Title: Kitsune Tails
Developer: Kitsune Games
Release Date: August 1, 2024
Price: $19.99 (via Steam)
Reviewed On: PC
A nostalgic platformer, Kitsune Tails has simple mechanics, but the numerous complex levels and mini-games offer hours of fun as you explore a land inspired by Japanese mythology and untangle a love triangle between three young women. Fans who grew up on Sailor Moon and Buffy will likely adore this quirky retro pixel adventure.
Synopsis & Story Presentation
In the first stage of the game, we meet Akko, a human woman, and Kiri, a fellow kitsune, who are both in love with Yuzu. Though both flirt with our heroine in their own unique ways, the slightly ditzy but well-meaning purple kitsune Yuzu doesn’t acknowledge these flirtations until Kiri kidnaps Anko in a fit of jealousy. From there, the game enters its second stage.
The voice acting isn’t great. To be fair, the dialogue is rather superficial as well with little depth provided for most characters. Even Yuzu herself comes up a bit short, but she reminded me enough of Usagi from Sailor Moon that this wasn’t too much of a problem. Kiri reminded me of Rei / Sailor Mars, and Akko is a bit similar to Ami / Sailor Mercury, so I was transported back to my middle school days.
Similar to a lot of books and shows I watched at the time, Yuzu’s parents are far too detached and often dismissive of the danger Akko might be in, which honestly undermines the direness of the adventure.
Gameplay
Kept to the arrow keys and ASD, or a few alternatives which the player can select, the game keeps things simple. However, as the main character, Yuzu, starts out as a messenger, the base character doesn’t have a weapon. Instead, like Mario, the player must jump on enemies to defeat them. Yuzu can survive a single hit; however, she restarts the level after a second strike. Most enemies are one blow kills; however, tengu require two strikes.
Some of the levels are uneven in hardness. Any ghost level, which will be denoted by little haunted manor beside the level’s entrance, will generally be about twice as hard as any other level because you cannot attack or defend against ghosts.
Power-ups are introduced slowly. Some can be stored; however, when picking up a power-up, the player isn’t given a choice to store or not, and even when the base power-up that returns Yuzu to her human form is unnecessary, the orb will be used up.
Power-ups
As the player works their way through the levels, they’ll get new power-ups which will later become available through the Cat Merchant in the Village.
The game doesn’t do a great job of directing players to the village, but it can be accessed from your maps via the Esc key. The Cat Merchant isn’t available until he is introduced, and he only sells the power-ups that the player has already found on different levels.
Orb – regain your human form when knocked into your fox form. This is the most common power-up throughout the levels, and it costs 25 coins from the cat merchant.
Apple – provides you with a drill hat which allows you to spin and break through certain blocks. This can be useful on underground levels, but these breakable blocks are clearly noted and often get the character caught in corners with enemies. It is 100 coins from the Cat Merchant and generally not worth it in later levels. This ends after the first attack lands on you.
Shark Fin – provides a shark swim costume that makes navigating underwater levels easier. It costs 100 coins from the Cat Merchant and isn’t useful outside of those levels where it will likely be readily available. Once you get to the electric eels, I would advise getting a few extra in those levels. This ends after the first attack lands on you.
Popsicle– transform into a fox snow sculpture and navigate slick ice paths, jumping with confidence in higher mountains to prevent horrible falls. At 100 coins from the Cat Merchant, it is worth stocking up. This ends after the first attack lands on you.
Petal – dress up as a bird to glide and double jump. Frankly, I’d suggest passing over this one and paying the higher cost for a Cloud. This ends after the first attack lands on you.
Firefox – in a swirl pulse of rainbow colors, Yuzu can dash, launching forward while invincible. At 150 coins from the Cat Merchant, this is an extremely useful power-up especially for ghost levels as players can actually kill ghosts while using it. Unfortunately, there is a time limit.
Helmet – one of the post productive power-ups, and the one with the greatest offensive capabilities, is the helmet which provides a full suit of samurai armor including a spear. The spear can be used to attack enemies, which is extremely useful in water, and when climbing, the spear can be stabbed into certain walls to provide platforms where none exist to help branch between two areas. At 250 coins, it’s a bit pricy, but it’s definitely one of the top three power-ups.
