Sometimes games surprise you and Portal Knights is an open sandbox RPG that packs more than just a little punch. The game has heart and takes you off on simple adventures through an ever-changing voxel world which you can manipulate and explore. Where Portal Knights succeeds is in its ability to combine stories within its open world format. This is our Portal Knights review.
Choosing your character follows the normal RPG pathway. You can start as a Warrior, Ranger, or Mage and level out skills and abilities for each one. We chose the Warrior class because the close combat scenarios looked fun and made for some great hack and slash. We went with the axe specialization. It offered some fun moves and there are lots of cool looking options for crafting.
The combat is another area where the game shines. Simple and effective the strategic action combat allows for easy movement and attacks when fighting a foe. It has the same feel as some of the more advanced RPGs out there like Dark Souls. You can choose and craft a variety of weapons within the game using resources. The combat left us wishing that other games in the voxel genre included such a robust system. The mage and ranger classes use a more duck and move approach, it was fun to test out, but we stuck with the warrior in the end.
Just like other voxel worlds, Portal Knights give you loads of resources to work with in crafting. You can build anything and finding more advanced resources is not impossible either. The learning curve here is easy to master. Switching through worlds by using the portals you unlock will help you gather up a variety of goods to build your gear and also your home. Crafting with friends in co-op mode is also great, just as long as they follow your designs to build that dream home.
The real gem of this game is exploring and battling foes throughout the Fracture. That is Portal Knights huge variety of worlds to explore. As you level up you will unlock more of these places to visit. It kept the environments fresh and each world had unique enemies as well as resources you use in crafting. If you like snow and ice, well then you can have a whole look put together while exploring that zone. The game leaves you wanting more after you walk away simply through variety. You always want to go back in and open a portal to a new section of the Fracture to see what you can find.
Score: 8.0
Pros
- Fun Combat
- Great Exploration
- Solid Crafting
Cons
- You Have Seen This World Before
- Some Portals can be Hard to Find
- Touchy Controls on PS4