Rise from your grave

In the age of remakes and remasters it is shocking we have not seen companies bring back more obscure titles. Medievil is a game that is mostly remembered for its charm, and less about its game play. Over 20 years later that has never been more evident. Sony took so many stabs at creating a mascot as iconic has Nintendo there are a plethora of forgotten titles from the PSOne era that most gamers today have never heard of. Sir Daniel Fortesque is one of those characters. A knight that has come back to life to finish what he started after dying in the opening moments of the first attack. Yes it is goofy, but that is why we remember it.

The story is most of the charm of our “hero” Sir Daniel Fortesque. He was a cowardly knight who died almost immediately at the beginning of a major battle and somehow mistaken as a hero and resurrected by a necromancer. He gets a second chance to become a hero and thus our journey begins. The goofy animations and character models are where Medievil shines. Everything about Daniel is goofy. From his walk to the way he swings his sword, it reminds me of classic cartoons and I adore it. The charm and personality of this gloomy title is why it is so fondly remembered by people who played the original.

MSRP: $29.99
Platforms: PS4
Price I’d Pay: $29.99

While the polish on the outside makes this feel like an entirely different game, the nuts and bolts underneath remind me why I didn’t necessarily need a remake. While the goofy aesthetic can please the eyes, the wonky controls and punishing game play make it a chore. Daniel wildly flails around his weapons and combat is not the strongest suit in the game. There are constantly times where I am getting hit out of sheer bad luck. Enemies will come barreling towards me and get in hits and there is simply nothing I can do about it. Nothing feels solid and it almost feels like a game where I was just expected to take hits and deal with the outcome.

This becomes more frustrating as the game goes on. Not having mid-level checkpoints means starting entire levels over constantly. The boss encounters are visually impressive and downright infuriating. The game feels like it wants to punish players like a Souls game without the thoughtful combat that comes along with it. It almost feels like a luck of the draw in some encounters. Find a way to spam, better take advantage of it, and that just does not make for a fun experience.

Sure this is a game that launched in a different time, but the idea of a remake should come with these things in mind. Think about games like Wind Waker HD that simplified annoying portions of that game. Medievil had a chance to resurrect the career of Sir Daniel Fortesque, but instead reminds me of why he disappeared all those years ago. I wanted a better game to bring him back into the fold, but this outing just reminds me why I had forgotten about this series altogether.

This ends up feeling like a project half-baked. The polish to the visuals and presentation are sublime, while the game play remains untouched and frustrating more often than not. I would have loved to see this game make a true comeback. Fortesque is such a lovable character and his world is infinitely interesting and fun to play around in. However, the sloppy combat, punishing game play, and lack of modernization make this a chore to play more often than not. I want to bring back the glory days of PSOne era characters, but not like this. They deserve better.

Review copy of game provided by publisher.