The Knight of Nephiart

About The Knight of Nephiart

The Knight of Nephiart is a narrative-driven RPG with a first-person perspective and turn-based combat. Developed by VR RPG INC., it drops you into the fictional kingdom of Nephiart, where the royal family seeks to harness ancestral light magic for peace. You play as a knight tasked with escorting the princess on a pilgrimage to awaken this power, but a mysterious incident at the palace derails their quest. Released in 2025, it’s available on Nintendo Switch, SteamVR, PlayStation VR2, and various VR headsets. The game blends exploration, character management, and tactical battles in a medieval fantasy setting. If you want a story-rich RPG with a mix of action and strategy, this is the pick.

Gameplay

You control the knight in a first-person view as you cross the holy land, managing a party of three characters with distinct abilities. Combat is turn-based but requires quick reflexes, you select actions mid-turn by dodging, timing attacks, or using environmental objects to gain advantages. Each trial forces you to balance resources like stamina and magic, with permadeath risks for weaker party members. Exploration involves solving light-based puzzles linked to the kingdom’s lore. Battles often pause exploration, keeping sessions brisk but demanding. The princess’s trials involve dialogue choices that subtly shift the story, though branching paths are minimal.

What Players Think

The PlayPile community rates it 8.4/10, with 61% completing the main story. Average playtime is 16 hours, and 47% finish all achievements (25 total). Players praise the “atmospheric writing and satisfying combat loops” but call out “tedious inventory management.” Critics on Metacritic average a 78, noting its “underwhelming but polished” execution. Positive moods (78%) highlight the princess’s arc and light-based visuals, while negative reviews cite “unbalanced difficulty spikes” and VR-specific control quirks. The game’s 4.5-hour completion time for core content suggests a leaner RPG experience compared to AAA titles.

PlayPile's Take

The Knight of Nephiart is worth playing for fans of story-focused RPGs with tactical depth. Its 16-hour runtime and $49.99 price tag offer decent value for a single-player narrative adventure. While combat mechanics feel derivative, the setting’s light-magic lore and character dynamics keep it engaging. Achievements focus on trial completion and hidden collectibles, with the 47% completion rate hinting at optional content. It’s not impressive but hits its niche well. Skip if you want deep party customization or open-world freedom, but try it for a concise, atmospheric RPG fix.

Storyline

The royal family of the kingdom of NEPHIART has brought peace to the kingdom through the power of light passed down from generation to generation. The family undergoes the holy land trials in order to awaken the special power. A knight of the kingdom accepts an order to escort the princess to the holy land and sets off with her. They travel around the holy land and the princess undergoes trials. Their conventional journey to awaken the special power takes a sudden turn when something strange happens at the royal palace.