Arcade beat-em ups are a thing of beauty. I have fond memories playing a Dungeons & Dragons: Shadow Over Mystara cabinet at a local bowling alley. Many of my friends have invited me for a few games of Streets of Rage or that classic Simpsons arcade game. The genre was rich in the arcades, with many other games hitting consoles, but the console versions never truly captured that magic. Now, a new arcade beat-em up is headed to PS4 and it has some pedigree worth noting. Let’s check out Knights of Valor, developed by International Games System Corp. (IGS, Taiwanese company) and published by GAMESinFlames.
Knights of Valor is a beat-em up starring characters and enemies that are steeped in Eastern fantasy. Finding its international home on the PS4, players will be able to team up with up to three friends to take on the classic format of stages and bosses. Each character is upgradeable with a multitude of skills to make them fit the play style of each player. Collecting equipment is also a must to take on the challenges ahead.
IGS, the developers of Knights of Valor, have been making high quality arcade games since 1992 across tons of genres. Knights of Valor for PS4 is actually a modern game in the series, with there being several entries. Briefly looking over their publication history is awe-inspiring for the sheer number of games they’ve created over the years. At a glance, it doesn’t look like many of them made it to international arcades. Maybe this Knights of Valor can change that. I would love to see ports of the older games!
I would love to see this whole series eventually make it to PS4 and Vita.
“We’re extremely excited about this opportunity. We have a lot of experience in bringing successful Asian games to Western markets, and we’re looking forward to utilizing this knowledge for our first PS4™ title. Knights of Valour combines the best of both worlds: the excitement of a traditional arcade beat ’em up, where you and up to three friends lay waste to hundreds of enemies in fast-paced battles, and a modern meta game where you unlock tons of different outfits, weapons and equipment.” – Achim Kaspers, General Manager GAMESinFLAMES
Judging from all I’ve read and seen about Knights of Valor, this particular game reminds me a lot of Dungeon Fighter, an MMO style beat-em game on PC. I played Dungeon Fighter for a couple months a few years ago and really its only downfall was the repetition and huge boon for paying players. Knights of Valor is free to play on PS4, but its not been made known if there will be micro-transactions involved. I imagine there will be some elements of monetization and if its balanced well, this could be a sleeper hit. However, messing up that balance or heavily skewing it in favor of players that sink a ton of money into it will probably ruin the experience in the long run.
I have high hopes for Knights of Valor though, GAMESinFLAMES have done the gaming world a favor by finding this foreign experience and opening it up for more players worldwide. There is such an untapped marketplace for games from other countries. Even between Japan and the world, a ton of titles (even in popular franchises) go without being localized, so its always good to see something getting that treatment.
Keep an eye out for Knights of Valor on the PS4 digital market, it’s scheduled to release in the first quarter of the year.
