Following Mothmen 1966 and Varney Lake, Bahnsen Knights is the third and final game in the “pixel pulp” series. This trilogy from LCB Game Studio is some of the most fascinating and entertaining games I’ve played in recent memory. They are also a series I will revisit often thanks to their short run times, but mainly for their branching paths and mini-games. While the supernatural element falls flat in a few places, it’s a rare window into relationships and situations not often explored. This series offers a unique blend of visual novel and interactive adventure that’s not to be missed.
With Bahnsen Knights, LCB Game Studio completes the first volume of their Pixel Pulps series. They’re a fantastic set of standalone games that have a tiny thread stitching them together through supernatural means. The game starts with things in full swing, you play as Boulder, a man who’s wrestling with a lot of conflicting thoughts, and trying to suppress a lot of pain in order to get the job done. Tornadoes, prophets, and Ford Sierras dominate much of what the game’s about. Metaphors and double-meanings find places like where religion shares similarities with driving in interesting ways I hadn’t thought about.
While I thought I’d know what to expect, I was thrown for a loop because you play as an agent undercover, and you’ve joined the titular “Bahnsen Knights”, a dangerous religious cult. You’ll even be tasked with finding and securing evidence, and then sending that evidence in for it to be used in your case. If you mishandle any part of this, suspicion grows and a meter fills – if it fills all the way, then it’s game over. This feels like the most gamey, and fully realized game of the series, and I’m here for it.
This time, you’ll only control Boulder throughout this adventure, but you’ll be just as responsible for other people’s lives as if you’d get complete control of. You’ll come across other characters like Vincent, Kevin, Toni, and others with their own backstories, if you’re able to crack through their social armor. Getting them to a place where they spill the proverbial beans is a joy. I’m not sure how, but I finished this one a bit quicker than the others, only clocking in 107 minutes total with the game. This is sure to grow as I intend to replay and try out different scenarios.
Early on, the game encourages you to save. The manual save in this game is great, and there’s many slots so that you can create specific saves to jump back to or experiment with. There’s many moments, where you’re rifling through drawers in your boss’s office, you can feel the tension and narrow window of time close. Spend too much time searching, and you’re caught. Having a save to fall back on really let me test my limits. As you acquire achievements, this will unlock items in the gallery to see unique images and background of the goings on in Bahnsen Knights .
Every character is well-written and well-spoken, even if they are vulgar in their delivery. It’s so fascinating to learn more about the characters you are working towards putting away. Bahnsen Knights explores a different theme this time around, touching on subjects of loyalty, betrayal, faith, and even love. However, the supernatural is ever-present, if not a bit subdued. There’s a moment where you have to perform a road exorcism, a diabolical scenario where you have to play what I can only describe as a modified version of SpyHunter to avoid other cars and be successful with a human strapped to other cars. It comes totally unexpected, but is absolutely fantastic gameplay moment.
While playing through the game, you can have dialogue automatically progressed, or you can do it automatically. For those uninterested, you can skip the text altogether, but I wouldn’t recommend that. There’s even a log to refer to if you feel you might’ve missed a key piece of dialogue. Dialogue choices matter, and saying the wrong thing at the wrong time can put you into hot water.
It wouldn’t be a Pixel Pulps game without a new variant of solitaire to play, this time it’s called “Cross Solitaire”. Its rules feel complicated for the sake of complexity. It’s fun enough, and in tone with the game itself, but is easily my least favorite of the series.
Three games in, and this has the menu bug. Anytime I’d pull up the menu to make a manual save, it wipes the visuals away and sometimes only text remains. It’s something that’s easily fixed with a restart, especially since I just saved. But I’m also surprised it is yet to be fixed. I will say that the series continues to support ultrawide monitors without incident, and this is not a demanding game in the slightest, as my GPU’s fans never spun up once. The color palette this time around explores a whole new feeling, utilizing red and purples against black.
Bahnsen Knights features less “going through the motions”, and features more gameplay to chew on. LCB Game Studio really has something special here in Bahnsen Knights, and the entire trilogy of games must be experienced, even if they are crafted as standalone experiences. I think the connective tissue that binds these games together is well worth it. I appreciate a game that doesn’t waste your time, and the short story presentation is absolutely killer. Bahnsen Knights will leave you satisfied, but is an uncomfortable and tense ride until it’s credits roll.
A Steam code was provided in advance by the publisher for review purposes
