Even though I keep an eye on handheld gaming news, sometimes a title totally escapes my attention. Like it happened with Portal Knights, the game that appeared in the eShop on the Switch in the last week of November. The reason that the game hasn’t gotten much attention in the gaming media might be that the Switch is just about the last console that it lands on. But me being Nintendo oriented means that the game totally escaped my attention.
The game has taken a good look at the success that is Minecraft, and added an RPG element to it. Somehow looking at the trailers, I’m very much reminded of Dragon Quest Builders. So, a sandbox game, gathering things and crafting items, and a RPG element added to it. This is from the official description by 505 Games:
In Portal Knights, you begin their journey as a Warrior, Mage or Ranger, then level up your character while gathering resources to craft powerful weapons, armor and spells to defeat formidable monsters and epic bosses in real-time combat. Players can work cooperatively with friends or family to build structures, explore dungeons and combine the unique attack styles of all classes to overcome challenging perils together while traveling between expansive, imaginative 3D worlds.
Although the game is playable on other consoles and Steam as well, the Switch version includes some nice extras, like Online Multiplayer, with up to four players. And Wireless Play Support, where you can play in split screen up to four players by connecting two Nintendo Switch systems or in full screen up to four players by connecting four Nintendo Switch systems.
The game is $ 29,99 (and Euro 29,99) and if you don’t like digital games, you can wait for the physical release next February. 