crosses the border where it stops being funny and makes the main character seem like a frustrated hater. Also, as much as I like the story and find it interesting, I still prefer the plots dealing with more serious things.

Battle System

The most interesting and the most unique part of the game. The battle system is weird and takes some time to learn all the strategies, but it is very unique and really interesting. Learning strategies, planning moves and trying to figure out which party is the best is always very exciting. The battles itself are not very challenging, but they require a certain amount of thinking and are not mindless. They are nicely balanced, except some minor bosses like the chest monster (it took me a while). I find it weird some monsters are harder to beat than the main bosses.

Now to say something about the best, the battle skills. Some of them are very useful and interesting. For example, Elsa’s runes. They contain a great amount of power, but they can’t always be used. I find it very neatly balanced, along with Ruby’s skills. Ruby’s skills lose some of their power if overused, which is tricky and forces the player to think about every action. Along with Elsa, Ruby is the most balanced character. I also find the gardener skills highly likable. Planting trees is not only a very original idea, but is also a useful skill.


There are also some innovations, like the absence of MP and introduction to EX. Overall, I find the entire battle system nicely done, with moderately powerful monsters, some moderately powerful and very powerful party members, and brilliantly unique skills.

Characters

The main character Elsa is a quite interesting person. Not only she is not feminine, but she is also not so “knightly”. She is a classic rebel, who won’t obey anyone, and she is overly grumpy, but I find it really funny sometimes. She doesn’t show a lot of respect for the majority of people, but in spite of everything, she is a quite interesting protagonist.

The villains, the weirdest characters in the entire game. They make me just stupidly blink at the screen and wonder where some overly evil, fear-inspiring megalomaniacs are. Instead of it, the villains are cute, naïve and sometimes slightly dumb. I shouldn’t be saying this, but they are so cute that I love them more than any protagonist, especially Mumi. Yet again, I need to praise the creators’ for all this uniqueness.

The other characters were absolutely hilarious too. The king and his book about doggies, the princess and her bratty behavior, the weird thief, the cook which loves explosives, the mother with “needs”, the grandma which is so boringly persistent, yet hilarious… They all make an enchanting crew.

Music

A very nice BGM which quite fits the game and the mood. Nothing too special, but also very nice.

Graphics

I love the title screen and the custom battlers. The enemies have suitable graphics as well as the characters. Everything is mostly cutesy and original, with the faces expressing all the emotions. Also, the maps are nice and some of them are very appealing.

Endings

Multiple endings encourage exploration and are something I always love to see in a game. They are easy to achieve, except the true ending which is moderately hard. I think that both normal and true endings are quite suitable for the game and a nice ending touch. The special ending somehow turns out to be very illogical and somehow unfitting with the rest. It gives me the feeling that the ending’s creator somehow wanted to make it hilarious at any cost.

Random things I disliked –

Elsa appears highly frustrated at some points, due to overuse of her “I dislike and don’t need males” motto.
In the battles, it switches Victoria’s name to Diana without any reason.
I find the game likable, but I wish the plot and the characters contained at least a tiny bit of seriousness.
The special ending is quite unfitting and not so humorous.

Random things I liked –

The queen and the prince, the characters which are closest to being normal.
The adorable villains and their goal.
The battle system which is full of unique things, and is something I wish to see more often.
Leveling after tasks.
Entertaining dialogues.
Characters' faces.
The name giving option.
Unlockables.
Two difficulties.
Online achievements.


Overall thoughts –

A short, lighthearted game with adorable characters which is an excellent choice if you want to try out something unique and if you want to take a break from the complex storylines.