Portal Knights

Genre: Open-World Action-RPG

Players: 1-2 Co-Op (Local Split-Screen), 2-4 Co-Op (Local Wireless, Online)

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Review:

WARNING: THIS GAME HEAVILY PUSHES MICROTRANSACTIONS

Portal Knights (no relation to the Portal series) is an Open-World Action-RPG released on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, mobile devices, and Nintendo Switch in 2017. This is a game that looks to take the ideas and gameplay from Minecraft and brush them up into something more polished. And by “take the ideas and gameplay from Minecraft”, I mean that this game was clearly designed to copy Minecraft. However, as I often say in these cases, there’s nothing wrong with a copycat so long as it’s a good copycat. So that’s the question here: is Portal Knights a good copycat?

Right from the start, the presentation makes it clear that this game is not just taking ideas from Minecraft, but adding to them. While the 3D visual presentation here starts with the same “world made out of boxes” style that Minecraft made infamous, it doesn’t stop there, but instead ensures that everything is decorated to bring it away from that boxy look – lush foliage grows on grass blocks and sways in the wind, minerals jut out of the rock to announce their presence, and while both human characters and enemies still have a simple, cartoony look to them, this look isn’t… well, blocky like Minecraft’s is.

However, I should note that the difference in the visuals from Minecraft isn’t just “it’s not blocky”. The detailed foliage, subtle animations, and nice lighting and shadow effects really help to make the world of Portal Knights feel alive.

These visuals are backed by a nice acoustic soundtrack with a decent ‘fantasy” feel to it, and though it’s nothing especially memorable, it works well to back up the gameplay and visuals. I should also note here the sounds of people you talk to, who make a gobbledygook speech that adds a cutesy touch to the game. Overall, I’d say that Portal Knights doesn’t have the same sort of instantly-recognizable signature feel to it that Minecraft’s art style does, but in terms of technical quality, it’s generally an improvement.

The gameplay here both streamlines elements (no more tool degradation!) and brings it in more of an RPG direction, with players upgrading equipment and crafting stations in a way that somewhat resembles a skill tree, players being able to upgrade their character’s stats after gaining levels, much as in an RPG, and players accepting quests from NPCs, making for a steady progression in the game that keeps players on track so they’re less likely to get lost. The RPG structure here isn’t quite as well-crafted as something like the Dragon Quest Builder games, but it makes for a good halfway point between those games and Minecraft.

However, despite the many improvements this game makes over Minecraft, it is still limited in its scope in numerous ways. The worlds you’ll be exploring are not the infinite expanses of Minecraft, but self-contained areas that players will use the game’s titular portals to warp between. As such, you simply don’t get the same feeling of exploration in this game that you do in Minecraft. The same goes for crafting, which is more straightforward here, but also feels more limited. As an example, some resources are obtained specifically in some areas, meaning that players wanting to stock up on that resource will need to warp back, and their ability to craft will be limited by how far they’ve progressed in the game. Also, this game simply can’t compete with the Dragon Quest Builders story, characters, and town-building elements.

There’s also the question of the game’s microtransactions. Much of this game’s content is locked behind additional purchases, including multiple classes and different skin types, and the game seems to enjoy reminding players about content they can’t access unless they buy it. It’s not the worst implementation of additional monetizatio I’ve seen in a game, but it can be annoying at times.

So in the end, is this a better game than Minecraft and the Dragon Quest Builders games? Wellll… no. But it does offer a take on the Minecraft formula that improves on that formula in multiple ways. It might not have the same level of exploration as Minecraft, nor feature the RPG and town-building of Dragon Quest Builders, but Portal Knights is still a superb Minecraft-alike that’s well worth playing even if you already own one or both of those other games.

tl;dr – Portal Knights is an Open-World Action-RPG that copies Minecraft’s formula, but does it well, improving on multiple areas in Minecraft. Portal Knights features a more technically-appealing presentation, more fleshed-out RPG elements, and streamlines some of Minecraft’s more frustrating elements. That said, it can’t quite match Minecraft’s unique style and sense of exploration and creation, nor Dragon Quest Builders’ story, RPG and town-building elements. However, this game is nevertheless an excellent addition to the genre that’s deserving of standing tall next to those greats.

Grade: B+

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