RCU005
Member
Plase no open spoilers, I haven't finished the game!. Thank you!
I got the game on sale this holiday and I was very excited to play it. I went in blind other than the first two trailers released.
I got started and right from the beginning I loved the art style and concept. Visually it's a beautiful game, but then the gameplay.
Kena feels like a modernized PS2 game, which it's not really a bad thing. I know this is made by an indie development studio, and for that they did a great job for the most part. Overall, the game could've been amazing but there are many small details that bring it down so much.
First, the most important one: This game does not have proper checkpoint placement! Whoever designed and decided to put the checkpoints before cutscenes or even before a hoard of enemies before a boss fight, etc deserves to be fired!. It's not the 90s and we are not playing on NES or SNES where there were no save states. Also, I don't believe the target audience of this game is meant to have punishable checkpoints. If you are going to design a game where people will have a hard time and will have to repeat over and over, put them right back into the action!
The difficulty: Really? Did anyone watching the reveal and trailers imagine that this game was going to be a Souls-like wannabe? Did the game really need to be this hard? Again, who is the target audience for this game? With that said, I think that these little design choices are more contributing to the difficulty than the actual challenge. It gets more frustrating that difficult.
The combat: The combat feels incomplete. The skill tree should be bigger, it's like they stopped at the "prototype" phase, whether it's for time, budget or whatever reason. However, it does have potential. Yet again, small design choices make this really bad. The worst of all it's the parry. I bet 99% of people playing this game, don't know the parrying timing. It's just so badly designed. Then, when or if you get it right, it does like a micro-cutscene or something that throws you off. There are many games with satisfying parrying, why make it like this? Then, another bad decision was that there are no warning of off-screen attacks at all. This game has the recipe for an amazing combat, but it was severely undercooked.
Using the bow is satisfying but the game puts you into some places where it's hard to see the aiming reticle. The bomb is satisfying when it explodes, but when aiming and throwing feels off. It's the little details.
Exploration: The map is big but it's not like open world. I have no issues with the overall exploration except for the fact that there's no hint system for collectibles. Some are very well hidden and it becomes a chore more than anything. The mask should help finding them, but it's pretty much useless since you need to be practically 1 step away for it to show something. Swimming is very slow, why?
Collectibles: Useless! They should've made hats have some stats that help you with exploration and combat. The more Rot you have the bigger the effect. So you would need to decide how many hats you of each type you put on them.
Story: Haven't finished the game (please no spoilers) I just got a third mask. I am liking it. I actually wish they made this into a movie, I think it would work. What I don't like yet again it's a small design choice. Why use black bars for cutscenes? They break the cinematic effect, even though, ironically, they probably put them for that reason.
I have gotten angry trying to defeat bosses, and annoyed trying to find rots and collectibles. This is not a good sign for this kind of game. This should've been more like Ratchet and Clank game. A feel good (sad) game that everyone can enjoy but it's still challenging. The game came out in 2021 and I already feel like it totally needs a remake! Not graphically obviously, but definitely in gameplay mechanics and design choices.
I don't know if this will get a sequel (since I haven't finished it), but developers totally need to have a chance to polish this game. I liked the characters, the concept, the art style, and the music. So hopefully it expands. It's too bad the game is plagued with little stuff that ruins the experience in many occasions. The game could've been an 9 or 10, but with all this overall, I wouldn't give it past 7.
I got the game on sale this holiday and I was very excited to play it. I went in blind other than the first two trailers released.
I got started and right from the beginning I loved the art style and concept. Visually it's a beautiful game, but then the gameplay.
Kena feels like a modernized PS2 game, which it's not really a bad thing. I know this is made by an indie development studio, and for that they did a great job for the most part. Overall, the game could've been amazing but there are many small details that bring it down so much.
First, the most important one: This game does not have proper checkpoint placement! Whoever designed and decided to put the checkpoints before cutscenes or even before a hoard of enemies before a boss fight, etc deserves to be fired!. It's not the 90s and we are not playing on NES or SNES where there were no save states. Also, I don't believe the target audience of this game is meant to have punishable checkpoints. If you are going to design a game where people will have a hard time and will have to repeat over and over, put them right back into the action!
The difficulty: Really? Did anyone watching the reveal and trailers imagine that this game was going to be a Souls-like wannabe? Did the game really need to be this hard? Again, who is the target audience for this game? With that said, I think that these little design choices are more contributing to the difficulty than the actual challenge. It gets more frustrating that difficult.
The combat: The combat feels incomplete. The skill tree should be bigger, it's like they stopped at the "prototype" phase, whether it's for time, budget or whatever reason. However, it does have potential. Yet again, small design choices make this really bad. The worst of all it's the parry. I bet 99% of people playing this game, don't know the parrying timing. It's just so badly designed. Then, when or if you get it right, it does like a micro-cutscene or something that throws you off. There are many games with satisfying parrying, why make it like this? Then, another bad decision was that there are no warning of off-screen attacks at all. This game has the recipe for an amazing combat, but it was severely undercooked.
Using the bow is satisfying but the game puts you into some places where it's hard to see the aiming reticle. The bomb is satisfying when it explodes, but when aiming and throwing feels off. It's the little details.
Exploration: The map is big but it's not like open world. I have no issues with the overall exploration except for the fact that there's no hint system for collectibles. Some are very well hidden and it becomes a chore more than anything. The mask should help finding them, but it's pretty much useless since you need to be practically 1 step away for it to show something. Swimming is very slow, why?
Collectibles: Useless! They should've made hats have some stats that help you with exploration and combat. The more Rot you have the bigger the effect. So you would need to decide how many hats you of each type you put on them.
Story: Haven't finished the game (please no spoilers) I just got a third mask. I am liking it. I actually wish they made this into a movie, I think it would work. What I don't like yet again it's a small design choice. Why use black bars for cutscenes? They break the cinematic effect, even though, ironically, they probably put them for that reason.
I have gotten angry trying to defeat bosses, and annoyed trying to find rots and collectibles. This is not a good sign for this kind of game. This should've been more like Ratchet and Clank game. A feel good (sad) game that everyone can enjoy but it's still challenging. The game came out in 2021 and I already feel like it totally needs a remake! Not graphically obviously, but definitely in gameplay mechanics and design choices.
I don't know if this will get a sequel (since I haven't finished it), but developers totally need to have a chance to polish this game. I liked the characters, the concept, the art style, and the music. So hopefully it expands. It's too bad the game is plagued with little stuff that ruins the experience in many occasions. The game could've been an 9 or 10, but with all this overall, I wouldn't give it past 7.