Open-world adventure The Knightling channels Jak and Daxter meets Captain America, launching this August.

Remember how it felt in Bloodborne when you discovered a shield and learned that it existed purely to shame and humiliate returning Dark Souls players who are over-reliant on blocking? Do you remember reading those awful, judging, fourth-wall-besmirching words, “Shields are nice, but not if they engender passivity”? Well, The Knightling is the opposite of that feeling. It’s a bouncy, breezy open world platformer in which you are a novice chevalier equipped with a circular, gear-toothed shield he uses for absolutely everything.

You can slide down hills on it! You can hurl it like Captain America! Like hurling his shield, I mean, not like hurling Captain America. You can use it as a parachute! You can even parry and block with it, though that feels like copping out. Not since The Brew Barons have I witnessed such commitment to a bit. If you’re similarly enthused, you’ll be delighted to hear that developers Twirlbound and publisher Saber Interactive have just slapped a release date on the thing – 28th August. Here’s a trailer.

The story here is that you’re searching for your mentor, a famous knight called Sir Lionstone, who’s gone AWOL while a-questing in the realm of Clesseia. That’s his shield you’re doing doughnuts with. It’s made of Callyrium, which sounds like a Ratchet & Clank version of Vibranium. Is the shield upgradeable in the manner of most video game weapons? I’m not sure, but the Steam page does mention upgrades of some kind.

The trailer announcement accompanies an updated demo. It expands the previous demo’s Outskirt area to include ”the seldom-visited, secluded woods in the far corner of the realm known as the Cornered Bosk.” Somebody should get Miyazaki to play that demo and ask him if he still thinks shields “engender passivity”. Let’s see you surf through a meadow on an effing Moonlight Greatsword, Miyazaki. Let’s see you turn a Kirkhammer into a glider.