Who played Knights Contract?

[DragonInstall]

I recently stumbled upon this game, and it looks interesting. The whole theme and setting reminds me of Berserk and the main character reminds me of Guts from that series. I wouldn't be surprised if they used that anime for their design for the game.

Gameplay video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAiBp3-pYWE

Well anyways looking into the game, the story was really intriguing.

wiki:
The game follows Heinrich Hofmann, an experienced witch-executioner plagued by a curse, and a young woman named Gretchen, who is the reincarnation of a witch that Heinrich formerly executed under orders of Dr. Faust. In an act of revenge for her execution, Gretchen curses Heinrich with immortality.

At the same time, the world is being afflicted by hordes of monsters created by Dr. Faust, the game's main antagonist and a mad scientist who was responsible for the deaths of Gretchen and Heinrich. Gretchen, who intends to fully live out her life as she could not before, decides to confront the menace directly by joining forces with the cursed executioner, Heinrich. The now-immortal Heinrich is forced to protect the mortal Gretchen from danger, in hopes of undoing the curse and defeating Dr. Faust.

So looking at videos the game looks quite promising. You control Heinrich who can never die, even if his body is torn into pieces. You don't control Gretchen, but she follows you and you can order her to use specific magic at any given time. Basically she is your life bar, so if she dies its over. The game resembles the Berserk ps2 / DC game with its own twist, which I enjoyed.

Then I looked at the reviews and man they range from Decent with some design flaws to some saying it's just plain unplayable. But what most pointed out being the glaring flaws is the AI for Gretchen and the QTE for bosses being so difficult.

So I'm asking if any of you people had a chance to play this and what are your impressions. I really want to try it since I'm a fan of Berserk, but those scores really make me question if its worth it.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Bumping this to highlight that post of yours, from another thread.

Spoiler

@DragonInstall

Is Knights Contract worth playing? It was on my radar but was panned so hard in reviews I was afraid to purchase it.

Don't listen to the reviews that gave it like 3/10. There's is no way this game deserves such a score. I can tell the reviewers didn't know how to play / know all the mechanics the game offers. Many of their complaints have mechanics to help in that situation.

Example: Reviewer, "When Heinrich falls or his body dismembered it takes too long for him to revive no matter how much you mash A. And Gretchen will continually get pummeled and attack the enemies."
No where does he mention that there is a button to call Gretchen to you and that she can revive you to negate the downtime. There are many other examples but meh..

I would say it's a 7/10 type of game... I would not recommend you buy it at full price, but if you can get it for 30 or less it's well worth it. Do not expect Ninja Gaiden quality, but more on the lines of Berserk style combat. The boss designs a really cool though, reminds me of Berserk. Hell the main character reminds me of Guts from Berserk.

What this game does offer is a unique experience I've never had in these types of games. It's a weird feeling to control a huge knight that can never die, having to protect a witch that cursed you. She's basically your hp.. I know we all hate escort missions in games, but it's never really too frustrating, asides from a couple of boss fights were her AI could use some work. Also the combat is pretty fun, utilizing the witch's spell to open up enemies and then ripping the enemies apart with Heinrich.

A tip if you do decide to get it or rent it. Play the role of the knight protecting the princess. Her AI isn't designed to dodge attacks, so if you're dodging a boss attack you should carry her in your arms while avoiding stuff. You actually recover damage and she recovers magic while you're together also, so the game encourages you do this.

I only just learned about this game and was proven right to expect finding a real informative thing on the subject of these boards, again.
Seems to me that this kind of games last-gen got struck by oversupply of their ilk. That is, many titles looking just my type appear genuinely hidden/long-forgotten by nearly everybody out there.
Just the other night, I watched the 1926 film Faust – Eine deutsche Volkssage by F. W. Murnau, nicely restored, and it makes reading the game's plot summary on Wikipedia all the more bewildering this high noon.