Dream Knights is "mostly" a "template flip", that is to say, it's a "game" that has been produced by copying a game template from Construct 2, changing a few things, then dumping the barely functional "product" on Steam as a cheap, nasty cash grab (I already mentioned the developer changed a few things but they seem to want me to make sure people know they changed some things in the template). In this case it was the Construct 2 template for doing a simple retro platformer game. Dozens of "games" have been dumped on Steam using the same template, and it's terrible.
Construct 2 is a very poor quality game construction kit, and results in terrible games like this one.
No professional effort was made in terms of game development, using a game construction kit requires no game development talent, and unsurprisingly produces products that have little to no value as games, especially when compared to the work of professional developers who create genuine products for gamers. It's almost as bad as an outright asset flip.
This is nothing but a lazy, greedy cash grab and should be avoided.
[quote][url=https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/store/reviews]Developer Response![/url][/quote]
The developer has weighed in to inform everyone they didn't read the [url=https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/store/reviews]Developer Usage Rules[/url] for Steam "partners", or they deliberately ignored the part where Valve says:
[quote]Though it may be tempting, not every review needs to be responded to. A developer response will frequently draw more attention than the original statement, potentially turning a small issue into a much larger community discussion. It's also not a good idea to use this feature to refute customer opinions. Your direct attention can be seen as validation or a defensive attempt to silence your customers.[/quote]
The developer states I am "completely incorrect" then bizarrely goes on to acknowledge that this is a template flip from Construct 2, although they did change a few things apparently after the third level. Since my review already mentions a few things were changed, little else is required, but I've amended that part of my review.
The developer claims to have spent hundreds of hours on the art and animation... ouch. It might have been wiser to hope people saw those as asset flips, because the art and animations here are some of the worst I've ever seen. It's true, these could never be asset flips, the quality is deplorably low, they would never be viable as part of any asset pack. My cat jumped on my keyboard once when I had MS-Paint open and created better "art" than this template flip has.
The developer claims I didn't "play the game properly". I've played Construct 2 template flipped 2D retro pixel platformers before. Dozens, if not hundreds of them. With over 4,900 game reviews under my belt, you know when you see the same templates over, and over, and over again. The developer regardless claims to have "built the mechanics themselves". Are they claiming to have written the NW.js/Construct 2 game construction kit? No, that was Scirra Games. Why would the developer be dishonest about this?
Regardless, despite the developers confused dishonesty in this matter (both denying and admitting it's a template flip), I was able to review the game once more and it's apparent there's something much shadier going on here than this just being a template flip.
According to SteamDB the game was abandoned shortly after launch in October 2020, three months after entering Early Access. However the developer has no clear and viable intention to finish the game despite making the commitment through the Steam Early Access program to do so. The developer has not removed the game from the store, or offered refunds to the people who've been scammed, but instead seems to be continuing to try sell an incomplete and abandoned product. It gets worse. The developer has sold keys in bulk to bundle sellers despite this not being a complete game (the game appears in DailyIndieGame Weekly Bundle 432 and DailyIndieGame Weekly Bundle 241). Why would the developer sell this knowingly incomplete game as a complete game to bundle merchants? This is highly unethical, and supports my correct assertion that this is simply a cash grab; an attempt to make money from a bad product, no matter what.
The developer claims I am "attacking" a solo indie developer. This is completely untrue. I have said many times in the past, and this is reflected in my profile, that reviews are not written for developers, they are written for gamers, who have every right to know the truth about bad products and bad actors on Steam. If a developer learns something about ethics or game development from one of my reviews, this is well and good, but they should know this before they spend the money to list a game on Steam.
Since game reviews are about games, and not "developers", no matter how dishonest and unethical they prove to be, I must restate that, with confirmation from the developer that this is a template flip with a few things changed, plus the deplorably low quality of the art assets, plus the abandoned nature of the product, I cannot recommend this game to gamers.
