In Cute Knight, a RPG from Arcade Town, you play an orphan girl who must discover her destiny by the age of 21. You begin by entering a name and choosing which month you are born in. Your birth month provides some starter stats and gives your young woman some character. The stats generally deal with how she feels about adventuring, cleaning or hard work. After a brief introduction, you arrive in town and now spend your time working and studying to raise your skills. There is also a dungeon that you can visit to fight monsters and discover treasure.Cute Knight has a little bit of something for everyone. Fighting, crafting, dress-up, magic, and the chance for romance are just a sample of what is available. My characters spent time working in the inn as a maid and barmaid, in the library as a researcher, and also in the shop as a stock keeper. Her math skills were not high enough to become a sales clerk. I could have increased those by taking math classes at the college, but instead I studied fighting, kitchen creation (potions) and item creation. I attempted to learn magic, but without explanation, I simply couldn’t figure it out. Luckily, this is not an essential part of the game and I was able to play without it. I missed out on the “Wizard’s Tournament” at one of the 4 festivals and a few fights in the dungeon might have been easier, but as I was still able to defeat the monsters, I didn’t mind. Instead I became the Flower Queen.
To enter the dungeon, you must have armor and a weapon equipped. Then, using the arrow keys, you maneuver through the dungeon maze discovering treasure or fighting the random enemy spawns. Occasionally, a NPC from town may request an item that can only be found in the dungeon.
Your dream meter will diminish as you chug along doing menial tasks. If the meter hits zero, or at your 21st birthday, whichever is first, you are presented with the rest of your story. Luckily, you can fully recharge your dream meter by taking a vacation at the inn for 300 gold.
With its manga-like images and cute storyline, this game is certain to appeal to the younger set, especially girls. The developers state that there are over 50 different endings possible. I played a few times and became a barmaid, a waitress, a lonely, bored stock keeper and a church leader. The average game length is 2.5 hours. There is a save option to save you’re your current game and to collect your different endings. The different combinations give a long replay value to an otherwise short game. However, I found that I was bored doing the same things the fourth time I played it. Like a “Choose Your Own Adventure” book, the repetition isn’t bad when you give yourself a break from it. But because of this limited replay value, I wouldn’t pay full price for Cute Knight. I would consider it for myself and strongly consider it for my niece at half the current cost.
I am a 30 something year old female. I am married and have 1 son and 2 dogs. Harmakhet says I am not a "twitch" gamer. I am a casual gamer for both on and offline games. I am not very good at console games, so I tend to play the "kiddie" games there. I prefer games that have a good story that I can get caught up in.
I had an Atari 2600 growing up and begged Dad for a Nintendo which he refused to buy. He recently told me that he bought the Atari thinking video games were a passing phase. I never touched another console until I met Harmakhet. I played a few games on my Commodore 64, nothing worth remembering, and then Crystal Quest on my Mac. I used to watch a friend play Marathon on the Mac and it was then that I discovered my true calling. I am a navigator! I couldn't manage the controls myself, but I could direct players back to the health, ammo, etc. So I started doing that with Harmakhet. I'd also tell him if a game was bad. If I couldn't stand watching him play it, it must be a dud. He'd usually agree within a few weeks.
I've played some of the original Sims games and a few Nancy Drew before I got into MMOs. I can't remember who told me about Disney's Toontown Online, but I played it for several years. I even became a moderator at a fan site for the game. I'm looking forward to the munchkin being old enough to play TT.