Boot – using this bouncing boot, you can ride around, jumping a bit higher and crossing spikes with ease. While there are some levels specifically designed for this power-up, there are better power-ups including the Firefox and the Cloud which can be used instead. At 500 coins, it isn’t worth the price.
Cloud – though a bit overpowered, the Cloud is a treat, allowing Yuzu to fly like Son Goku over her enemies and difficult terrain. Though expensive at 999 coins, it is well worth each one. A single Cloud power-up can fly you through an entire level with ease.
Mini-Games
In addition to the main game, there is an arcade in the village. Games are added as the players moves through the levels, and there’s opening for the developers to add even more in future updates. By paying a few coins, the player has a chance to earn more, and further in the game, it becomes absolutely necessary to collect coins from the arcade as there are levels where the only coins are the ones received for finishing, which aren’t many.
Beetle Dash – guide the beetle to the apples while avoiding the wasps. Low risk and very easy, but the payoff is low.
Kappa Quest – is more difficult than Beetle Dash, requiring the player to dodge crabs, puffer fish, explosive barrels, and wasps as they collect cucumbers. Upward of a bit over a hundred coins is possible.
Barkanoid – keep the ball in the game and clear the level to get coins. The score does not matter, and the player receives nothing unless the level is fully cleared. Blocks can sometimes spawn coins, power-ups, and even punishments. Control of the platform isn’t great. It’s the hardest of the mini-games, but it has a sizeable payout.
Haunted Heist – this mini-game is the most unlike the rest of the game with a completely different perspective despite everything remaining two-dimensional. Dodge ghosts, collect treasure, use decoys, and get out of the haunted manner. If ghosts are closing in, the player’s vision will start going red. About medium difficulty but a good payout. This is the easiest to get the 10K achievement in.
Tengu Thump – hit the tengu and avoid the wasps’ nests to earn money. This is basically whack-a-mole. You can spam the controls and still get a decent payout rather quickly.
In addition to the arcade, there are some mini-games which the player encounters when running into the Cat Merchant outside the village. Some are as simple as matching images or spinning a wheel; however, for anyone who knows about the Monty Hall problem, I highly suggest always switching the door after the Cat Merchant reveals what’s behind another.
Final Score (3.5 out of 5 Stars)
On the whole, the lackluster dialogue and voice acting tempted me to skip the majority of cut scenes, as the story wasn’t engaging. The game is playable with only a base understanding, and like many Mario games, less generally is more. Cutting out scenes between Yuzu and her parents would be an easy way to trim down the fluff, especially as they undermine the story’s tension and dismiss how problematic Kiri’s abduction of Akko is.
The game is well done. There were only minor glitches, specifically ones where the character was caught between platforms or fell off the map. Both happened twice when I first received my review copy, but I haven’t experienced that in the last couple weeks. That being said, the difficulty of levels wasn’t linear, and they heavily relied on auto-kill scenarios which made overpowered items like the Cloud necessary.
While Kitsune Tails hits the nostalgia button hard, the uniqueness of a sapphic love story and the fun of a game which pulled from Japanese mythology for its monsters ensured it wasn’t too similar to those that came before. Some trimming wouldn’t hurt. Not all the power-ups are necessary, and the costume-aspect of many likely means we’ll see merchandise based on the cutesy designs. If that ends up being the case, I can’t fault Kitsune Games for thinking ahead on how to fund their next project.
All in all, Kitsune Tails is a fine game. Streamers and content creators who are popular for their wild reactions to repeated failures should definitely feature it. An Iron Mouse playthrough would be entertaining. The cutesy aesthetic would fit, and Kitsune Games would be smart to offer her or a few other LGBTQIA+ positive streamers the game for free.
Any reader who is looking for a good game to livestream, Kitsune Tails has plenty to comment on and numerous opportunities to react. If any of you end up doing so, let us know in the comments below or over on our Discord channel.
Disclosure: Boss Rush Network received a review code for the PC version of Kitsune Tails. Kitsune Games made no stipulations upon this review, nor did they or any representatives read it prior to publication.
Featured Image: Kitsune Games
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