Kona

 PC
User Score
7.2

Mixed or average reviews- based on 63 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 30 out of 63
  2. Mixed: 27 out of 63
  3. Negative: 6 out of 63

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  1. pi972
    Jan 5, 2019
    1
    Kona is a detective game about searching empty homes and looking for clues in order to solve a mystery. And when it's doing that, it's perfectly... bland. Not boring, but you kinda keep going due to momentum, due to wanting to see how they're gonna wrap that story up - it certainly never hit me hard with any emotional moments, and Carl (the main character)'s discoveries never felt earned,Kona is a detective game about searching empty homes and looking for clues in order to solve a mystery. And when it's doing that, it's perfectly... bland. Not boring, but you kinda keep going due to momentum, due to wanting to see how they're gonna wrap that story up - it certainly never hit me hard with any emotional moments, and Carl (the main character)'s discoveries never felt earned, they just felt like I had clicked items in random houses until I had all the ingredients for the narrator to reveal what Carl had learned from this, and where to go next.

    It picks up torwards the end, with an intense journey that has you dying to figure out what happened, as well as a little bit of action, but... That's it. When the game reveals what had truly happened, you just go "Oh, so that's what happened". It doesn't hit you hard, it doesn't make you feel anger, sadness, terror, or joy... It just ends. You didn't feel attachment to any of the characters along the way, you didn't care about them.

    Kona also feels full of missed opportunities. 90% of the supplies you find are never used, most mechanics are pointless (stress and heat) and most of your expectations on what is coming next end up unfulfilled. It feels like the basis of an eventually good game, like the early access version of a great game yet to come. Only it never comes.

    For something better along the same lines, try The Long Dark - the similarities are striking, and The Long Dark delivers the "lost in the canadian wilderness" aspect much much better than Kona. Although, to be fair, the story in TLD isn't that great either, at least so far (only 2/5 of it has come out). Another option might be Firewatch - although I personally disliked the route the story took, I know many loved it, and I certainly think the game had lots of great moments and characters.    … Expand
  2. kndr
    May 23, 2021
    2
    I got bored most of the time. Puzzles are weak and overall gameplay is not good enough.

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
73

Mixed or average reviews - based on 11 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 11
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 11
  3. Negative: 0 out of 11
  1. CD-Action
    Jun 7, 2017
    75
    Despite some flaws the incident at Atamipek Lake is definitely worth experiencing, as long as you rank atmosphere and discovering a gloomy mystery above shootouts and car chases. [06/2017, p.53]
  2. GameStar
    May 25, 2017
    77
    Kona is a well-done mix of survival, mystery and crime which makes you interested in the next parts of the series.
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  3. Games.cz
    Apr 27, 2017
    60
    Detective adventure game with lots of –on a first sight– interesting game elements that are not finished or meaningfully used. The result is a solid game with an interesting atmosphere that would need the devs spent more time with it. Perhaps the impression will improve with the upcoming sequels/parts.
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