Kunai Reviews
If humanity truly is destined to fall, at least a cute tablet with a sword will avenge us.
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.
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.
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 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.
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, 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.
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 a heck of an experience that’s an easy recommendation especially during this slow part of the year.
In summation, I still rather enjoyed KUNAI. I just wish it was a longer experience with a more coherent plot. That said, there’s tons of charm and humor here, and plenty of challenging and satisfying gameplay. Honestly, it’s hard to go wrong for only $16.99. I admire TurtleBlaze for this first Metroidvania, and even though it’s not perfect, I think it could be the starting point to many other tremendous projects. If you’re a fan of the genre, I’d say you owe it to yourself to pick this up.
However, while the Kunai do add a lot of depth to your movement, I didn’t really find much else that made this game stick out, and the lackluster checkpoints do make certain parts more frustrating than they need to be. Still, if you love the genre, KUNAI is still worth a playthrough.
As the name suggests, 'Kunai' is a wire-action game using the item of the same name. Fast-paced movement, crazy explosives, spectacular combat system are all in the right balance for the gamer to carry on the thrill until the end. While it's described as another Metro-Vania type of genre, the action packed gameplay is as close to be an action genre, without the boring character leveling process. Various boss-fights, storyline and the pixel art style adds up as a positive value to the game.
Review in Korean | Read full review
Kunai was a title that left me excited but a bit uncertain from its PAX demo last year...
From its charming visuals to its smooth action-packed gameplay, Kunai is a fittingly sharp and enjoyable experience.
Kunai is the next great Metroidvania on Switch. It could easily stand toe-to-toe with the likes of Ori and the Blind Forest and The Messenger, especially in how effortless moving around and traversing the world is. This is as close to a must-play as I can recommend. You're a tablet who plays like Spider-Man, and everything looks beautiful. Kunai is excellent.
Classic components come together to form a stellar slashing platformer, with the titular kunai providing a particularly high note.
Kunai is a short and sweet metroidvania with an exciting premise. In this era of rapid technological change, however, Kunai ultimately doesn't do enough to separate itself from the pack.
Kunai is an adorable experience that presents some enjoyable mechanics to the Metroidvania genre and keeps things varied and fun until the very end.
Review in Arabic | Read full review
Kunai is a solid game. The genre formula sticks to the blueprint well enough to not mess it up. The game is of a decent length, and it has the right amount of difficulty most of the time, but the kunai movement sells you on what makes the game enjoyable. For genre fans, this is well worth checking out.
While it does lean a bit on the easy side, kids will love this. Kunai could easily be a defacto entry level metroidvania to introduce to children.