There are plenty of good indie Soulsborne games released every year, but few have that special sauce to make them truly great, worthy successors to the masterpieces that FromSoftware produces. Another Crab’s Treasure would have been crowned 2024’s best Soulsborne were it not for Shadows of the Erdtree. The year prior had Lies of P, Lords of the Fallen, and Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty vying for the crown. While 2022 had the obvious FromSoft fire giant, it also gave us Steelrising and Tunic, which both twisted the genre in their own unique ways.
2025 is already off to a great start for indie Soulslikes, with FlyKnight taking the world by swarm. With its PS2-esque aesthetic and insectoid setting, players have flocked to Wabbaboy’s old school dungeon crawler like bluebottles to a doner kebab.
What Is FlyKnight?
With its co-op gameplay and limb-based combat (I’ll explain later), FlyKnight has quickly become a smash hit. Two weeks after its release, it has over 3,000 reviews on Steam and sits in the Overwhelmingly Positive category – an impressive feat for any game, let alone a low-budget indie. But aside from the bug-based Soulslike formula, what makes FlyKnight so special? For me, it’s the combat.
FlyKnight’s combat is stamina-based. Swinging your sword costs stamina, blocking costs stamina, you know the drill. This makes every fight methodical and careful, and reminds me a lot of King’s Field. As a dungeon crawler, you can obviously loot weapons and armour to upgrade your kit as you go, and it’s through experimenting with weapons that you begin to understand what limb-based combat actually means.
I started FlyKnight with a maul, which bludgeoned opposing bugs to death, squashing them like a heavy, steel swatter. Then I upgraded to a spear, my go-to medieval weapon because of the reach and the fact that it looks cool as h*ck. But it was when I looted a longsword that the game reached another level.
Opposing FlySquires will be armed with a variety of weapons. There are chitinous shields, bug-based swords, and some opponents even come at you with four daggers held in their insectoid arms. A couple of swings later, and two daggers were on the floor, still clasped in the foul hands of the fly across from me. Moving left while swinging revealed that I could attack my foe’s right side. Two more arms fell. A final stab and my assailant fell to the ground, reunited with their limbs once more.
This adds another layer to the combat. Using strafes to angle your strikes can (literally) disarm your opponent and make your adventure that little bit easier. There’s all your usual mechanics, like blocks, parries, stuns, and kicks, but it’s chopping off numerous limbs that makes FlyKnight’s combat so much more interesting and exciting.
Co-Op Souls
I’ve never really got multiplayer in FromSoftware titles. Most of my experience here is from Elden Ring, granted, but invasions always felt cheap. Oh, some ghost from another world has arrived to cheese me with magic or camp in a bush somewhere? Great gameplay. Really enjoyable.
Calling on allies to help you against a boss, however, felt different. FromSoftware’s clunky combat is a series staple and something that I had to get used to when playing Dark Souls for the first time nearly a decade after it was released. But with another pair of hands allowing for a two-pronged attack, it felt fun. If only I could play the whole game with a friend.
This is where FlyKnight takes the Souls formula to the next level. Months ahead of Nightreign, you and three friends can crawl through bug-infested dungeons like wasps to a picnic, beheading and amputating anyone who crosses your path. It’s immense fun, and by far the best way to play.
FlyKnight has the perfect storm of great, innovative Soulslike combat and co-operative gameplay. It’s not hard to see why it’s such a hit. Whether you’re nostalgic for King’s Field or excited for Nightreign, FlyKnight is worth your time.
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