Kandria Reviews

This game is an absolute blast! The world map is interesting to explore, with political intrigue and tidbits of lore tucked all about varied environments. If you're looking for an open world with plenty of platforming challenges where the only limits are your own abilities, then this is the game for you! I adore the level design and the philosophy of no place being item-gated. Whenever I would encounter a particularly challenging room/path that I didn't feel like messing with, I would find that there were usually plenty of other options to approach my objective or other avenues begging to be explored and mapped while just enjoying the chill post-apocalyptic vibes. The platforming is fluid, satisfying, and really plays well into the only exploratory limits of the world being the player's skill with game's mechanics. When I would die, I felt like it was my fault, never the game. The combat sections in this game are simple but extremely fun when they pop-up and really introduce some extra variety and tension between the save locations. As you explore and level up, you'll become more survivable and you'll also have the ability to upgrade your sword if the enemies are giving you any trouble at all. Kandria provides an amazing amount of customization of your gameplay experience through its accessibility options. As a result, this game can be made more approachable to beginners of the platforming genre and/or can also remove some of the frustrations you may be feeling if the game seems like an insurmountable struggle. And just like whether you can choose to use the accessibility options or not, you can also choose to not upgrade your weapon, or to limit the amount of healing items you allow yourself to carry to make it more difficult through self-imposed challenge. This game can be as tough or as approachable as you would like it to be. Everything really is left up to the player. I would recommend this game to anyone interested in an immersive and open world, any fan of the platforming/metroidvania genre, or anyone looking to sink their teeth into a genuinely interesting and rewarding experience involving a charming android uncovering as much about the past as they can, while also working to find their place in this new world. It's important to also note that this game exposes the level editor to the player, so if you find yourself wanting more after the game is over (like I did), you can work on creating your own vision for the next map to explore. The amount of depth and value to this game are both truly impressive!

It's a precision-platformer with pretty simple combat. The accessibility configuration to slow time is helpful, but even with it, some of the rooms are quite hard to get through. As described, you can travel anywhere from the start of the game, which means there are no interesting upgrades: you can make your sword stronger, and I think you gradually increase hit points over time. Choices in conversations also don't seem to have any effect. The end of the game also just stops, without resolving any of the mysteries raised during the game.