Castle Crashers: Cartoonish Comedic Chaos

What do you get when you mix swords, sorcery, and childish humor? 

Castle Crashers.

The original version of Castle Crashers came out in August 2008 and was developed by The Behemoth. Eleven years later, on September 17, 2019, the remastered version was released. This is when I found Castle Crashers, and the remastered version is the only version I’ve played. The biggest difference between the two versions is improved graphics, making the remastered version run smoother and look nicer. 

This charming game is available to play on Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, Steam, and Windows. Castle Crashers is both single player and multiplayer- local and online. 

Castle Crashers is a medieval brawling game that is perfect to play with up to three friends. I prefer to play it with friends, since I find Castle Crashers’s crazy atmosphere to be best shared. Castle Crashers is almost meant to be played with friends since it caters to the players when there are multiple players by adding more enemies and bringing more chaotic fun. Some unique battles and scenes unfold only when playing with another person. 

The story of Castle Crashers is a simple one. The player chooses one of the many characters- my favorite being the orange knight- and must fight to rescue the princesses and the magical crystals stolen from their kingdom. It's up to the player to retrieve both. 

Castle Crashers is rather short, taking four to seven hours to beat regularly. However, if you’re a completionist, it takes at least 37 hours. 

As someone who doesn’t tend to aim for completion, for some reason, Castle Crashers makes me want to. You must replay the game a handful of times to achieve completion. Each time you beat the game as a different character, you unlock more things, like characters, abilities, and pets. Some pets include BiPolar Bear, a polar bear that attacks enemies, and Owlet, an owl who brings the player food to heal with. 

Now, if I’m being totally honest, I don’t return to Castle Crashers often. It’s not one of my favorite games. At least when I’m by myself. I only play Castle Crashers with friends, which means the only experiences with the game I have are on the occasions when I’m looking to play with friends.

Whenever I play Castle Crashers, either with or without friends, I find it to be disorienting and confusing. The screen turns to chaos during battles. I get lost very easily and lose track of my character, which is frustrating when I can’t just laugh it off with friends. 

Another annoying element is the humor in Castle Crashers. It’s childish and centered around poop jokes 99% of the time. Something that’s not really my cup of tea. 

The biggest downfall to Castle Crashers for me is the lack of a compelling story. Castle Crashers’s story comes second, and as someone who loves story-centered games, it's a bit of a letdown.

That doesn’t mean there’s nothing I like about Castle Crashers. There are plenty of aspects I feel make up for the things I don’t like. 

For example, the customization of Castle Crashers is a highlight. You can build each character according to how you like to play- strength, defense, agility, and magic. Pets are also a part of the customization features. Each pet offers a different stat boost or does a special action. I recommend my favorite pet, Bitey Bat. Bitey -as I like to call him- is a bat that latches onto the heads of enemies and holds them in place, making it easier to hit enemies, while doing marginal damage itself.

The level design of Castle Crashers is phenomenal. Each level introduces new challenges and ways enemies can fight, keeping the game fresh and not monotonous. 

But the thing that stands out most is the music. I mainly pay attention to two things when playing games: the story and the score. While the story is bland, the music makes up for everything. There’s something so perfect about the theme song and background music that distracts me from the faults of Castle Crashers. 

Castle Crashers definitely has a huge personality with its music and cartoony visuals. I don’t find myself often drawn to Castle Crashers as a lone experience, but it's still a very memorable game. I recommend it to anyone looking for some mindless fun with or without friends. 

My Rating: