Kunai

If you like the trailer you're going to love the game, period. I've been looking forward to Kunai for awhile but all my expectations were smashed by the outstanding reality on display. The most important thing to me in a game like this is always "feel", and my god does Kunai deliver. The controls are CRISPY. You get some very early movement upgrades (via the games namesake) and it's just super satisfying zipping around as Tabby. You actually feel like a ninja. I would say the movement feels even better than something like The Messenger. This has more modern controls with jump sensitivity and the ability to attack in all four cardinal directions.
Kunai has quite a bit of Hollow Knight influence in the gameplay, but the tone is much less somber and the action is fast-paced. Highly recommended. I've only got 3 hours in but I'm so smitten with this game. Can't wait to sink more time into it. I DEFINITELY didn't take a day off work to play this on release....

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KUNAI is a side-scrolling action-packed 2D platformer with a bit of metroidvania mixed in as well. Some hidden rooms with treasures, special weapons, H.A.T.S. you can wear, and more! The fluidity on controller was really exceptional as well, so I’m quite happy with my overall experience playing through it.
The premise of the story centers around your controllable character, lovingly called “Tabby”, who escapes a facility, and is then deemed to be the one and only “chosen one” from prophecy, who can set things right and get the world back in order. There’s an evil entity out there, and your job is to power up and stop it! Settings and plot are nice, and while it’s not heavily story-based, the extras you can buy for upgrades along with appearance changes, and the relatively lighter difficulty make this an excellent choice for anyone looking for a game that kind of fits into this kind of a category. You will make use of your kunai, as the game title hints at, which is kind of like a grappling hook. You can get this enhanced later as you go, acquire a few extra side weapons, and then buy some upgrades to make your life easier as you progress.
Don’t forget to check out the map once you get it! While secret rooms are not on there, it’s still helpful for finding other stuff, and will tell you how many treasures are in each zone. I wish it were more specific on what each treasure has, or broke down into detail kind of what that zone has left to acquire, but the layout is still pretty decent.
Overall not too hard - I did find the final fight a bit frustrating, and without spoiling anything, wasn’t able to perform an action I should have at one point, which was a bit annoying. Mostly had a good flow with it though, focusing on moving around the map, acquiring new tools to make more progress, and then gradually building up your health/gear/sword powers and so forth. Definitely a likable game here for me!
Pros
Controller feels great with this. Very responsive for the most part. I had little trouble at any point. Much smoother than a lot of games with jumping and the timing of various aspects. Sometimes charge moves didn’t register though, for whatever reason. That’s really the only thing that bugged me with controls as I played.
This is not very difficult compared to some metroidvanias and other genres I played. Final battle is a bit challenging, as it took me a handful of tries to get used to, but otherwise not too tough in general. I like that about it… Some games I’ve played will make things too difficult, and I will lose interest if it doesn’t feel like it is worth the effort, so I am glad this one is fairly balanced. I think most people would fare pretty well overall in this game as they got used to it.
Nice little cutscene animations here and there. I liked that. Kept the game interesting having slight change of pace things like that going on in battles, or in the story bits and so forth. Just a few on certain things, but it was mixed in well.
The upgrading system was nice for your weapon and also for skills and gear you get. While you don’t have a ton of various items, they are all useful in their own way here and there for random stuff. Pretty good balancing - making them all fairly functional depending on the situation.
Levels were all fun, and I felt the overall layout was good. Music fit the game well, and everything clicked for me. I thought the overall effectiveness of the character, the scenery, other npcs, and bosses was nice. It was not super-immersive story-wise, but it has its charms.
Cons
It’s a bit convoluted. Like I mention about immersiveness, on the flip-side of the nice settings, the story elements were kind of light. Go here and do this. Now that you have this thing, go over here and do this. Stuff like that. Not enough details on why I needed to get things, how they knew about them, and other reasons make me feel the story could be worked on to be more detailed so that it all makes a bit more sense as to why I am doing what I am doing as the game moves along.
The price is pretty high for the amount of time I put into the game. I think there should be a lot more content to warrant paying anything near full price for this. Maybe half the price is pretty reasonable though. Even then it’d be a coin-flip kind of deal for me on half price.
Needs more weapons, gadgets, upgrades, and levels, or a lower price tag. It’s just a little under-developed for my liking on all fronts there. Still in and of itself a good game. I just feel like there should have been maybe double the amount of stuff in the game itself on all fronts. Something like that anyway. Maybe in the future there can be more additional content to balance it out with that asking price.
The final boss area has something around the second phase where you have to press a button. This did not show up for me one of the times I tried fighting. Not sure if anyone else encountered this issue, but it may have just been a one time glitch for me for whatever reason. Still kind of frustrating at the time, especially since the controls were very good throughout the rest of the game overall.
Conclusion
While I do recommend playing this just based on the game, I do not suggest paying full price, or anywhere near it. Great fun to be had, but I’d aim for around the halfway mark. Still one I would suggest getting at a good sale, if it drops that low or lower. You will not regret it if you’re into this type of game style. It has a good mix of action and some small RPG-like elements on the upgrades. The metroidvania isn’t too intense, but it’ll make you have to hit up various areas multiple times if you are looking for all the treasures and such.
It’s pretty solid, but just needs more content. I recommend this at the right price zone. The grappling is great, the weapons are fun to use, though I mostly used my base sword, and the maps have a lot of secret areas in each zone. Environments clicked, controls are responsive, and it has a nice simplicity to it. Nice little hidden gem though! Put it on your list of games to play, but if you really have an itch to slash up some bad guys, make sure that asking price is “slashed” a bit first. You’ll get at least five or ten hours out of it if you’re an avid explorer, and it doesn’t give you too much trouble along the way. I do not regret playing this one bit. Deserves a bit more attention! Very fun game!
Special thanks to Simetria League for their support!

