Kandria

Kandria is a very unique and special game. I'd say it's kind of an open-world Celeste with a bit of battle? You can explore the whole map almost from the start, not limited by items/unlocked skills, but your own curiosity and actual skill (platforming). It also has a day/night cycle, which has effects on the gameplay, so it's also kind of a 2d Breath of the Wild-ish game? I mean, you can climb walls xD. Also has deep narrative and chill moments :) I definitely recommend to check out the game if you like Celeste (for the platforming) or side-scrolling adventures with exploration and narrative. I backed this game on Kickstarter, and followed it's progress with big interest. The dev also will add modding and a level editor soon. For the technical people: This game completely written in Common Lisp with a custom from-scratch engine. A marvel through and through :D Highly recommended. I'm looking forward to the future of this developer <3

[h1] Enjoyable exploration game, that requires precision platforming in parts, but the story and combat were a little disappointing. [/h1] Pulled out of the rubble, and rehabilitated, you are an android, one of which has not been seen for a very long time. Eventually, you earn the trust of the locals by performing tasks for them, and helping them in a war between factions that are determined to rule indiscriminately. Explore the post-apocalyptic wastelands, collect and trade items, fight factions, and navigate difficult caverns with deadly consequences, in this 2D platform and exploration game. [quote][url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/41039956/]Check out Indie Blast! For more reviews[/url][/quote] [h1]🤔Overall Impressions🤔[/h1] [quote][h2][b]Kandria is enjoyable as an exploration game, with a huge map, and quite a lot of hidden passages and secrets to find, in a mostly interesting world. It would be a very relaxing game, with its haunting melodic soundtrack, but there are intense and quite difficult platforming elements that will prove to be frustrating and potentially defeating. Combat is a little lackluster and not very imaginative, and the story feels flat and doesn’t really go anywhere. If you find exploration appealing, you might enjoy this like I did, but beware if you don’t like precision platforming as there is a lot of it. [/b][/h2][/quote] [h1]🕹️Gameplay🕹️[/h1] Kandria is mostly quest based, with characters providing quests and challenges for you to complete, including some optional time trials, where you search for an item hidden somewhere and must bring it back within the time limit. [h2]🔨Exploration🏃‍♂️[/h2] The entire map is available from the start, and you can literally go anywhere you want, exploring and uncovering the map as you progress. Items can be picked up easily from the environments and you have a limitless backpack so there is no inventory management. These items can either be used to complete quests, or sold to traders for cash to upgrade your sword, or even buy achievements! All of the eleven achievements can be bought! The environments are quite detailed and interesting with certain distinctions between levels, and there is a nice post-apocalyptic feel, with abandoned and decaying buildings, and signs of destruction everywhere. I found that my zest for exploration meant that when I started certain quests, I already had the items they were after! Your character runs at a nice pace, which feels very satisfying, and there are fast tracks (literally) to uncover in the way of train stations, which cuts out the need to travel all the way back to the surface. Initially, it is a bit of a slog, without these stations, as the map is huge, and if you do go wandering around, it can take a long time to get back to base. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2929183762 [h2]⚔Combat⚔[/h2] As you progress deeper into the cavernous underground you will encounter enemies that either need to be killed, through hack and slash combat, or sometimes avoided (if the game doesn’t lock you in by covering your exits until enemies are slain.) You possess a nimble light attack, and a slow heavy attack, but the light attack is usually enough to dispatch most enemies, and combat doesn’t feel very imaginative or particularly challenging, unless you are outnumbered in tight environments. Most enemies are on the ground and are pretty static, but there are some enemies that are a bit trickier, like wolves who dash and leap at you, and flying robots that can attack from the air. There are also a couple of mini bosses to defeat within the game. Your sword has five upgrades which increases the amount of damage inflicted, and needs both credits and some quite rare items to allow for the upgrade, but apart from that there are no other upgrades or skill tree, so it all feels a bit basic. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2918047539 [h2]🏃‍♀️Platforming🏃‍♀️[/h2] Most of the map is easily accessible and quite easy to navigate, but there are some limitations that make platforming tricky. Your character can climb rock faces, but only until her energy expires, and then she falls back down. This means long ascents are impossible. She also has the ability to dash in the air, in any direction, but again she has limited energy and falls rather quickly. I found these limitations too much for me, and it was just too frustrating and was starting to become tedious. It is a very challenging platformer with these burdens. [quote]It is important to note that in the options you are able to set [b]invulnerability (or god mode)[/b] which means you cannot be killed by enemies, [b]infinite dash[/b] allowing you to travel in the air limitlessly, [b] infinite climb [/b] which allows you to climb any rock face without losing energy, and [b] revive on death [/b] among other options allowing you to tailor the difficulty level to some extent.[/quote] I turned on most of these elements and it made exploration a lot more enjoyable for me, and provided a more chilled encounter. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2916690533 Even with all these on, you still have to navigate and avoid the spikes on certain screens, and this can be very tricky and requires quick reflexes and patience. There is an achievement for dying over thirty times on one screen, and this could well be the first achievement you will earn. You will die a lot! And it is practice and perseverance that will allow you to progress, so it’s not a magic potion to turn the game into a stress free and relaxing experience. Unfortunately, the platforming areas are still very difficult with the cheats on, as there is no invulnerability to hitting spikes and other deadly obstacles. [h1]📕Story📕[/h1] I was a bit disappointed with the story, and it seemed to end very abruptly. There is even an option to finish the game before the end of the story if you kill the leader of one of the factions, which I thought was bizarre. Dialogue exchanges are rather brief, and although there is some character development, I didn’t feel much for the characters, and there weren’t many emotional moments or shocking revelations. It all felt a bit sterile and took second place to the platforming and exploration. [h1]📺Graphics and Sound🎵 [/h1] The visuals were quite nice and had a decent post-apocalyptic feel to them, although some of the underground caverns looked a little basic. There was a very chilled and relaxed soundtrack playing throughout the game which was outstanding, and helped elevate the experience. [h1]🍳Conclusion🍳[/h1] [quote][h2][b] [i]Kandria[/i] is a nice exploration game with a chilled atmosphere, but it can become frustrating due to the tricky platforming sections, even when the cheats are enabled, and this may deter progress. Although exploration is a lot of fun, there isn’t much else that particularly stands out and borders on mediocre at best, but the overall package is certainly worth recommending if you like exploration and can forgive its other shortcomings. [/b][/h2][/quote] [quote][url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/32732116-IndieGems/] Follow [b]IndieGems[/b] [/url] too for more reviews. [/quote]

You're going to get sick of reading comparisons of this game to Celeste and admittedly the dashing and movement-puzzle rooms do have that same vibe but that's really where the parallel ends. Kandria is much more than that and holds its own, style-wise and gameplay-wise, offering something different yet comfortingly familiar in a refreshing way. It's a joy to play, with immersive details like the ability to take a seat and chill out on a rock while absorbing the epic soundtrack, or pull out your fishing rod and see what you can find in the water. You could spend hours just doing that if it wasn't for the compelling plot, quests and challenges that will be offered to you by a rich mix of NPCs, some of whom you will fall in love with and others you will want to sock in the jaw soon after meeting them. So far I have spent too much time fishing and exploring (and obsessively collecting every shiny item I see) to really encounter challenging combat but I'm sure that will come soon. I look forward to progressing the story and finding out more about the Stranger and how the calamity came to pass. But perhaps a little more fishing first... (Played on Linux with a DualShock 2 controller.)

I Quit playing because the save system is absolutely, unequivocally, the stupidest I've experienced in a game. OST is great, and gameplay is also decent, it just makes no sense that the game will allow you to replay deaths on a micro scale (jump puzzles) but walk into the wrong room and forgetting to save puts you back hours. Nonsensical, borderline terrible design. Save stations are few and far between, but the game expects you to adventure deeper and deeper into the world. In order to go on a new venture, you must always remember to press a yellow phone that's basically only in the main areas, and fast travel is only available in these areas. So, have fun retracing your steps over and over just to save, and God forbid you don't do a dozen quests (being engrossed in the game) without hitting a save point, because once you start playing, they are NOT in your path. Honestly, don't waste your time. Great game, terrible design choices.

I played Celeste and loved it. Kandria is in the same vein and I think it's great! The post-apocalyptic world is hugely detailed, the soundtrack is just wonderful and the action is just the right amount of challenging.

I do not know what to make of Kandria. I mean this as the *highest compliment possible*: It's not a Metroidvania, exactly. It's not a 2D Soulsborne in the vein of Hollow Knight, exactly. It's not a technical platformer like Celeste, exactly. It uses pixel art (big, chunky pixels, too!) but it's definitely not "retro". It's its *own game* and that's a rare enough thing to see. What I can say is that if you like any of those things, Kandria is worth your twenty bucks.

Very good game. Good Story. Good Atmosphere. This game is very unique and is a mashup of different genres. I think the best part of the game is the story. I did not like Celeste too much and these jumping puzzles, although some people like them alot. In the options you can turn on infinite dash and skip most of the jumping puzzles.

I'm enjoying Kandria a lot - really smooth Celeste-esque platforming with tight combat mechanics mixed in, and great music, art and an engaging story to go with! There are also some cool ideas like marking deaths on your map, and the accessibility options are appreciated as well. Will update review once I've completed the game but highly recommended thus far!

It's a damn good game, lots of difficult platforming challenges. Can't say I enjoy the combat that much, but it's there. And if you die in combat you have to reload the last same, but here's a tip: you can go into the options menu and turn on the "respawn after death" option, so it will just respawn you even after combat. In general, the accessibility options are quite a good addition. Though, I feel like enabling this option loses you the preparation aspect of each journey, where you really have to get lots of healing items and such, since there isn't much to spend money on otherwise. It can be annoying to lose a lot of progress but you should have prepared better. Also, lots of references to other games in form of alternative character costumes and some things in the world, pretty cute.

as much as i liked the idea of this game and its setting i must say that the combat feels unresponsive at times (it is very unclear wether you parry or not(the dodgeroll animation is not a good enought indication in the middle of a fight its hard at times to notice it), and the attack moves feel weightless which is unsatisfying) the movement itself the platforming is just not that fun the dash having a weird delay doesnt make the game fun its makes is dishorienting and you start falling at mach speeds in seconds while midair making precision platforming with that move set is bound to be hard but not like celeste hard where its challenging but fun cause it feels fair but more of a rage game feel which seems stupid i have put 4 hours into this game and the point where i had to stop was the final area of the game because of how the fast travel and save system works you can get yourself almost softlocked at times where you have low hp but cant get out of the area and i remember doing all the annoying platforming in that area backtracking trying to get out just to see that the elevator(the main way to get through some of the final areas) is broken now in hignsight when i got there i knew it but people can forget that THE WAY THEY CAME FROM IS NOT A WAY OUT the music is good but it changes to rapidly stops fast at times and theres a very minor amount of tracks which literaly by the point of 4 hours i was kinda sick of it which is not a good thing if your game is a metroidvania the one good thing i do have to say is that the exploration in this game (when its not trying to do platforming) and looking at the art is great that was all delightful i only hope the devs improve because the general idea of this game is sick in my opinion