Horned Knight
Developed by Josep Monzonis Hernandez
Published by 2Awesome Partners
Released for Xbox One (2/24/2021)
Also on Mac/PC/PS4/Switch
Horned Knight was created by a single developer named Josep Monzonis Hernandez and was published by 2Awesome Partners. Not to be confused with the excellent Shovel Knight, Horned Knight does share a few things in common with it. Both games are 2D action-platformers featuring pixel graphics where the player controls a knight in armor. The similarities end there, however, and you can definitely tell that Horned Knight was created by a single dude while Shovel Knight had a whole team behind it.
Horned Knight is presented with 2D sprites, which are a bit blocky and simple but feature some nice animations. The visuals do a decent job conveying that retro look, though lack enough originality to leave much of a lasting impression. We come to another issue in regard to the backgrounds, as every level features the same generic "dungeon" environment that gets repetetive quickly. The music, while decent, will be forgotten the second you turn the game off. The sound effects are sparse and feel like they came from a database of stock sounds. The same grunt that the knight makes when taking damage is also used on the enemies, which comes off just feeling a bit lazy. Presentation-wise, Horned Knight makes a decent first impression, but after playing for any length of time the aforementioned flaws become apparent.