Gryphon Knight Epic

Gryphon Knight Epic might not be the most mechanically sound shooter to hit the PlayStation 4, but its raw ideas are abundant. It’s a humble game that somehow manages to stand out in the face of competition of all eras and styles, from R-Type to Mamorukun Curse.

79%Game Brain Score

graphics, story

replayability, grinding

79% User Score Based on 133 reviews

Platforms

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About Gryphon Knight Epic

Gryphon Knight Epic is a single player and multiplayer arcade shooter game with fantasy, medieval and historical themes. It was developed by Cyber Rhino Studios and was released on August 20, 2015. It received mostly positive reviews from players.

Gryphon Knight Epic is a 2D Medieval Shoot’em up that mixes elements from classical shoot’em ups, exploration and duel-like boss battles, it tells the story of Sir Oliver and Aquila, an accomplished knight and his loyal gryphon that are forced back to adventure once again!

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Reviews

79%Audience ScoreBased on 133 reviews

graphics18 positive mentions

replayability3 negative mentions

Unique blend of classic side-scrolling shoot-'em-up mechanics with a fantasy setting and stronger narrative focus, providing fresh appeal beyond typical space shooters.
Engaging and varied gameplay including diverse weapons, strategic combat, exploration with branching paths, secrets, collectibles, and meaningful upgrades.
Well-crafted pixel art with detailed, vibrant environments and charming character design, complemented by a fitting retro-inspired soundtrack and sound effects.

Movement and controls can feel sluggish and sometimes unresponsive, with complaints about awkward maneuvering, dash mechanics, and large hitboxes affecting enjoyment.
Game is relatively short and can require grinding for upgrades, with some players finding difficulty spikes, repetitive elements, and occasional bugs or crashes.
Some design and technical issues detract from the experience, including poor PC port quality (lack of mouse support), inconsistent difficulty, and bugs impacting gameplay flow.

