****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
I consider Kitaria Fables as a possible game to introduce young audience members and beginning gamers to the Role Playing Genre. Yet even with it’s target demographic, I still enjoyed my experience as an individual with more challenging games under my belt. Nevertheless I don’t think that the game is prefect and not everyone is going to enjoy it. Therefore, I’m going to attempt to write a neutral honest review.Comparable Games:During my time of playing Kitaria Fables, I was reminded of other games that I have played. Those games included Stardew Valley, Elder Scrolls: Skyrim, and Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. A fair amount of mechanics in the core game play of Stardew Valley such as farming, mining, fighting monsters, upgrading tools and purchasing better equipment. Similar to Skyrim, your playable character is a adventurer who acts as a mishmash of different classes. And much like Breath of the Wild, progressing through the game requires the player to upgrade their gear to make difficult bosses easier and to learn the attack patterns. I should state that Kitaria Fables is a water down version of these games to appeal to the younger demographic that likes games with cutesy-wutesy chibi animals in my opinion.The NarrativeSo, the story of Kitaria Fables is rather typical. The games center around the concept of a ‘Calamity’; where monster would overrun the citizens of society. Most of the military might is focus on ‘defending major settlements’ while you and a few other non playable characters play offense in trying to solve the calamity head on. The Story is very linear. There are some inconsistencies between the story and gameplay. The plot twist would really only surprise the younger demographic. My take is that most players play Kitaria Fables more for the ambience rather than the story.The Playable Character (PC) and their mechanicsI honestly forgot the name of the PC. It started as Nyan, but I ended just calling them Meowki, because, like Loki Odinson, they are “purr-den with glorious fur-paws.” Also like Loki, he plays very much like a rogue. In combat scenario, your main defensive feature is the ability to dodge. While dodging, Nyan takes no damage from attacks. As you progress, you can outfit Nyan with clothing to boost HP. Nyan also has a fair amount of fight in them with sword, bow n arrows, and magic. Swordplay was my primary offensive, as it became a grove to spam a few swings before dodging an attack. The bow requires players to lock on, which might be detrimental with multiple enemies. Magic attacks are powerful, but the charge sequence can leave players open to attack.Players can choose to customize Nyan with different fur colors, but only around half a dozen choices exist.Combat mechanicsNyan is generally capable in combat. A majority of enemies telegraph their attacks, which makes them easy to dodge. After the first two boss monsters, you’re going to want to begin upgrading gear.Upgrading gearUpgrading gear requires you to spend money and certain drops at vendors to enhance Nyan’s equipment. There’s a shop that focuses on physical weapons, and another that focuses on armor, clothing, and accessories. Purchasing new spells involves collecting certain drops to trade for spells.Obtaining moneySince players will need money to get better gear, the game provides the following ways to do that, selling loot drops, completing quest, and selling crafted items.Farming and Cooking.Nyan can buy seeds to grow crops on their farm. The crops can be combined with other ingredients to cook at a certain type of shop. If Nyan eats the food, health is restored and certain timed buffs are applied. However, I rarely use food consumption and mainly cooked dishes to sell for money.Play Sessions and the Game MapKitaria Fables save system is located in Nyan’s house. Players can technically save whenever they want by tracking to the house to save. The Game world allows a fast travel system to travel quickly. The game’s pacing is set by a day and night cycle. While the game has designs to allow short play sessions, goal oriented like myself players could play the games for hours. I’m currently at the end of the game now. I estimate that it took me 11 hours to reach this final main story quest, and I might need another hour or two to beat it.The DifficultyThe game plays relatively easy most of the time, yet certain boss monsters spike the difficulty to a wall, requiring players to improve their gear. I felt overpowered 90% of the time, yet felt frustrated when a boss monster defeated me.Aesthetics and StyleIf your gamer diabetes prevents you from playing sugary sweet games, then avoid this game for the birthday cake and ice cream that it is. The art style is vibrant, the music is simple yet pleasing. While characters only have simple dialogue, the designs make me want to interact with them. I enjoy how Pickle will refer to themselves in the third person. Ms. Apple acts as a surrogate grandmother to practically everyone. Commander Hazel always carries herself honorably. Timothy has an interesting side business and Erin is the most adorable character because how the game set her up. This game is too cute for it’s own good; no joke. Some of the monster also look cute, making it hard to attack them. The only other criticism I have for the design is that sometimes a large structure like a tree will block combatants’ positions.MultiplayerThe game offers limited multiplayer in the manner that two individuals who both have a Switch and a copy of the game and play in a local co-op mode. I have no idea what that mode is like because I never played it with someone.Final ThoughtsBuying this game at a price around 30 bucks is a good purchase. Kitaria Fables isn’t a big game, but it is as big as it needs to be. The minor flaws tend to be forgiven because “Aw look at it”.
