Gryphon Knight Epic Review (PS4)

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Developer: Cyber Rhino Studios
Publisher: Cyber Rhino Studios

Main Review

Review Context: I played the PC version of Gryphon Knight Epic.
Date of Playthrough: April 4, 2016
Disclosure: This review is based off of a review copy.

[It is really recommended that you also read the PC review, which has additional thoughts on the game. This review is more of a comparison to the PC version.]

Back in August of 2015, Cyber Rhino Studios released Gryphon Knight Epic on the PC; a really enjoyable 2D shoot ‘em up game that has you traveling through forests, oceans, deserts, jungles, and mountains to rescue your fellow heroes that once helped you, Oliver, save the world from the tyranny of a dragon. Weapons that were hidden in the dragon’s lair now possess these heroes and Oliver has the ability to save them. Having played both the PC version and the newly released console version, it’s easy to see that Gryphon Knight Epic translated over to the consoles very well.

The biggest difference between the two versions is that the console version seems easier in difficulty. Like before, there are the three levels of difficulty: Squire being the games easy mode, Knight being the medium mode, and Epic being the hard mode. With the PC version Squire was a challenge. There was a lot of frustration from some levels being overwhelming and bosses hitting very hard. The change from the PC to console is minimal, but it makes a difference. While those overwhelming parts are still overwhelming, they are also much more manageable on Squire mode. Outside of a difficulty change, there doesn’t seem to be much more that has changed. In the time it took me to beat the game on the easiest difficulty on the PC version, I have beaten the game on the same difficulty and more than half the game on the Knight difficulty. Something I could barely get through on a few levels of the PC. This also includes getting most of the weapon upgrades, which helped progression this time.

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The squire system remains the same. The tiny followers join you to help take down enemies, heal, or protect you as you progress. The ruins are still hidden in each level that enhances different things with Oliver. The same solutions are present from the PC version, so no change there as well. With all the upgrades for ruins and weapons the replay value still remains strong. With the fixed difficulty, too going back and playing on harder settings, it becomes enjoyable when you put all those upgrades to use.

The controls are what they would be on the PC if you played with a controller. On the PC the controller was a recommended way of playing the game and it makes sense. The controls are not overly complex. It is important to note that the controls can’t be rebound. The music in the game is unchanged and is still fantastic to listen to. There wasn’t anything added to the story, which is fine, seeing as it was fine as it was originally.

Progression with each level tends to be on the slower side. It is something that helps with the gameplay, as enemies are traveling right to left at you and it scrolls at a pace to keep up with them and not forcing you to run into environmental obstacle. Occasionally it will allow you to choose a direction, but if you mistakenly choose the wrong direction that slow scroll ends up being frustrating, as you have to wait a bit before correcting your course. This mostly happens on the overwhelming levels, like the medieval village or the mountains where some enemies will appear again. Overall, this doesn’t affect all that much. I did have the game crash on me occasionally.

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Seeing Gryphon Knight Epic come to consoles is fantastic. I really enjoyed the game on PC and even more so on console. I will still have to recommend that fans of the shoot ‘em up genre should really check this game out. If you are looking for a smaller purchase off the console digital store, then this is worth the playthrough.

 

Similar Games Liked:
Gryphon Knight Epic (PC)
Gradius III (SNES)
Death Smiles (Xbox 360)

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