Griefhelm

A really pretty knight fighter with solid audio design that is buried by poor design choices and shallow gameplay.

Much like the medieval weapons in use, Griefhelm’s lack of polish is easily recognizable. If this were an early access lower-priced title, the wild ragdoll effects and clumsiest moments would be quickly excused by consumers. Griefhelm’s developer does seem to be improving aspects of the AI and gameplay with recent and consistent updates, but the unsophisticated final product on offer amounts to a risky recommendation at best.

Griefhelm isn't a bad game, but the parts that make it good only work in isolation, not with each other. That drags the whole experience down, however excited you might be for the battles.

Challenging but without the same painstaking depth as most fighting games, Griefhelm neatly distils the thrills of facing your opponent in a mortal melee. The campaign has some clever ideas to help extend longevity with multiplayer being a welcome addition, though the core gameplay can grow repetitive after a while. Still, it's a fun take on the genre and one that will hopefully grow and galvanise over time.

Griefhelm is a fun medieval skirmish game that fans of knights will enjoy, especially around the couch with friends. The potential of this lovingly crafted indie game is let down by some rough edges when it comes to close combat, as well as an unsatisfying single-player campaign.

There’s a lot to love when it comes to Griefhelm and whilst that initial difficulty will be off-putting to some, I recommend you persevere. Whilst combat doesn’t hold a huge amount of depth, the variety in gameplay modes was appreciated and it features some challenging 2D combat, nice aesthetics and enjoyable multiplayer. The inability to save campaign progress is frustrating, but overall, the game took me by surprise, and I very much recommend it.