Princess Kaguya: Legend of the Moon Warrior Reviews

I was drawn into the game by the playstyle and art. It is definitely a Japanese-style beat-em-up--down to the controls (which seem to be based off of a PS controller than X-box---so circle = OK). It is very classic in my opinon. The game was quite charming at first, but as you play longer you start realizing that there are quite a few bugs. Depending on how you are as a player, you can easily ignore them or get greatly irritated. I would recommend the game due to the playstyle, story, art, and music but... If you want the "full" controller support, I don't reccommend getting this game. (So get this thing when it's on sale) I used a PS3 controller and scrolling through the menu... It's only one-way. I can only go down and/or right when I'm facing the UI so I end up just using my keyboard to go through that... I thought it was no big deal, especially since this weird bug didn't affect the actual gameplay. However, as things got more difficult, gameplay with my controller got increasingly difficult due to the slow response. I switched to playing with my keyboard and it was indeed a lot better gameplay-wise. It was an improvement, but the reaction-time between my input and the game receiving the commands still has a lot to be desired but otherwise okay. Ignoring that (I'm not so bothered by it), the one problem I find is the setup of the keyboard commands. I would refrain from using the WASD keys and just use the arrow keys. Q = kendama attack or straight arrow shot E = kick or arched arrow shot Space = jump Shift = block Ctrl = switch weapons <----Honestly, I wish this was Tab instead because craning my pinky when I'm playing against a boss ends up being tedious and straining. I'm not sure what the makers were thinking with this set-up, but I think it would be a bit too compact for a lot of people. Overall, it's not so bad of a game and rather enjoyable. Frustrating at times, but that's what can make a game fun.

This game is a prime example that looks can be deceiving. The art, music and enemy design are absolutely gorgeous but the gameplay itself is an infuriatingly buggy, laggy and generally non-functional. The hit boxes are way off and the general feel of the gameplay is super loose and unresponsive. The English is full of mistakes and feels awkward. The instructions displayed at the start of the game have ridiculously low-res text and pictures which are borderline unreadable. It doesn't matter whether you're a fan of beat'em ups or Eastern art styles, this can of worms is definitely not worth the asking price.

Mindless button masher that doesn't understand what makes [i]Streets of Rage[/i] or [i]Golden Axe[/i] so good. Among the worst issues: slow, clunky move set with heavy animation lock, dash attacks that go off by incident (since you're forced to use the analog stick to move, as opposed to the D-pad where you would otherwise double tap in any other classic beat 'em up to run), and a dead zone range so shallow that your stick resetting will likely have you facing the absolute wrong direction at the worst possible times. Really beautiful 2D artwork, though, and the special move that summons a row of bunny archers is as satisfying as it is adorable. Just a shame the rest of [i]Princess Kaguya[/i] didn't get the same level of polish; it could have been a gem otherwise.

Terrible. Nice art style, and the music is plesant enough - but it sucks all kinds of donkey pods when it comes to actually playing. "Puppet Style" animation that is just janky and rubbish, poor hit response, laggy controls, unskippable cut scenes, floaty unengaging combat - the list goes on. It fails on every level as a videogame but not in a "oh my gosh that's so terrible its funny" kind of way - it is crushingly mediocre; a half baked unloved mess. The kind of videogame someone who doesn't like videogames would make.

This game has beautiful artwork and lovely music. The fact that the heroine uses a kendama stick as a weapon and can call upon bunny archers made this game intriguing and fun to me. The controls do take some getting used to such as a separate button to fire your arrows in an upward arc compared to firing your arrows in a straight path. The controls and hit detection could be improved some but I still had a lot of fun. I would suggest getting this if you like Japanese culture and a good beat em up, but I would recommend, like other reviewers, to purchase while on sale. Overall a fun game.

Princess Kaguya is a simple and short 2D fighting game with an ancient Japanese theme. That has hit box problems.

This is a fun little game that feels like a mash-up of Samurai Warriors crossed with the old 4 Player Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles from the arcades way back in the day with the fable like elements of Okami tossed in. I love the character designs (Kaguya is adorable), the music is great, and the attacks (both normal and special) are really impressive - I mean come on, a rabbit archery brigade just looks hilarious. Now, the movement is a little stiff in that it is strictly 4 directionial, but once you start to get used to that, the game does become a lot easier to navigate around in. One other thing worth mentioning is that while playing, try not to button mash like you might in say Samurai Warriors/Dynasty Warriors. Button mashing will get you creamed here (you can't move an attack at the same time); so keep your attacks light so you keep your feet moving and you'll have a lot of fun with Princess Kaguya.

while the art and music are great the game itself is awful. - Poor hit response. - Unskippable cut scenes (that takes ages to finish) - Floaty unresponsive controls. - Uninteresting gameplay. - Annoying enemies.

This game has a heap of charm on the content side - great art style, decent music etc. As other people have pointed out though, the combat system lets it down. The biggest problem for me was the animation lock on the standard melee attacks is just way too long. This means you're glued to the spot for a good deal of time while your attacks execute. As a result, melee combat largely revolves around running a safe distance from a group of enemies, turning around, setting up camp and just spamming attack repeatedly until they all walk into it and die. The weird thing though is you can move around while shooting your bow. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Should be the other way around, right? I also had this weird thing when using a 360 controller where I'd let go of the thumbstick and my character would end up facing the opposite direction. My suspicion is that this is because there is no "dead zone" around the neutral stick position, so the tiniest micro-movement will register as an input. When you're moving along and let go of the stick, a tiny input registers on the other side as the stick bounces back to neutral, flipping your character around. That's my theory anyway. Regardless, holy balls. Frustrating. My suggestion: play it with keys. Anyway, if like me you're attracted by the art style and want to give it a go, pick it up when it's significantly discounted. Otherwise you're probably going to have a bad time.

[h1]One-Sentence Summary:[/h1] A short brawler with excellent artwork, atmosphere, and character design that is unfortunately marred by frustratingly stiff controls and lack of gameplay polish. [h1]Pros:[/h1] + Superb art and character design + Authentic Japanese theming and feel + Good variety of attacks, special moves, and combos + Can't just button mash to win, needs some finesse/skill + Controls become more intuitive the longer you play + First completion run in under 90 minutes on Easy + Hard and Endless modes available if you want more [h1]Cons:[/h1] - Very stiff, frustrating, animation-locked controls - Hit detection and enemy recoil feels inconsistent - Impatient people will not like the story or gameplay - Help/tutorial text is difficult to read - Development feels rushed, lacks depth and refinement [h1]Final Thoughts:[/h1] At first, I felt this game was almost unplayable due to the very stiff controls. However, giving it a bit of time and adjusting my playstyle to focus more on defense, dodging, and learning which attack methods to use at the right time made the game much more interesting than your average button-mash brawler. If you approach the game with the perspective that it requires a little thought and finesse to beat, the stiff controls become a little less game breaking and one can appreciate that there is some depth to the gameplay. I would also say that this game is not really for the impatient, as both the story and gameplay requires a bit of restraint to appreciate -- and this can be a little counter-intuitive for what seems like a simple brawler. It's unfortunate that this game wasn't refined further in terms of more characters, more plot, more music tracks, more gameplay tweaks... because if it had been given just a little more time, love and polish it could have been something spectactular as opposed to something kind of recommended but with strong caveats.