When I reviewed Mothmen 1966 a little while back, the game stuck with me for multiple reasons. While the story was a bit of an anticlimactic mess, the graphics and presentation were so spot on: the ability to convey this pulpy feeling through pixels and almost grating audio hit in a strong way. There were some hangups (seemingly ill placed puzzles, more questions than answers) but my impression was solid. The developers at LCB Game Studio appear to have taken note, however, and brought forward a brand new tale that keeps what worked about Mothmen and discards the rest. The result is the terrifying and deeply engrossing Bahnsen Knights.

Set in the uncertain future of 1986 against the rapidly collapsing heartland scene, you play Boulder, an undercover officer trying to infiltrate the gang known as the Bahnsen Knights. This cult turned power structure seems to control so much through the occultist beliefs regarding a series of tornadoes and the fervent, zealous sermons of their leader, Toni. Boulder knows that a former undercover agent has gone missing while investigating the Knights, so he must keep his wits about him and try his best to blend in without raising suspicion. Boulder is only human, though, and one wrong word can end his life quicker than the high velocity of a Ford Sierra.

If anyone else out there played through Mothmen 1966, you will notice some familiar beats in terms of presentation. Everything is usually static, dark pixels, though Bahnsen Knights is shot through with reds and maroons compared to Mothmen’s greens and blues. Each chapter of the story is relatively short, usually only encompassing a few minutes at a time, and the tale, for the most part, can only move one way: towards Boulder’s revelations about the connection between the spiritual and human blend that are the Knights. In that instance, things are straightforward, and players looking to simply coast on through might be able to do so.

However, it’s clear there’s much more behind the scenes of Bahnsen Knights. Each character Boulder interacts with now has a Suspicion Meter: the more you blend in, the more they relax their guard and might give you important information. Conversely, saying something off or wild will raise Suspicion to the point where you can and will be executed by any number of means at any given time. There’s plenty of opportunities to die by other means – car related, mostly – but being highly suspected is a one way ticket to a gunshot to the chest and your body buried beneath the barn where Toni conducts his “business.” Keep your cool, keep your head down and make the right friends to live to see tomorrow.

Out the gate, the engagement factor of Bahnsen Knights is off the charts. Dropping the player into the middle of one of Toni’s insane sermons, the degree to which you need to piece things together through casually mentioned ideas and Boulder’s own self-hating reflection gives you a better scope of what is happening. The ideas of this road exorcisms in which you drive in specific patterns. The defied nature of the tornadoes and the power they hold over the locals. The very real, visceral fear that comes from working undercover in such a dangerous environment as a cult with a mission. Despite having no voicework whatsoever, you immediately assign tones to the different characters you encounter.

Moreover, the suspicion meter keeps you aware of what and how you say something, which leads to more save scumming than I’m proud to admit to. Every word out of your mouth changes your perspective towards the other Knights, and watching that meter increase, even a little, is a twinge of pain and panic. You need that wiggle room for when things get dicey and negotiations require at least the opportunity to raise distrust without it ending with your and others deaths. If you empty that meter entirely and gain someone’s total trust in that moment, it’s a damn satisfying moment of deception. For just a  second there is zero tension, and the conversations that come deal a whole bunch of information. 

Most of your survival choices are for the immediate progression ideas and to unlock different artwork moments, which I suppose is a tad disappointing. As Bahnsen Knights is another entry into the Pixel Pulp series that LCB Game Studios is crafting, it wouldn’t make sense for multiple endings and hidden routes. Having said that (and also being appreciative of the ending that Boulder received), I still wish there had been more to discover, though I’m working on being better at darts and the cross/solitaire mini game that offers itself up.

My biggest complaint with Mothmen 1966 was how the minigame aspects took me out of the moment and changed the tone of the game too much. Not so in Bahnsen Knights, where those seconds of response and dexterity add to the chaos and the tension throughout. The road exorcisms and other traffic related actions feel very Spy Hunter, with just a second of warning before you end in a fiery game over. There’s one fantastic moment where you have to hunt for evidence in a room and you have a rapidly depleting timer to find something or get found out yourself. Also, if you aren’t a fan of these moments, you get the option to skip some of them after your death. Just don’t sit out too many times, or the Knights will see through you.

What really drives home the pulp factor of it all is the soundtrack. While the artwork conveys the grit and disease of the world of Bahnsen Knights, the music keeps your soul in flux as the tone and air shifts around you. There’s an undeniably eerie nature to your mission, being so deep in multiple crimes and mystical havoc. The ambience underlines the moments of despair and alienation, constantly reminding you that Boulder has been over his head since the beginning and no amount of justification will totally wash his hands clean of participation. It’s like if a darksynth prodigy wrote an 80s slasher score and then ran it over with a Jensen Interceptor. 

I adore visual novels, I really do, but I also understand they’re not for everyone. The need to read copious amounts of text, remember tons of details, and sometimes have to backtrack for hours to see how a single choice changed everything…it can be daunting. There’s a reason things like Clannad or Higurashi don’t have wider Western audiences: the approach to this style of “game” isn’t universally loved or appreciated.

But with Bahnsen Knights, I feel like this is a visual novel anyone, and I mean anyone, can get behind. It’s broken into bite-sized pieces with animations, game mechanics and QTEs that keep you from just clicking through. It’s almost more like a Lucasarts adventure title, if Bobbin Threadbare had to drink just enough to not expose himself as a narc. It’s compelling, it’s raw, and it plays itself as seriously as possible while still having some of the most maddening ideas for a storyline. For anyone curious about the world where Mad Max intersects with The Master, then you should get behind the wheel and come join the Bahnsen Knights. Just be careful where your loyalties lie.

Graphics: 8.5 The dark, bloody and often grotesque world of Bahnsen Knights is fully evoked through the thick and gritty pixel art chosen for presentation. While the darkness can sometimes be overwhelming for smaller details, the overall effect cannot be denied.	Gameplay: 8.0 A significant jump forward in execution, the balance between visual novel reading, choice moments and quick reflex mini games is hammered out into a fine machine. Only drawback is certain choices happen so fast you’re guaranteed to die at least once.
Sound: 9.0 Splendidly haunting and ominous, with stabs of dramatic sting and eerie undertones of disturbing revelation. If you’re planning to receive a cursed object today, load up the Bahnsen Knights soundtrack to help make it perfect.	Fun Factor: 9.0 Absolutely gripping from start to finish with minor moments of downtime, this story is perfectly presented as a video game and not as a film or book. Anyone questioning the validity of Western visual novels needs to take this title seriously.
Final Verdict: 8.5

Bahnsen Knights is available now on PC, Playstation 4/5, Nintendo Switch and XBox Series X/S.

Reviewed on Nintendo Switch.

A copy of Bahnsen Knights was provided by the publisher.