Kunai Reviews
Kunai is a wonderful game and another stern reminder as to why I keep kicking myself for avoiding the Metroidvania genre for as long as I’ve had. Clearly this is a genre still in it’s renaissance period with new, inventive play styles still coming out at a decent pace and kunai is no exception to that rule. TLDR: It’s a good game. Buy it.
Kunai is, for most part, a wonderfully complex Metroidvania. The colourful artwork, smooth movement, and clever level design are some of the greatest the genre has seen, but the high difficulty of the boss encounters will prevent some players from fully enjoying this vibrant world.
On the one hand, I feel like Kunai kind of missed its mark. The game is definitely trying to be something different and set itself apart, but there are just enough pain points that it’s hard to think it really works. There’s a lot of effort to keep you engaged and offer a slight twist on the formula, but most of those twists come off as broadly neutral.
Kunai is a thoroughly fantastic game, taking some of the best elements of the genre and putting them into one parkouring package. It’s apparent that a lot of care went into fine-tuning weapons and Kunai to make your actions feel as instinctual as they are fun.
Even with its steep difficulty curves, KUNAI is a charismatic and rewarding experience but some of its core mechanics doesn't work as well as the studio think, specially if you look at some well received games of the genre that came out this generation.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
KUNAI is absolutely kinetic. Momentum, traversal, and combat are the key pillars. They all work in tandem to produce a game that moves at a frenetic pace, and one you’ve not known in a Metroidvania-style of game. TurtleBlaze have something special here, and it’s in your best interest not to miss it. KUNAI is a refreshing take on the genre, and an exciting one at that.
Kunai is a blast to play, and TurtleBlaze smartly set it apart from its competition thanks to a fairly unique art style and an interesting world.
Unfortunately, it can be difficult to figure out where you're supposed to go at times, backtracking in Kunai is a bit of a pain, and the level design doesn't offer as many branching paths as its competition. But it's worth playing through the game's short runtime and this is a great foundation for a sequel.