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Showing content with the highest reputation on 01/22/21 in all areas

  1. Eliwood8

    Kunai Review

    A Metroidvania starring a ninja protagonist already sounds like a winning combination, but if you make that ninja a tablet in a world of robots, well, you've got something special on your hands. Kunai isn't afraid to get silly, but it also backs up its goofy moments with top-notch adventure gameplay that proves difficult to put down. The game's story begins with a surprisingly somber explanation that the world has been ravaged by an evil AI named Lemonkus who almost wiped out all of humanity. You play as Tabby, a tablet with the soul of an ancient warrior, awakened to help fight Lemonkus and restore balance to the world. You'll work alongside a resistance group and battle all manner of aggressive robot opponents. Ultimately it's a pretty standard "save the world" plot, and yet, aside from that set-up, the game doesn't take itself too seriously at all. Most of the actual dialogue is silly in some way, and the main collectibles in the game are hats to adorn Tabby. Despite the slight tonal whiplash, the writing in Kunai is delightful and balances its sense of humor quite well. In true Metroidvania fashion, you start out with virtually nothing in terms of equipment—in fact you don't even have a weapon at first. But soon enough you pick up a katana that allows you to absorb health from defeated enemies, and shortly after that you'll get the all-important kunai which act as grappling hooks, allowing you to swing through the environment like a little robot Spider-Man. The kunai mobility feels fantastic. It has enough physics-based movement that your momentum feels important—i.e. you can't just wildly swing anywhere—but it's also not so persnickety that you have to perfectly line up your swings every time. It's fast and fluid, which is exactly what you want out of a system like this, and it makes exploration a blast. And, also in true Metroidvania fashion, there are plenty of little secrets to find throughout the map, and being able to swing up to high ledges or hidden rooms is a lot of fun. Exploration is, of course, a major part of Kunai, and it has a nice balance of complexity. There are secrets to find and interconnected rooms to explore, but it's not so elaborate that it's ever too difficult to keep your bearings. The only tricky part is that you don't have a map right at the beginning of the game, but once you do it's easy to backtrack to find health upgrades (or hats) with whatever new abilities you have. And the snazzy grappling hook movement system makes even backtracking pretty satisfying. The combat in Kunai feels great as well. Your main attack will always be the katana, which is even more vital since it allows you to heal, but when combined with Tabby's fluid movements and a handful of secondary weapons, you've got a good variety of attack options that all make you feel like a skilled ninja warrior. That said, mopping up random enemy robots can feel a bit boring at times. There's a decent amount of enemy types but for the most part you're so much more powerful than them that they never feel particularly threatening, and yet you'll probably want to defeat them all anyway to either recover health or grab some money for upgrades. On the other hand, considering how quickly enemies respawn in this game, it might be for the best that Tabby is able to so easily slice through them and maintain the momentum of exploring. Even if you take the time to suss out all of the secrets available, Kunai isn't a very long game. It's possible to zip through the game in just six or seven hours, and even uncovering everything the game has to offer will still likely take less than ten hours. That's not to say the game feels short though. The pacing feels right for the game, and even if it is a bit on the short side Kunai is never dull. On the presentation side of things, Kunai does a lot with very little. The pixel art style with a minimalist color palette looks fantastic, and has the added benefit of keeping the environment easily "readable," i.e. you can quickly tell if a wall or ceiling can be grappled with the kunai, and enemies always have some amount of bright red coloring on them that makes them stand out. And on top of all of this you've got Tabby's goofy little face that makes the whole visual style utterly charming. Kunai is a smart little Metroidvania adventure that doesn't try to do everything—instead, it does a few things exceedingly well. Movement and exploration is a blast thanks to the polished kunai grappling hook system that gives you the perfect amount of control. Combat can be a bit repetitive at times but it's fast and satisfying, which is exactly what you'd want and expect from a ninja warrior. All of this is tied together with a charming visual design that is minimalist and stylish. Anyone looking for a quick but engaging Metroidvania would do well to give Kunai a look. Rating: 8 out of 10 Shuriken
    1 point
  2. alright, i'm done with my memery
    1 point
  3. Finally with Tapu Lele, I can complete the family portrait. If they would stay still........
    1 point
  4. I'll get this done with the next update that I do. I've got some other stuff I'm planning to take care of as well.
    1 point
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