Aerial_Knight’s Never Yield Review (Nintendo Switch)

 When I first saw the announcement trailer for Aerial_Knight’s Never Yield during last month’s Nintendo Indie World Showcase, I was instantly astounded at the vibrant colors, the style that oozed off the screen, and the platforming gameplay in the small snippet provided. Then, it was on to the demo that was released the same day, and it certainly gave me a bigger chunk of what to expect. However, I was still wondering how it would all come together at release.

I can safely say that after completing the full game on various difficulties, Neil Jones has created much more than just a simple runner. It is an absolute feast for all of your senses. And while its gameplay may not satisfy everyone, the visual component and especially its soundtrack leave a strong lasting impression that will certainly put it in the conversation for the best music of the year.

Game Name: Aerial_Knight’s Never Yield 
Platform(s): PC, Nintendo Switch [Reviewed], Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4
Publisher(s): Headup Games
Developer(s): Neil Jones (AKA Aerial_Knight)
Release Date: May 19, 2021
Price: 11.99 (USD)

No Time To Stop

Aerial_Knight’s Never Yield was developed and designed by Neil Jones, who has made smaller games like Murder The Reaper and worked on Dot’s Home. This personal project that he made basically all by himself is a game that screams personality in every facet of its makeup and doesn’t waste any time in displaying it either. From the outset, you see the main character Wally running as he’s stolen something that could uncover a secret in this futuristic version of Detroit that he inhabits. Instantly, a mass of helicopters, police cars, and drones are after him, and all he can do is just keep going. However, as you’d expect, this city is not going down without a fight, and they put every conceivable object in his way to prevent Wally from pushing forward. In order to avoid crashing into a fence or a bridge, you are tasked with using either the joysticks or the four directional buttons to twist, slide, sprint, and jump through everything in your path.

Colorful Madness

Aerial_Knight’s Never Yield carefully blends a 3D auto-runner with simple platforming mechanics to ease you into its gameplay. Each directional button not only performs an action, such as jumping, but it also carries with it a specific color set as well. For example, anything with a purple aura around it means Wally needs to slide to avoid that set of drones or the big 18 wheeler coming straight at him. This also helps make each action instantly identifiable and puts the onus squarely on you when you mess up and hit the wrong button. And although it is a fairly rigid way of dealing with all of the obstacles, once you get on a roll, it is quite an enjoyable experience.

However, this isn’t to say the gameplay doesn’t have a flaw. The normal difficulty uses a double dose of slow-mo to clarify where you should make that big jump or take that slide. The intention of this is noteworthy because it helps you understand not only timing but how long each action takes as well. So when you go from making a big jump to a slide and then a twist, you get a better sense of where the button press should happen so that it all connects smoothly. The issue is that this makes everything lag and feel a bit too lethargic. As a veteran of the music game genre, I’d equate it to playing a song in Rock Band on Medium – where you aren’t really playing the full song there, and the pacing of the notes can actually throw off your rhythm entirely.

Sadly, unlike Rock Band, you don’t get to choose your difficulty from the start instantly. Each level, of which there are 13 in all, must be completed on Normal first. After that, you unlock the Hard and Insane modes for each one. Hard still has the slow-mo, but it actually serves the purpose of looking cool and not crippling the game’s speed. The insane mode adds more obstacles but lets the game fly at its intended pace.

Honestly, Insane mode is Never Yield at its best. The game truly feels fast, fluid, and fun this way. To use the Rock Band analogy one more time, it’s like when you finally master that song on Expert. You never want to go back to playing on Hard again.

Made For Speed Running

Another major aspect of Aerial_Knight’s Never Yield is its litany of components built for speedrunners and achievement hunters. There’s a clock on the side of the screen that keeps track of your total story mode runtime while also keeping track of each time you die and your individual time per level as well. Each time you meet your demise, the game asks if you want to NEVER or YIELD. NEVER means you continue at your last save point. YIELD means you quit and go back to the main menu. If you are like me and don’t care about runtimes and boasting about how you did not die, never yield as the game title suggests. However, for those that care about that stuff, it is certainly available to them.

The game actually does feature unlockables in the form of various outfits. I’m not a fashion expert, but I thought they all had a great look to them and were varied enough that each deserved a run in a level. I will note there is a nice tribute to The Black Panther himself simply called “Boseman.” as well.

Unfortunately, for those that aren’t into lowering their runtimes or attaining the perfect run, there is not much to do after finishing the story mode itself. If you can get past the slothful moments of normal mode, you could experience what the other two difficulty modes have to offer and be done with it all in around five hours. Never Yield is moderately priced at around $12, and the fact that the game does take advantage of the current Xbox Series and PS5 consoles certainly makes it a total bargain.

All About That Style

I played the game on Switch, so it won’t look as grandiose as it does on the other consoles, but it actually loads pretty quickly, and the stylized graphics are still quite impressive. Wisely the game never has too much happening on screen so that it can keep up the quick pace. Seeing police cars and drones chase Wally from behind and the various obstacles in front of him help create a sense of danger. What’s most appealing is how the combination of everything just works. All of the obstacle colors blend with the landscape of each level, including one level where you are scaling up and down a large building or in the final level where you are faced with the challenge of running in different perspectives entirely.

Also, cool points for the flaming yellow-haired version of Wally that appears in cutscenes, which is very anime-inspired. There are several instances of reused backgrounds or obstacles in various levels, and at some points even in the same level, which can give you a sense of deja vu, especially if you just continued after death and it can all run together a bit. Honestly, though, considering what this game is, that’s a bit expected.

That Amazing Jazz Sound

I can’t end this review without discussing the true star of Aerial_Knight’s Never Yield its soundtrack. Not only is it a major reason to want to go through each level, but it’s also a pseudo gameplay component as well. When playing on Insane mode, you can actually feel how the beats and drums hit when going over or under an obstacle. And while we aren’t talking about Crypt of the Necrodancer levels of musical connection, it is still a neat feature.

Beyond the gameplay, the music itself is awesome. Carrying major jazz influences, especially the saxophone that’s all over many of the tracks. Not to mention the jazz drums, hip-hop beats, record swishes, there’s even a song that is just funky bass and guitar playing together. Among other highlights, a few vocal tracks, a track that uses chiptune, and another favorite of mine called the Midtown Shuffle will get you grooving with its mixture of saxophone, guitar, and handclaps. Seriously, buy the soundtrack already! It is well worth checking out as something to put on outside of the game. If at least one track from this game does not get you bobbing your head, you might want to get yourself checked out.

Review Disclosure Statement: Aerial_Knight’s Never Yield was provided to us by Headup Games]for review purposes. For more information on how we review video games and other media/technology, please review our Review Guideline/Scoring Policy for more info.

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