Kemono Heroes is one of those games I had to convince myself not to buy. I'm a sucker for stylistic, old-school arcade platformers like this,Kemono Heroes is one of those games I had to convince myself not to buy. I'm a sucker for stylistic, old-school arcade platformers like this, and the moment I saw it I had to immediately resist adding it to my collection. I quietly put it on my wishlist instead, and waited for a sale. Now that I got it, I realize I would have gladly paid full price for it. It's a hidden gem , and if the developers polished up a few things this could be golden.
Presented as a whimsical Japanese folk tale, Kemono Heroes takes place in an unnamed animal village where the forest critters live in peace and happiness. That is, until the Moon God decides to turn the forest to stone and unleash an army of yokai on the world! Why? Who knows? Maybe he's just a jerk. But it's up to the local ninja animal team to fight their way through hordes of yokai, climb to the top of the highest peak in the land, and give the deity a stern talking to.
You have four ninja critters to choose from, each with different skills: Fudemaru the fox can transform into enemies using his charm weapon, gaining a variety of potential new abilities; Hanako the flying squirrel can glide through the air, making platforming much easier; Yu the monkey can climb across the various ropes and vines you'll find throughout stages; and Miyuki the cat can scale vertical walls. Every character boasts a unique melee combo, rapid fire kunai, a double jump, a slide/aerial kick, and a screen clearing Ninpo attack. Beating stages will unlock further abilities such as a grappling hook and bombs, giving you new options for moving and attacking.
Defeating enemies and opening chests earns you coins which you can spend at the end of most stages to level up your weapons, health bar and Ninpo meter, refill your health and Ninpo, and buy extra logs (lives) if needed. It would be cool if your weapons received more than just a damage boost and a different colored aura as you leveled them, but that's all you get. You'll also find obligatory rice balls, miso and obento to replenish your health. Money and health are generally plentiful in a single player game, but I imagine multiple players will find themselves arguing over who grabs what.
Right off the bat, this game feels like a lost 16-bit classic. The characters are bright and colorful, the abilities are varied, and the style lends itself well to the tale of four animal heroes on a quest to restore the forest. The gameplay is a solid mix of melee combat, run and gun platforming, and a splash of shmup and Kirby-style power stealing to round it out. These elements all blend together smoothly, and each stage emphasizes one or more of these elements so that gameplay stays varied and fun. Fans of arcade and console classics will recognize influences from Megaman, Ninja Gaiden, and other well known franchises, but these combine to create a distinct game that has its own style and flow.
The game never gets in its own way, throwing you right into the action without so much as a "press A to jump". The story is told entirely through gameplay and visuals, which is to its credit since the characters are all well animated and convey a lot of personality. Tutorials appear briefly for new powerups to teach you how to use them, but these are deceptive, as your various tools and abilities have several nuances that will only be discovered through experimentation and gameplay. I didn't realize until my second playthrough that jumping while sliding would allow you to dash jump. The game never told me I could do that, but it expected me to figure it out through playing. There are various other tricks to using your abilities, and discovering what you can do with them is surprisingly well integrated into the gameplay, which encourages, but rarely demands, that you use different tools in different situations. This may put some people off, but I found the lack of handholding refreshing.
There are just a few things that really hold this game back from greatness, and it irks me because it's an otherwise stellar title. The music, while atmospheric and generally appropriate, often doesn't stand out, though there are a couple tracks worth noting. The controls are quite smooth and responsive and your character is extremely mobile, but the game never quite challenges those abilities. To be fair, you'll need every tool at your disposal, but they seem more an afterthought at times. There was never a "get good" moment that really tested me. Unique character abilities were neat, but aside from Fudemaru's transformations none of them were game changers. Some unique weapons or Ninpo would have helped them stand out more gameplay wise.
Overall, Kemono Heroes is a fun, colorful action platformer that's just shy of greatness, but more than worthy of a playthrough or three. If you, like me, were curious about this game, don't wait. It's a neat little gem that will surprise you more than once, and satisfy your itch for some classic platforming action.… Expand