Review by Gaming Masterpieces - The greatest games of all time on Steam.
Is this game a masterpiece? Yes, as long as you don't mind running around as a tablet with a sword and slashing evil computers.
It's a platformer, Metroidvania style, with fluid and dynamic movement, medium sized levels, and with save points that bring you back to life when you have died. Your special equipment are two kunais to climb up walls, or you can simply swing on them like Tarzan. Although the levels are not that big, it is sometimes a bit unclear what to do next and you have to backtrack and explore. There are hidden areas with treasure (or new items), your tablet can get new abilities & upgrades. The difficulty is average, even I could kill the first boss in the first try. It does get harder later, of course.
Join the revolution of the blue computers fighting the red computers, controlled by an evil AI.
The graphic is in pixel art, using only a few colors. Looks good. Gamepad works fine.
Conclusion:
Retro art platformer with tight controls.

An incredibly well designed and unique metroidvania experience, KUNAI offers fantastic movement, brilliant art and great sounds to enjoy through a ~10 hour playthrough, not including hunting for collectibles. Highly recommended.

"Fast-Paced Action Metroidvania! ヽ(=´▽`=)ﾉ"
Intro
KUNAI. It is a metrobenia action game produced by TurtleBlaze and published by The Arcade Crew. As you may know, The Arcade Crew is a relatively new publisher, but some of their staff are from Dotemu, mainly veterans for the arcade videogame industry. The kunai is commonly associated with the ninja, and it could be used as a multi-functional weapon. We can infer that this game is related to such a theme.
Game Experience
Gamers have always been looking for a good metroidvania. This game may satisfy your thirst. There are clever movement tricks, interesting battles, and brilliant movements through using KUNAI. With this weird robot made of recycled trash, you will explore the post-apocalyptic world. Maybe this is somewhat similar to a game called Messenger. Nevertheless, there are at least some interesting additions to this game. Slow motion and chain attacks in the air are unique fun to this game. The game experience is great overall, and this is a neat ninja action game.
Pros (+) & Cons (-)
Neat Gameplay
Fast-Paced Action
Exciting Boss Battle
Good Chiptune BGM
Tricky Controls
Somewhat Short
Somewhat Confusing
Uneven Level Balance
Verdict: Game 8/10
KUNAI. This is a fast paced action game themed on the ninja. Especially if you liked the game of metroidvania, this game can be a good choice. Despite some glitches, the game offers quite neat gameplay. As you begin to adapt to the hardcore ninja tricks, a unique feature of the game, it will ensure consistent fun until the end. If you can afford it, try this game. Recommended!
Side Note
Follow Nyanco Channel ヽ(=^･ω･^=)丿 :

Fluid and dynamic with a great aesthetic.
Tabby controls like a charm, the kunais are fun to use. It's too short, and that's a shame, but what's there is a polished metroidvania with great moment to moment gameplay.
I'm almost done, I just need a couple of hats and some heart pieces, and after that I will probably start speedrunning it.

Kunai from the TurtleBlaze studios, presents himself as a metroidvania full of action, movements and samurai weapons that make the player quickly feel like a real badass.
The plot is set in a post-apocalyptic and post-human world, full of robots made of garbage.
A group of robots that resists the regime, dominated by malicious robots that have been infected with viruses, wakes up the protagonist, Tabby, the only hope of overcoming the affront to the well-being of the population. The character played by the player has the soul of a warrior within him, but the face of an iPad.
Although the protagonist is always silent, he is far from being expressionless. As he jumps, runs and uses one of his weapons, Tabby presents a variety of different facial expressions. The lack of a life bar is represented with the symbol of lack of energy that gives it a somewhat comic touch.
The humorous moments also present in the writing of this title offer an additional charm to all the present history and that give some laughs, here and there.
Regarding gameplay, it features a shorter variety of weapons.
Initially the player sees himself only with a katana as the main weapon in his quest to overthrow the regime and help the resistant group to survive the adversities of this confrontation. This weapon provides the ability to take down enemies as well as a defensive strand, as it allows you to deflect the shots fired by the bad guys.
It is clear that throughout the game new weapons and game mechanics will be presented, however, the main one all of them is the use of "katana" and "kunai". A ninja weapon consisting of an iron blade with a large hole in its base.
Once this ability is unlocked, the game mechanics become very clear. The player will have at his disposal two "kunai", each referring to one of the triggers, left and right. So, it is possible to launch this weapon to help with faster locomotion or to reach higher points, a little bit like the spiderman webs work. A mechanics well implemented, intuitive and quite fun.
The remaining weapons allow the player to inflict damage, but mostly serve to make way for places that were previously inaccessible.
The "shuriken" can be used to power certain switches and allows you to stun enemies. The sub machine guns, which are two machine guns that do little damage but fire a large number of bullets that allow the player, with the help of the jump, to reach more distant places. Finally, the “rocket launcher” that will be used to destroy rocks. It also allows the player to jump higher and knock down enemies faster, as it inflicts a lot of damage.
Kunai is a very expressive metroidvania, with a touch of retro, either in its type of mechanics, or for its graphic style that resembles the color palette of a Game Boy Color. The feeling of mastering the main mechanics of the use of “kunai” is quite satisfactory and a very fluid control of everything that happens on the screen give this title a good hours of fun, however, the variety of weapons leaves a little to Wish. For those who like to complete the games 100%, there are plenty of “secret” boxes with accessories that allow you to change Tabby's appearance.
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