Bahnsen Knights review

Going out with a bang

Usually, when you have some sort of series in any form of media, the first instalment in that series is the best one. This is true, especially in the case of movies or video games. There are some exceptions to this "rule" like Godfather 2 being the best one in the Godfather series. Or Metal Gear Solid 3 being the best one in the Metal Gear Solid series. There are probably a couple of more of these cases but these are the ones that come to mind. With that said, I'm going to be so bold and add another entry to this prominent list. Having now completed all entries in the LCB Games Studio "Pixel Pulp" series, then at least for me when it comes to these games they just kept getting better and better. With the first instalment being "good", the second one being "great" and the third and last one being "FRIKKIN AWESOME!!!".

While all three entries have stories that deal with somewhat bizarre and supernatural subject matters they also deal with ones that are more grounded and serious. It's hard to compare which one of the stories is more bizarre but the one in Bahnsen Knights is out there but also the one that resonated the most with me.

Everyman hero

This time around, there isn't a cast of characters that you get to play as but rather here you get to thread into the shoes of a single man called Boulder. Boulder has been tasked with infiltrating a religious cult called the Bahnsen Knights who are under investigation by "The Agency". What the "Agency" is never explained only that they have tasked Boulder with infiltrating the Bahnsen Knights and figuring out what happened to his friend who had infiltrated the cult previously but has disappeared. Apart from trying to find out what happened to his friend Boulder also needs to find evidence that could incriminate the cult in the hopes of bringing them to justice.

During his time with the cult Boulder will come across several of the cult's prominent figures, together with their charismatic leader Toni. The story of Toni becoming a cult leader I have to say is pretty weird. In the sense that the explanation you get seems to be partial. He survives a tornado storm and finds a barn full of Ford Sierras and that's it. No mention of him talking to god or getting some kind of epiphany. Just that he found a barn full of Ford Sierras and he decided that him and his cult were going to use them to excorcise tornados (I told you the story was bizzare) .

We get to follow the story through Boulder's eyes who is constantly walking on eggshells so as not to be discovered by the other members of the cult. Say something or do something that the other members might find suspicious and it might as well be game over. To break up the storytelling somewhat the game reintroduces the event sequences from Mothmen 1966 where players needed to make a series of choices to progress further through the story. There is the option also of opting out of these sequences which might lead to a different branching path in the story. However, having ingrained in me the fact that skipping events in games usually means that I get a bad ending I made sure to follow through on all the events.

One great thing I think that LCB Games Studio did this time around was that they decided to focus on only one character instead of several as in the previous games. Not only was Boulder the most likeable of all the characters in all of the games in the series but to me he was also the most relatable. Boulder is not just a guy undercover in search of his friend but he's also a family man. Someone who has a wife and daughter waiting for him at home and who he sorely misses. This is conveyed to us several times throughout the game and made me feel for him. Maybe it's because I myself have a daughter who's around the same age as Boulders (she's three by the way) and know what it's like being away from one's family. And maybe this is also why I decided to go through all the game events because I wanted Boulder to have his happy ending and reunite with his family.

I also need to stress that, in no way does it take away from the experience that Boulder is the only playable character this time around because I find that Bahnsen Knights has the strongest casting of characters in all the "Pixel Pulp" games. From the dangerous cult members like Vincent, Luka, Monique and my second favourite character after Boulder. Kevin, who is a bar owner where the Bahnsen Knights hang out.

This is the end

The game's visuals are created in a similar way to the previous Pixel Pulps entries, drawing strong inspiration from the graphical style of the 80s. The main distinction is the game's colour palette where heavy uses of red, pink and purple are used. I never questioned whether the colour palette would work with the more realistic comic book drawings depicting the environment or the characters. I only wish that more visual novels would steer into the somewhat more realistic visual depiction of their characters and environments. And avoid using the default generic anime style for the characters and visuals, which thousands of these sorts of games do.

Bahnsen Knights isn't a long game, it'll clock most people around 2 hours to complete but considering that the game has several endings and the writing being this good warrants at least one more playthrough to see what other events might unfold given that you make diffrent choices the second time around.

If you like the previous entries in the Pixel Pulp series then you'll love this one. If you haven't played the previous entries and want to jump straight in and start with this one, you can. Just make sure to put your seat belt on because you'll be in for a wild ride.