Candle Knight | PS5 Review

Jandusoft & Dracma Studios', "Candle Knight" is a simple yet challenging Metroidvania soulslike with a cryptic and lightly poetic story about a dream involving a conjoined hero destined to either be a shining beacon or a fiery burden on the kingdom from which he hails. One could assume this hero or anti-hero is the Candle Knight, the game's titular protagonist. 

Assumptions aside you will find for certain that gameplay in "Candle Knight" is a mixture of Metroidvania exploration and soulslike combat, to a lesser degree. That of which is wholly centered around an ignition gauge system with three tiers of heat that each carry with them damage and defensive balances that change according to attacks and blocking done in combat situations. Making it imperative to mind your ignition state for each battle, be it big or small.

As the Candle Knight you will traverse the dark fantasy ruins of a castle interior as you face foes and hazards alike. All while maintaining your armor/health, and carefully utilizing the ignition gauge for combat against lesser enemies and larger bosses. To begin with you can only do the basics on your adventure such as jump, jump higher, and move forwards and backwards. 

As the tutorial phase progresses though you pick up a sword and shield with which you'll attack and defend against enemies. These are staple mechanics that come with a penalty cost to ignition. In turn intensifying your flame and altering the power behind your attacks and the sturdiness of your armor at the same time. At base level ignition attack is lowered while armor is heightened. In mid-ignition attack and armor are equally balanced. Leaving the final enflamed ignition state to deal big damage while being weaker armor-wise.

Outside of the basic combat options of sword attacks and shield blocking, and the advance minding of the ignition gauge there is the usual Metroidvania skills for advanced traversal and interactions with key environmental set pieces. You earn these skills as you go along and encounter first instances where they'd be useful. Usually tucked away in chests for the looting. Things like wall jump will become part of the Candle Knight's tool kit going forward, among other things. 

Speaking of traversal there are some light puzzle elements incorporated into the platforming within "Candle Knight". Forcing the player to put to use all skills as they dodge pitfalls and hazards. As per usual enemies also pose a threat to progression and are usual stationed at static positions that they will move in a limited way on safeguarding the spot from your advance. Getting past them to the next chalice or save point is the key to completing each part of the trek from start to finish. It will afford you armor refills, and allow you to start at the base ignition state via ignition gauge reset.

Beyond enemy and hazard encounters lies looting opportunities in the form of hidden chests and special heat orbs that can be attacked to escalate the ignition gauge before moving on. You will find both coins and collectibles along the beaten path as you explore the hidden nooks & crannies. The coins, themselves, act as a currency to spend at the traveling merchant which offers the health and ignition vials alongside new shields and weapons. Coins are also gifted upon enemy kills in lesser amounts.

Taking advantage of these wares is crucial for progress sake as enemies will become harder to deal with the further you make it into a playthrough. Should you die in the midst of your journey your body, and all that you've collected currency-wise will be left at the point of death for pick up upon return if you can get it. This seems to be the only soulslike feature outside of the vials. That, and the chalice save points.

The Verdict ...

Candle Knight looks good for an indie of Jandusoft caliber, exceptionally good. It almost looks like an AA or AAA indie in the making. Looks can be deceiving though, and this game isn't without it's shortcomings. The combat, for example, feels very basic and sometimes ineffective against certain enemies that attack relentlessly. Same with the Metroidvania traversal. It feels kind of floaty and crude without that sense of solid player to controller connectivity needed to navigate such a trying ordeal.

You'll find that there are platforms at times that will crumble away on touch making any wall climbing or careful treading needed an aggravating task, This is further compounded by stuttering/latency that will sometimes cause you to fall into a pitfall or onto some hazard unfairly. It's these design flaws that ultimately hold back Candle Knight's full potential. 

I am hoping the developer can fine tune the mechanics and smooth out controls/character movement with some patches or updates as the game really needs it in it's current state. For now though I'm gonna say wait and see. If there's an update I will do my best to keep you informed on the gameplay video I'll be uploading to YouTube. Until then I hope you're doing well, and that you got something out of this read!