Rival Knights Review
PROS
- The best jousting simulator on the App Store
- Nice mo-cap visuals
- Good range of upgrades
CONS
- Pay to win
- Mechanical and repetitive
- Energy system really limits play
VERDICT
Despite some fancy visuals and a novel idea, Rival Knights reliance on in-app purchases quickly stops it being fun.
- Full Review
- App Store Info
There aren't many medieval sport simulators on App Store. Enter Rival Knights, a game which casts you as a lowly knight who must battle his way through the noble jousting leagues to earn riches and status.
Matches begin with you stirring your steed into action. Once charging down the lane, you must build up speed. Spurring on your horse is achieved by the act of stopping a marker on target as it scrolls back and forth along a meter. The final stage of combat has you drop your lance into position, take aim at your enemy, and hopefully knock him from his horse by striking the tiny indicator on his armoured body.
There is no way of knowing whether you have been successful until the moment when the impressive mocap visuals show you or your opponent flung from your respective steed. This saps out a lot of the fun, as the tension that should be created by the dual is undercut by focusing on the HUD, rather than any indicators in the actual world.
Not that this matters, of course, because real reason you lose is often down to stats, not skill. Victories are determined by attack, defence, and speed. While you can maximise your skillset's efficiency through timely taps and good targeting, ultimately battled are governed by equipment level. This leaves you regularly stuck , with the game demanding you upgrade your kit with with gold or gems that can be earned or purchased in-app. The upshot of this is that, while there is some skill involved, Rival Knights quickly becomes a pay-to-win experience.
This could be mitigated to some extent if grinding for rewards was viable. Unfortunately, entry to both the solo and multiplayer jousts require seals to enter. These are doled out at regular intervals, but matches are so brief that you can use all of your seals in a matter of minutes. This leaves you either needing to purchasing more, or just walking away.
There may not be much like it on the App Store, but Rival Knights's medieval coating is quickly tarnished by its very modern pay-to-win business model. It's perhaps worth a look for the novelty, but there is little here to entice you back to the saddle.
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