I'm not sure how much I can reveal, but -- there's an umbrella which slows your descent, and there's (my favorite feature in any platformer) a double-jump! Those two things alone make it play very different from
Knytt. There are a few other new abilities as well, but the double-jump and the umbrella were the defining ones to me.
There's also an extremely scary area, we're talking Silent Hill scary. That may have been my favorite scenario, even though it was extremely challenging (I died at least a dozen times) and even though I don't normally like horror. This is the first time I've seen that level of eerieness pulled off in a platformer.
The game is also pretty challenging, more on the level of
Within a Deep Forest than the original Knytt, so those who complained about Knytt being too easy will be happier; but for those who liked the difficulty level of the original game, most scenarios also have an easy mode.
I think the best part about it is that it'll include a level editor, it'll be interesting to see the great variety of worlds that people will doubtless make. It's hard not to want to make your own world after playing this, I have a few ideas myself.
There's not much that I could see that would improve the game, which is rare for me. The only thing I really missed was: no glowing light pointing the way to the next item, which made exploring large areas a lot more reliant on memory than in the original Knytt.
One big part of the original game was the mysterious creatures inhabiting the world, acting on their own, which don't talk to you and which can only watched and guessed about -- and that also thankfully remains.
Knytt Stories is expected to release by August 30th.
Banshiryuu is an upcoming Comiket release from Syunsatu Sare Do, featuring three levels packed with enemies, bullets and the obligatory boss battles. Four difficulty settings are presented to the player before the character selection menu is shown, with the easiest option located on the top left of the screen. The girl with a kimono has a primary weapon which practically obliterates most bosses at quick speed, and is perhaps the best choice for beginners seeking to play longer than a couple of minutes.
