Kunai Reviews
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.
The game holds itself well and is great fun, even if it lacks any real innovation. The unique weapon combinations can make each run different and interesting, but the repetitive nature of each level means that Kunai's replayability could be in doubt.
The novelty of traversal doesn't last, leaving you with a generic adventure inspired by Metroid
A competent Metroidvania with some attractive visuals and fun gimmicks, but they can't hide the fact that the game underneath is far less inspired than it first seems.
Ultimately, Kunai is a competent and attractive Metroidvania title let down by uninspired game design, underutilized mechanics, and some bugs. Still, this isn't a bad effort by TurtleBlaze. In fact, I think a sequel that learns from this game's mistakes could be a blast.
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.
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.
If humanity truly is destined to fall, at least a cute tablet with a sword will avenge us.
Kunai is an impressive 2D action game. It follows the classic Metroidvania design, which offers a great adventure of exploration. But this is just a taste that won't last long.
Review in Chinese | Read full review
Thanks to some great controls and a diverse and satisfying set of weapons and tools, Kunai overcomes its weaknesses in level design to become a solid, fun platformer.
KUNAI is a fast paced metroidvania, full of action and explosions, but it's hard to find in those pixel something new and fresh.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Maybe it's a little unfair to propose that Kunai's weaker spots are a result of the high bar games preceding it have set.
Kunai does plenty of things right, but doesn't really try to stand out from the crowd in any way.
Kunai is a wonderful game that I am sure rewards a high level of mastery over its mechanics. It looks great, sounds amazing, and plays quite well for the most part. However, the bugs I encountered and some of the lackluster designs throughout the game often made me either sleepy-bored or frustrated at being killed by events largely out of my control. It feels clunky at some points and I believe needs just a bit more refining but it is a great game underneath it all.
Kunai is a classic yet breathless metroidvania game, which capitalize on its strong action and fun narration. The sympathic Tabby and its variety of expressions is a bless to see, but the art direction suffers from its unflaterring minimalism, and endless boss patterns that grows on frustration.
Review in French | Read full review
Kunai knows grappling hooks are cool, so it gives you two of them. But beyond its best feature, it's an indie adventure that falls just a bit short of its excellent peers.
Kunai is a bite-sized Metroidvania that's well worth the pick-up for the fast, frenetic action alone. Once all the foes have been fought and the bosses have been bested, the Kunai content well has run empty.
Kunai is an expressive, stylish and retro-tinged metroidvania that kept me engaged the entire time I played it. The feeling of slowly mastering the rope-kunai and being able to flawlessly swing around environments and flank enemies was incredibly satisfying. I only wish the rest of your abilities in the game had the same kind of skill ceiling to reach, because without any cool reasons to deflect bullets, why bother having the ability to do so in the first place?
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.