Kunai (2020)

man, the last boss doesn't make any use of the grappling hook at all - hell the entire last area doesn't, it's just room after room of gauntlets of enemies. weird design in a game whose main gimmick is its grappling hook!

i was reading a comment on reddit that pointed out the level design in the game doesn't make use of the grappling hook much either other than a few rooms that are like "here's a big gap, grapple across it" and it's true.

it makes me feel like the game probably just isn't designed well and that my lack of having fun wasn't just my own preferences. that said, honestly it's still a fine game overall but if i wasn't following my 2023 resolution of trying to finish games, this would've gotten dropped and stayed at "seemed nice, i never finished it for whatever reason" but instead i pushed through and hated the whole final area. last boss was the perfect combination of mechanics that are really simple and not fun to execute but still precise enough to die over and over and get frustrated as hell.

i don't think i'll write a review but if i did it would just say "i don't recommend this, play any other metroidvania, play haiku"

anyway, finished just in time to start Lone Fungus...? 😁 Maybe...?

having to go back to playing non-re4 games is hard 😭

i was like 80% through my playthrough of Kunai and god i am forcing myself to finish it. idk if it's metroidvania burnout and i shouldn't have started another one or if this game is just the middest of mids. i was not enjoying it at all. like if it seemed like aeterna noctis was rough, it's nothing compared to this - AN is a messy game but it was easy to open up and play because precision platformer bullshit is my thing and i'm a masochist. this game is just... not engaging. and the physics annoy me so much as well as way too many insta-death pits. in a metroidvania?! i'm not sure i've ever played another metroidvania that returns you to save point for falling into a single pit. they all just take you back to the start of the room.