Knights of Frontier Valley is heading back out into the wilderness later this month, with MicroProse and solo developer Martin Menzel confirming that the old-school open-world roguelike RPG will launch its second Steam playtest on September 15.
The new test will be completely free to join and represents the biggest version of the game so far, with Version 0.5 adding companions, new locations, additional story content, expanded crafting, more dungeons, and a sizeable collection of quality-of-life improvements.
Following the game’s recent appearance at Gamescom, the new build has also been shaped by feedback from the thousands of players who took part in the first playtest.
One of the biggest additions is the arrival of companions, opening up new party-based tactical options during combat and exploration. Players will also be able to visit two newly added cities, while an additional chapter, fresh quests, and extra dungeons should considerably expand the amount of content available this time around.
There are new item characteristics, additional crafting options and activities, three difficulty settings, and a number of technical improvements under the hood.
Several heavily requested features from the original test have also made the cut, including multiple save slots, quicksave and quickload functionality, and inventory stacking. Combat and overall balancing have been reworked as well.
If you’ve not come across Knights of Frontier Valley before, it is very much designed for players who still have a soft spot for the sprawling, slightly dangerous RPGs of the ’80s and ’90s.
Each new adventure takes place inside a procedurally generated open world populated by towns, factions, wilderness areas and dungeons. Players build a character, choose a profession, explore the world, craft equipment, make decisions and attempt to survive long enough to see where their particular story goes.
It is deliberately not built around the idea that every playthrough should follow the same path. Towns, encounters and circumstances change between adventures, while survival mechanics and tactical battles mean that simply wandering off into the wilderness can become a fairly serious undertaking.
The visual style also gives it plenty of character, combining chunky pixel art with an isometric perspective that immediately recalls the era of PC RPGs it is attempting to recreate without simply looking like a direct copy of any one particular game.
Publisher MicroProse is obviously a fitting home for something like this too. The company has increasingly become a home for games that lean into complicated systems, simulation and old-school PC sensibilities, making Knights of Frontier Valley feel very much at home alongside its current catalogue.
Development is being handled by Adamant Studios, essentially the work of solo developer Martin Menzel, who founded the studio in 2016. Menzel’s own history with gaming stretches back to Pong and Pac-Man, with his interest in fantasy RPGs beginning through tabletop Dungeons & Dragons during the 1980s.
The second Knights of Frontier Valley playtest begins on September 15 through Steam. Players interested in taking part can request access through the game’s Steam page now.
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