I had the pleasure of reviewing Mothmen 1966 a couple of years ago. Developed as a ‘pixel pulp’ by Argentinian two dev team LCB Game Studio, the game was a visual and audio treat for fans of lo-bit but highly expressive art and of 80s-inspired synth. The writing was also top notch, flitting between different people’s perspectives during a creepy night of a Mothman appearance (I don’t think that is too much of a spoiler given the title). The framing was like tucking into a particularly engaging Stephen King novel with the pacing of Lee Child’s Reacher series.
Released on consoles last December, Bahnsen Knights continues the incredibly strong visual and audio delivery with a new story to tell.
The story centres on Brick, a bearded agent that has infiltrated a cult called the Bahnsen Knights. They have surged in popularity as the world is being pulled towards the brink of an extinction event. The Knights are popular because they drive their cars into the eye of storms and perform ‘exorcisms’ to dispel them.
Bahnsen’s art style is superlative. The static and motion comic images that appear on each screen as the text scrawls along the bottom are bathed in red, the pixel work is obvious, but the detail is perfect. I could imagine this game running on an old BBC computer and the soundtrack fits the part too.
The music and sound effects flit in and out – jarring notes to signal the change in mood of a scene. It all works well together.
And the mood jumps a lot, in a good way. The preacher of the Knights is slippery, sociopath, his right-hand men are a rogue’s gallery of degenerates with their own collection of dark triad sensibilities. Talking to any of them affects a meter that can lead to them distrusting Brick and even killing him.
The game play, like a demake of Secret of Monkey Island title, is series of dialogue choices and light puzzle solving, punctuated by some action sequences and some addictive solitaire. This is where the game can be at its weakest on consoles. To play solitaire (admittedly an optional activity) I had to use the interface of selecting ‘Move left’ and ‘Move right’ options from a drop-down list, instead of, you know, just moving a cursor left and right with the stick or d-pad. It is a minor complaint but one that I hope if we get more Pixel Pulp games, the dev team come up with a smoother solution.
Otherwise, it is hard to fault Bahnsen Knights – it is another delicious, bready, cake slice of storytelling. Something that is severely lacking on big consoles, and LCB Game Studios now have three bangers. If visual novels interest you, this is a must have for the beginning of the year.
Conclusion
Bahnsen Knights proves that LCB Game Studios are leaders in their field. A visual novel unlike most others, but also familiar to anyone that enjoys pulp entertainment.
This game was reviewed based on Xbox S|X review code, using an Xbox S|X console. All of the opinions and insights here are subject to that version. Game provided by publisher.
