Developer: Kaiiko, Neon Studios
Publisher: Nordic Games
Reviewed on: PS4
Growing up, I never really played any RPG’s that I can remember. It’s a sad thing to admit, as I have missed many titles growing up that are now staples in the gaming industry, along with the fact that RPG’s are among my favorite games now that I am an adult. Thankfully, remakes seem to be this console generations bread and butter. Some may call these cheap cash ins but I like to think of it as a chance to play an even better version of the titles I missed growing up. Legend of Kay is such a game for me. So when I heard there was a remake coming out, I was quite excited. While I could live without all the puns, I must say my experience was quite pleasant.
Legend of Kay: Anniversary is a remake of the Playstation 2 release that came out around 10 years ago as of this review. Keep that in mind as you read the review, as a lot of gameplay elements that were popular during this time period are implemented and will heavily determine if you will want to play the title or not.
If I had to explain the story in a nutshell, I don’t think I would be able to quite honestly. The game itself is a nod to the old martial arts films of old, with a fantasy martial arts setting. You are a cat being trained by a kung fu master cat. Various events happen early that have you leaving your town to stop the notorious rats. Yeah, don’t expect a realistic tale here. The story is usually shown in a comic book style sequence filled with puns. While I could continue, I would only confuse you more. The story needs to be played to be understood.
Being that I never played the original, I was not ready for just how bad the voice acting was for this game. While I can give it flack in the remake due to never playing the original, I can’t sit here and say I enjoyed it persay. I could tolerate it, if it wasn’t for all the bad cat puns. They were funny at first. When they are thrown at you every 45 seconds for the entirety of the game, it starts to grind on your nerves just a bit.
The game itself controlled quite well. You use the face buttons on your controller as your basic attacks, dodges, and blocks. Movement and camera controls were the left and right thumbsticks, and while the movement worked well….
I can’t exactly say this next part without just being blunt: The camera is just not very good. The only other game off the top of my head I can compare a camera like this to, is Super Mario 64. It is slow, clunky, and if you are near a wall, the camera just zooms in and makes it impossible to see what is around you. There were numerous times I would be in a tight area and the camera made it impossible for me to see any of the enemies around me, usually resulting in me losing health in a situation I normally wouldn’t.
The music nails the setting and atmosphere of what Legend of Kay was going for, and while I cannot compare it to the original, I can say it was a overall great soundtrack that really fit the atmosphere. The sound effects are cartoony in most instances, but I feel it fits the game just fine. Solid A on the music and sound effects.
Overall I enjoyed Legend of Kay: Anniversary. While the game does have a couple of flaws, I feel that is more based on the time period the game originally released and not something you can really fault a remake for, and honestly I was still enjoying myself even with the camera issues. As of this review it is around $20 USD and available on a number of systems, and I feel that price point fits the game really well. If you are a fan of RPG’s such as Jade Empire, go ahead and pick this one up. You’ll have a furtastic time. (I’m sorry for that.)
Recommended
