Kemono Heroes review

Playing individually or with up to three additional local companions, Kemono Heroes is a team of four anthropomorphic characters. Each has a distinctive ability, from Fudemaru, a fox who can transform into enemies, Hanako, a flying squirrel who can glide after jumping, Miyuki, the wall-climbing cat, or Yu a monkey that can clamber from ropes. Collectively, each team member also has a varied arsenal of abilities, is able to double-jump, and use both melee as well as projectile attacks. Another variance is found in each Hero’s main weapon, which produces different kind of weapon trails.

Early on, each of the ninja protagonists earns a grappling hook. Reminiscent of 1987’s Bionic Commando, the device allows you to reach out and propel yourself up to platforms. And while it’s not the most lethal of tools, few strikes can quickly defeat an overhead enemy. Later, you’ll get additional implements, like bombs that destroy rock partitions or a charge attack for your main weapon.

No Tariffs on Power-ups!

At the end of levels, you can also augment your character at a store with one of the funkiest songs in contemporary platforming history. Besides improving your melee, projectile, and special weapons, you can extend or refill your health gauge or even purchase an additional life. Games are often prohibitively frugal, making players grind for basic goods. But Kemono Heroes offers refreshingly economical in-gaming pricing. Often, you’ll collect enough koban to purchase several perks before advancing to the next stage.

The Easy and Normal difficulty settings are accurately named, but you’ll need every available advantage when playing on Kemono Heroes’ highest difficulty level. Although the game attempts to scale the challenge level when playing cooperatively, the balance is a bit off. Bosses who were relatively easy to takedown individually grew exponentially challenging with each local partner.

Engaging Level Albeit with Respawning Enemies

Like any respectable two-dimensional platformer, Kemono Heroes periodically fills the screen with sprites. Early on, you’ll encounter sentient swellings of orange-like monsters, that grow in real time. Slash near the bottom, and you’ll denotate a chain reaction of blast that rains down giant coins. Rarely does the accumulation of virtual wealth feel so satisfying.

But the game’s fixation with on-screen chaos means that enemies perpetually respawn on each stage. As such, you’ll probably be encouraged to make your way through each level as quickly as possible, with dawdling leading to death. As such, headway can feel like a war of attribution, so it’s a good thing that Heroes supplements its horizontally scrolling stages with vertical ones and even shoot ‘em up like levels.

But that’s not the only fault. The scrolling stages only move in one direction, so it’s aggravating when you accidently push a health-replenishing onigiri or bento offscreen. When playing with others, everyone has to carefully work together to ensure no one is left behind. Sporadically, it’s hard to see the flooring for the vertical-scrolling levels, making it all too easy to accidentally take damage. As the game’s shooter stages could benefit from a lock-on button to ensure you are firing in the desired direction.  Another small issue is the game’s reluctance to explain things.

Kemono=Beast, and Shouldn’t be Confused with Kimono

Helping to compensate for any imperfections, Kemono’s aesthetics are enchanting. The title’s enemies are drawn from centuries of rich folklore, so expect well-known yokai like kasa-obake and even delightfully cute interpretations of Fujin the Wind God and Raijin the Lightning God. Pleasingly, the game’s creatures and setting are exhaustively researched, ensuring Kemono Heroes doesn’t skate by on tacky exoticism. What really sells the context is the game’s soundtrack, which resists the temptation of pulsating tracks for tranquil melodies that are more in line with the naturalistic settings.

With agreeable action and stunning sprite-work, Kemono Heroes might catch the attention of players. But the indefinite enemy numbers and a few rough edges prohibit Fudemaru, Hanako, Miyuki, and Yu from becoming part of the platforming Parthenon.

Kemono Heroes was played on PC with review code provided by the publisher.