Bahnsen Knights Reviews
The third of LCB's weird narrative experiences is a reminder of what makes this series so special.
If you're intrigued by visual novels and their potential to delight, then the Pixel Pulps series is arguably the best possible place to start. Bahnsen Knights is the third entry and it's pretty damn wonderful. With its tighter emphasis on gameplay, it's arguably the best of the three, though that would be like choosing your favourite child. It's okay to love them all. Bahnsen Knights is an easy recommendation, and one which becomes even stronger if you're interested in horror and weird tales.
But as engaging as Bahnsen Knights’s atmosphere may be, the process of navigating it isn’t as consistently engrossing. The similarities to Choose Your Own Adventure-style storytelling work both in the game’s favor and against it. On one hand, there’s freedom to how you approach many situations, and there’s some excitement to knowing that the game holds more mysteries than you’ll uncover on first playthrough. On the other, there are quite a few fail states that feel arbitrary or unfair, and reloading a dialogue sequence several times in quick succession only serves to break the mood that the game otherwise works so hard to maintain.
Bahnsen Knights is an interesting visual novel that leans heavily on pulp fiction storytelling while giving players the illusion of choice. While the game is quite short, it’s a good recommendation for a player wanting a gripping narrative set within a late 80s aesthetic.
Bahnsen Knights does a great job at keeping fans of visual novel adventures involved. It's fun and unique story, visuals, and occasional minigames make it hard to put down, and it never feels repetitive or slow across the few hours it takes to complete it.
yet. I'll be keeping an eye on LCB Game Studios and Chorus Worldwide Games because Pixel Pulps is something I would be interested in, if fleshed out more. This just ain't it.
I love the Pixel Pulp series due to the storytelling and art. So I definitely like the visual novel part. But I get so very frustrated with most of the mini-games. I’m in this weird place where I have to juggle which is more important to me, narrative or gameplay. And honestly, narrative will win out every single time. Bahnsen Knights is a curious, creepy celebration of the pulp fiction genre. I have really enjoyed seeing the developer grow over the three games in the Pixel Pulp series, and I cannot wait to see what it does next. I bet nobody will see it coming.
You can finish the game in two to three hours, but it’s just the right length for this slice of suspense (and the game’s £8.49/$9.99 price tag). Engaging and shocking in equal measure, Bahnsen Knights is a wild ride you won’t regret taking.
Bahnsen Knights is awkward, short, and gangly. It has uncomfortable controls and isn't even available in Portuguese. None of this, however, takes away from the game its best narrative qualities, bold artistic style and a very particular way of promoting a good immersive experience worthy of its best inspirations.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
I would recommend Bahnsen Knights if you enjoyed the other entries in the trilogy. It features a more mature narrative that is a little too lean for its own good, but has just enough action and suspense to keep you engaged for its relatively short trip through Hell.
I feel like this is a visual novel anyone, and I mean anyone, can get behind. It’s broken into bite-sized pieces with animations, game mechanics and QTEs that keep you from just clicking through. It’s almost more like a Lucasarts adventure title, if Bobbin Threadbare had to drink just enough to not expose himself as a narc. It’s compelling, it’s raw, and it plays itself as seriously as possible while still having some of the most maddening ideas for a storyline.
Bahnsen Knights has the hard mission of entertaining a public already used to modernity. Reader, if you didn't know about this detail, the expression Pulp Fiction is synonymous with dynamic narrative, clearly outlined characters, heroes and villains, action and drama, adventure and exoticism. We have all of this in Bahnsen Knights. The game has an interesting visual and, unlike others, an extremely captivating soundtrack and a story worthy of the pulp genre. Even though it hasn't been localized in Brazilian Portuguese, the game may be a good entrypoint for learning, as its dialogues have a rich vocabulary.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Another Pixel Pulp story is here, delivering very retro-styled graphics mixed with hardboiled narrative with some choices
A harsh yet engaging narrative drives Bahnsen Knights down the streets of hell, flanked by vivid violence and stomach-churning scenarios. It's short, but it packs a punch all the same.
Bahnsen Knights is a game in which you have to maintain concentration more than ever. If you don't do that, death will soon be near and you will soon no longer follow the storyline. However, even if you skip all the dialogues, you will notice that you can still find a way through the conversations, even though that defeats the entire purpose of the game. The choices are not really very deep, and you can quickly do a retry and choose the next choice. However; If you keep your mind on it, the story of this game is quite interesting. I was through it in just over an hour and the credits were already rolling by. In addition, I did not really enjoy the gameplay of the game (i.e. the mini-games).
Review in Dutch | Read full review
Bahnsen Knights is something I’ve said I’ve wanted, I just wish it did it better. Short and cheap games seem like the ultimate cure for folks burned out by the current gaming landscape… but a single hour is perhaps too short, even most folks I know who appreciate shorter games would probably feel cheated, and that hour could definitely do with some improvements. They definitely tried and succeeded at having a unique and memorable voice, but this also means wearing its flaws on its sleeve. There’s some great scenes, and the aesthetics are absolutely on point, but at the end of the day I simply can’t find myself recommending this to anyone except those who’d look at the trailer and immediately know it’s their jam.
Bahnsen Knights is a high-speed horror thriller that plumbs the depths of a car-obsessed cult and its fanatical "Messiah" in a story that's a little bit The Stand, a little bit Mad Max, and all terrifying.
Though the pace is sometimes interrupted, Bahnsen Knights certainly captivates with its striking pixel art and captivating story, weaving a narrative where loneliness, tornados, and fast cars come together in unexpected ways. Bahnsen Knights beckons, promising a unique blend of interactive storytelling, pulse-pounding minigames, and an atmospheric experience that transcends the boundaries of traditional gaming narratives.
Bahnsen Knights is a short ride with fun highs brought on by its timely features and mini-games that move the story along and keep players in the driver’s seat.
The last of LCB Game Studio's Pixel Pulps is here! Bahnsen Knights is a short, choose-your-own-adventure about a cult of the same name. Despite focussing on the wrong areas of the plot, the game does have some lovely characterisation where one sentence paints a big picture. The nostalgic feel along with the gorgeous and sometimes downright terrifying pixel art means that Bahnsen Knights offers a lot, despite some rough edges.