graphics
61 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
30% positive mentions, 65% neutral mentions, 5% negative mentions
Gryphon Knight Epic features colorful, detailed pixel-art graphics that successfully evoke classic 16-bit and arcade-era aesthetics, delivering a charming retro style that appeals to nostalgic players without pushing modern graphical boundaries. While some note the visuals can blend too much with gameplay elements, limiting clarity, the artwork is generally praised for its attention to detail, animated backgrounds, and fitting fantasy themes, complementing the game's overall nostalgic and challenging shoot-'em-up experience.
- “Visually, the game embraces a colorful pixel-art style that successfully captures the spirit of classic arcade titles while maintaining a polished presentation.”
- “The retro-inspired visuals work particularly well because they complement the game's nostalgic gameplay while still feeling detailed enough for modern audiences.”
- “The graphics in this game are wonderful, beautiful sprite work that cover a variety of historical/fictional settings.”
- “A choice was made to use obsolete, decades old retro pixel "art" as a substitute for contemporary PC graphics.”
- “While there are options to change the resolution for the game, all this does is scale up the simplistic 2D art assets used to make the game, which makes little or no difference to the graphics quality.”
- “Without any other substantial graphics tweaks, it's not possible for gamers to improve the lacklustre 2D visuals.”
story
51 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
24% positive mentions, 70% neutral mentions, 6% negative mentions
The story in Gryphon Knight Epic is generally seen as simple and somewhat clichéd, focusing on a retired knight's quest involving cursed weapons and former allies turned enemies. While minimal and not deeply developed, it offers a humorous and self-aware take on classic fantasy tropes, with character interactions and lore adding some engagement. Overall, the narrative enhances the shoot 'em up gameplay without overshadowing it, providing a decent and occasionally charming story experience for the genre.
- “It could be another classic story of a knight who rescues the princess in the castle, kills the dragon and takes the treasure, but the story of the game begins after these events, which totally changes an already explored narrative.”
- “Between that and the enemy variety + combinations, you've got a good strong core element in Gryphon Knight Epic that complements its charming aesthetic and reasonable story line.”
- “The story is solid for a shoot 'em up, especially from a characterization standpoint.”
- “While the story serves as a basic premise for the action, it lacks depth and character development, with the primary focus on the shooting gameplay.”
- “It's your typical fantasy storyline that everyone has seen and read since they were a little kid and the game does try to make it a high point but unfortunately falls well short of the marker.”
- “The story is pretty average.”
gameplay
50 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
36% positive mentions, 58% neutral mentions, 6% negative mentions
Gryphon Knight Epic offers a nostalgic side-scrolling shoot 'em up experience with a blend of classic arcade mechanics and light adventure elements, featuring unique directional shooting and strategic weapon and item use. While praised for its challenging boss fights, engaging level design, and retro-inspired visuals, gameplay may feel slow or unsatisfying to some, with critiques on limited exploration depth, occasional frustrating mechanics, and a steep learning curve for newcomers. Overall, it appeals most to fans of old-school shmups seeking a fantasy twist and moderate challenge rather than bullet hell intensity.
- “The game's greatest strength lies in how it blends old-school shooter mechanics with light adventure elements.”
- “Each battle introduces distinct mechanics that require players to learn patterns, react quickly, and identify openings for attack.”
- “While the foundation is rooted in traditional arcade gameplay, the inclusion of branching routes, hidden treasures, and secret collectibles gives levels more depth than simply moving from left to right.”
- “Gryphon Knight Epic is a badly made console ported 2D retro pixel side-scrolling shoot 'em up with a medieval fantasy skin on it, and remarkably weak arcade gameplay, resulting in something that has absolutely no value whatsoever for gamers.”
- “Boring, uninspired gameplay combined with visual garbage as well as annoying (not challenging) enemies make this game trash.”
- “Bad collision detection and some strange mechanics mean it's more frustrating than it is fun.”
music
27 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
30% positive mentions, 59% neutral mentions, 11% negative mentions
The music in the game features a retro-inspired, well-constructed soundtrack that effectively complements the pixel art visuals and varies to match combat intensity and exploration moments. While the soundtrack is generally praised for enhancing the atmosphere and fitting the game's style, some tracks are considered less memorable or too ambient compared to classic arcade energy. Overall, the music is solid, catchy, and adds to the game's charm, though sound effects receive more mixed feedback.
- “Energetic musical themes accompany intense combat sequences, while more adventurous compositions support the game's exploration-focused moments.”
- “The sound design features a fitting retro-inspired soundtrack that complements the game's pixel art visuals.”
- “The pixel art is nice to look at, the game controls well, is fair even on the hardest difficulty and the soundtrack is fantastic.”
- “The music is okay and the sounds are below average.”
- “At first I thought that the sounds were weak and the music too ambient, it surely doesn't have that energy from combination of sounds and music in classic arcade games (Metal Slug and such).”
- “But can't say I remember any music track after playing the game or have the wish to download the soundtrack.”
replayability
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25% positive mentions, 37% neutral mentions, 38% negative mentions
The game provides moderate replayability, especially appealing to shoot 'em up fans, with three difficulty levels adding some challenge. However, replay value diminishes after completing the highest difficulty unless enhanced by features like unlockables and leaderboards. Overall, it offers limited but noticeable incentive to replay.
- “Add a few touches, like unlockables and leaderboards, and it allows for some replayability even past that.”
- “Replayability with 3 difficulty levels provides varied challenges.”
- “No replay value once beaten on epic difficulty.”
- “The game offers moderate replayability, particularly for fans of the shoot 'em up genre.”
- “Also gives a little replay value.”
humor
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions
The game's humor is generally appreciated for its witty writing, charming short cutscenes, and clever references, adding a lighthearted touch to the action. However, some players found the humor hit-or-miss, with a few not finding it particularly funny despite the overall effort.
- “The pixel art is really nice, and the sense of humor brought out through the short skippable cutscenes was charming.”
- “It's a spectacular action experience with the right dose of humor.”
- “I loved shooting odd creatures left and right, but the main treat were the boss encounters - very funny writing and witty references.”
grinding
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
0% positive mentions, 17% neutral mentions, 83% negative mentions
Grinding in the game is optional and mostly tied to chasing higher leaderboard ranks or fully upgrading gear, allowing players to avoid it if they prefer. While some find the grinding tedious, it remains manageable and provides additional challenges and rewards without being mandatory. Overall, grinding can extend playtime but is not a core requirement to enjoy the game.
- “The game is incredibly grindy.”
- “This is a bit tedious and it feels weak.”
- “Playing through the game on the hardest difficulty with some money grinding to upgrade everything to 100% took me just under 5 hours.”
atmosphere
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions
The atmosphere is effectively supported by the soundtrack and audio elements, which, while not groundbreaking, enhance the overall experience and contribute positively to the game's mood.
- “The soundtrack contributes significantly to the atmosphere.”
- “While not groundbreaking, the audio elements effectively enhance the overall atmosphere.”
- “Overall, sound and music do their job and work for the atmosphere.”
character development
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
0% positive mentions, 50% neutral mentions, 50% negative mentions
The game focuses primarily on shooting gameplay, resulting in minimal character development and a basic story. However, some players appreciate the endearing character designs despite the lack of depth.
- “While the story serves as a basic premise for the action, it lacks depth and character development, with the primary focus on the shooting gameplay.”
optimization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50% positive mentions, 50% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions
The game is well-optimized, running smoothly at a consistent 60fps with basic windowed mode and resolution settings. Its retro art style contributes to minimal performance demands, ensuring stable gameplay.
- “As far as performance is concerned, the title runs at a standard 60fps, has windowed mode options and resolution options, but little else due to the retro art style.”
stability
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
0% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 100% negative mentions
The game exhibits stability issues, particularly when running in full screen mode, where users frequently encounter bugs. Windowed mode appears to be more stable.

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Play Times

18h Median play time

18h Average play time

18-18h Spent by most gamers

*Based on 1 analyzed playthroughs

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Frequently Asked Questions

Gryphon Knight Epic is a arcade shooter game with fantasy, medieval and historical themes. Common tags for Gryphon Knight Epic include co-op campaign, indie, trading, 2d, family friendly and others.

Gryphon Knight Epic is available on Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X|S, PC, PlayStation 5 and others.

On average players spend around 18 hours playing Gryphon Knight Epic.

Gryphon Knight Epic was released on August 20, 2015.

Gryphon Knight Epic was developed by Cyber Rhino Studios.

Gryphon Knight Epic has received mostly positive reviews from players. Most players liked Gryphon Knight Epic for its graphics but disliked it for its replayability.

Gryphon Knight Epic is a single player game with multiplayer and local co-op support.

Similar games include Bleed, Mercenary Kings, Fallen Leaf, Hammerwatch, FOX n FORESTS and others.

Gryphon Knight Epic

Platforms

Games Like Gryphon Knight Epic

Bleed

Mercenary Kings

Fallen Leaf

Hammerwatch

FOX n FORESTS

Strikey Sisters

Freedom Planet

Steredenn

Bleed 2

Shovel Knight

Reviews

graphics

story

gameplay

music

replayability

humor

grinding

atmosphere

character development

optimization

stability

Critic Reviews

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