Multiplayer games are something that I tend to purchase a lot these days. With the amount of free time that my friends and I have, we often seek out games that we can all play together so that we can still hang out when we are unable to meet up in person. The one thing that is rare for multiplayer games that I get these days is that there are few that are fun to play on your own.

There are exceptions that exist, such as Castle Crashers, Gauntlet, and Fall Guys, but these games seem rare to me in terms of overall quality between single-player and multiplayer. So, I was shocked when I picked up Ember Knights and realized that the single-player experience was just as good as the multiplayer one. 

For those who don’t know, Ember Knights is an action Roguelite for up to four players. You play as one of the Ember Knights, a group of warriors that is the last line of defense against the evil sorcerer Praxis. Praxis seeks to corrupt the universe in an attempt to take full control and secure a dominance that he believes is owed to him.

Along the way, you will meet a few allies who will help you out in your quest to defeat all of the creatures and henchmen that Praxis has rallied to his cause. If you can defeat all five stages and return all of the Ember to the Ember Tree, then the universe will be restored.

The gameplay of Ember Knights reminded me a lot of Castle Crashers and Gauntlet, two games that I enjoy quite a bit alone and with friends. Each run will take you through each of the five worlds and pit you against a collection of enemies on maps that appear to be randomly generated. After you defeat each map, you will proceed to a new one until you eventually come to the world boss.

Should you survive this part of the game, you will be transported to the shop where you can spend the coins that you have gathered before proceeding to the next world. The coins that you gather can be found in various pots and are also spilled out after the clearing of a map. In the shop, you can buy upgrades that temporarily increase your stats or abilities and potions so that you can gain back any health that you lost during your run through the world.

While coins would often be the most important form of currency in the game, there is actually something else that proves to be much more valuable: Ember. Ember can be acquired by defeating enemies and going on certain maps that give you extra Ember for clearing them. Once you return to the hub world, you can use the Ember that you have acquired on the Ember Tree. This tree allows you to unlock permanent upgrades to your character that will make your future runs much easier.

Ember is also important because it will allow you to unlock more weapons in the armory portion of the hub world. Unlike the Ember Tree, the armory doesn’t require you to spend Ember to unlock the weapons. Instead, it requires you to gather a certain amount of Ember for the weapons to be permanently unlocked. There are a total of six main weapons to unlock and each has their own strengths and weaknesses. Each weapon will benefit different playstyles. 

Beyond these two things, there are technically two other forms of currency. However, they are much harder to come by than the other two in terms of quantity. The last two currencies are Relic Orbs and Skill Tablets. Relic Orbs are given after defeating a certain number of enemies, while Skill Tablets are gained by defeating Bosses and Mini-Bosses. There are a set number of both of these with each providing something different in terms of gameplay.

You will interact with Evee to make use of your Skill Tablets after you find Evee along one of your first runs. Relic Orbs are used with Esper, who is essentially the ruler of your universe and the main reason why Praxis is angry. Overall, these two currencies help in changing certain upgrades that you can find during the run. However, they don’t drastically change the experience in a way that you will notice instantly. 

While there have been a lot of great games that have come out this year so far, I can safely say that Ember Knights is one of my top five favorite games of 2023. It is one of those rare games that you can play today with friends and then years down the line, you can pick it up again and have the same amount of enjoyment. While this might be quite a bold claim, I would honestly deem this game to be a spiritual successor to Castle Crashers since it embodies almost everything good in the game.

Of course, the main difference is the lack of trademark humor that The Behemoth brings to all of their projects. Regardless, Doom Turtle has made an absolutely massive splash in the video game space with Ember Knights and I look forward to seeing what the developers work on next! If you would like to check out more games that Twin Sails Interactive has helped release, then check out Alexx’s article on News Tower right here.

A PC Review Copy of Ember Knights was provided by Twin Sails Interactive for this review.

Ember Knights

19.99

9.5

Score

9.5/10

Pros

• Fantastic Gameplay
• Co-op and Single Player
• Easy to Learn Mechanics

Cons

• Strange Mouse & Keyboard Controls