Legend of Kay Anniversary

What do you call a game that’s 3D Zelda game with more of a focus on beat ‘em up combat, traditional platforming (able to jump that isn’t running off of a ledge), less gadgets, and made entirely up of anthropomorphic animals? In this game, you play as Kay, a young cat who goes on a journey after a new declaration from the malevolent rulers went too far, as well as his master allowing it being the final nail. Throughout the game, Kay will meet various characters and traverse through various landscapes, solve various puzzles, and have a good amount of combat. The puzzles and optional quests also work as this game does a good job at encouraging exploration. The combat has a good mix of being simple, yet provides just enough to make it almost always (if not always) engaging, especially on harder difficulties. Throughout the story, you will also find two other main weapons in addition to your sword, plus more powerful upgrades for you to find. There are also usable items that you will able to use on your journey, either from finding them or by buying them. The story isn’t exactly groundbreaking, but it is easy enough to follow and has a nice charm throughout. The cutscenes are either styled as a comic book, or a shot reverse shot conversation with limited animations reminiscent of Simpsons: Hit & Run. Not necessarily a bad thing, just pointing that out. The music is also nice, with the game already throwing you a great song at the beginning. And for what it’s worth, while the game might have its frustrating moments, it never feels unfair, maintaining its balanced nature. I suppose the only thing that wasn’t executed well was the demon potion mechanic. The game will show off the first one, but the rest are hidden with seemingly no means to detect where they are. Not to mention that there’s some items in the portals that attribute to 100%. Although the nice thing here is that there are only a few, and you can look at a guide online to tell you where they’re at. But then again, unless intended, game shouldn’t have to rely on guides to explain (or in this case, reveal) where the demon portals are when you use this item. Nevertheless, that’s pretty much my only gripe with this game; at least as far as the mechanics are concerned. As for this port of the game, it’s nice. It looks nice, has a stable framerate, and even loads in an efficient time. I’m not sure of the other ports, but I’m sure they all operate just fine. Choose what you want.

Certainly not the best game on the Wii u, but if you can grab it for a fair price, there are definitely worse ways to waste an afternoon. Not a terrible game.