Previews

Seven Knights 2 first impressions preview - "Absolutely beautiful, both inside and out"

Seven Knights 2 first impressions preview - "Absolutely beautiful, both inside and out"

The dust settles. Somewhere off to the right, a scream of agony rings out across the battlefield - two heroes square off in a terrifying clash of swords, a look of betrayal in one's eyes, shame in the other. A woman resigned to her fate whispers one name - "Evan" - before a blade pierces through her heart.

The name "Rudy" reverberates through the darkness, and Seven Knights 2 begins.

Netmarble's cinematic RPG is a sequel to the insanely popular Seven Knights franchise, and even though I came into this with no knowledge about the IP, I came out of it hungry for more.

Table of content

The story of Seven Knights 2

Set twenty years after the events of the OG Seven Knights game in 2014, Seven Knights 2 begins with Lene - daughter of Seven Knight Eileene - and her team of mercs. An encounter with a mysterious little girl named Phiné sets things in motion, and with the arrival of Shane - a then-protagonist-turned-villain - Lene's world crumbles, and she's sent on a quest to find the last of the Seven Knights, Rudy.

Story of the Seven Knights 2

The story practically thrusts you in the heat of battle right off the bat, with none of the typical meandering around most mobile RPGs tend to do in the beginning. There's an action-packed fight scene that functions as your combat tutorial almost immediately after the intro cutscene ends, which is doubly thrilling thanks to the games' gorgeous visuals.

This, of course, is a double-edged sword in itself - those who are not familiar with the lore of Seven Knights can feel lost enough as it is, and without anything that properly eases you into this sequel, it can be pretty overwhelming to get a hold of your bearings.

As someone who has no idea about the original game, I did feel confused about everything and had to do a little Googling to get an idea of how the 2014 game's narrative played out. This, sadly, is a huge barrier to entry in itself, and not everyone will be patient enough to do a little background check before diving into the game.

Seven Knights 2 graphics

Thankfully, the visuals of Seven Knights 2 alone should already hook any player in. Playing through this game definitely made me feel like I'm going through a triple-A title, especially with all the fully voiced dialogue lines and the jaw-dropping animation sequences during combat. As you go through the main storyline, you'll not only engage in dialogue with key characters, but you'll also get to enjoy tons and tons of cutscenes that really make the game a high-quality cinematic experience.

team composition in Seven Knights 2

What impressed me, even more, is how all the other seemingly small details in the game add to that cinematic experience to really get you engaged. For instance, switching party members in the menu prompts a fun little back-and-forth between characters, so it's interesting to see just how they would react to each other depending on your team's roster. I know it's not much of a big deal, but it's those little things that add to the appeal of a game for me.

Of course, this being a Netmarble title, you can expect your standard gacha game fare here. There's your typical summons pool for pulling heroes, as well as pet companions in the game's Pet system (these cute critters provide valuable buffs during combat and are not to be underestimated).

Gameplay and combat

Combat is an exhilarating, fast-paced, real-time affair, but you do have the option to automate everything if that's more your style. You can also auto-track missions and simply sit back and watch your characters zip here and there fulfilling quests and auto-battling opponents on your screen.

While this might put off some players, I actually found this pretty welcome, since it's a nifty option for when I can't give the game my full attention. The Auto button certainly helps me progress through levels when grinding while I'm busy doing something else, not to mention there's a screen saver function too that'll help you save your battery life while Auto-ing.

When you do feel like you're ready to be more hands-on, you'll get a kick out of the different skills each character has, because fights are actually more strategic than you'd expect. I was pleasantly surprised with the Rally function during battle, which you'll need to toggle on and off depending on where you want your party to go.

In particular, if an enemy is getting ready for a big AOE attack, you'll see a red cone or circle along with a timer for when the attack is about to hit. Using the Rally button forces your party to follow your party leader, whom you can manually move to safety to evade the attack.

On the other hand, turning off your Rally function can help disperse a concentrated attack so that your party mates can spread out and minimize incoming fire. I absolutely loved this mechanic, and it made manually controlling battles more exciting for me.

What's the appeal?

I particularly chose to focus on the graphics and the combat for this preview, mainly because those are the points I loved the most. There are so many things to discover about the game - the menu itself can actually be pretty overwhelming, with so many game modes like raids, dungeons, and the Celestial Tower - but for me, getting to experience all those features one by one was what made the game extremely engaging.

Leveling up characters needs knowledge of Skills, Potential, and Divinity, and if I get into those now, this piece will likely never end.

Seven Knights 2 preview

Still, those exact same things can put off a lot of players too - it may seem too complicated for anyone who's not looking to invest a great deal of time and effort into the game. Add that to the already complicated story and Seven Knights 2 can be a pretty daunting title for those who're just getting into the franchise.

Overall, Seven Knights 2 is a stunning work of art that impressed me to no end with its cinematic quality. The wide variety of characters is simply amazing, as each hero looks gorgeous and has their own unique skills that bring something new to the battlefield.

It can be pretty overwhelming for beginners, so make sure you complete the whole tutorial (which will last a whopping three chapters to finish them all) to help you understand all the many, many, many features of the game. Once you get into it and get past the tutorial, it's undoubtedly well worth the time and effort.

Catherine Dellosa
Catherine Dellosa
Catherine plays video games for a living and writes because she’s in love with words. Her Young Adult contemporary novel, For The Win: The Not-So-Epic Quest Of A Non-Playable Character, is her third book published by Penguin Random House SEA - a poignant love letter to gamer geeks, mythological creatures, teenage heartbreak, and everything in between. She one day hopes to soar the skies as a superhero, but for now, she strongly believes in saving lives through her works in fiction. Check out her books at bit.ly/catherinedellosabooks, or follow her on FB/IG/Twitter at @thenoobwife.