#game-review #finishedgame2025 # Kitsune Tails  [Console:: PC] [Status:: Beaten] [Approximate Start Date:: 2025-01-01] [Finish Date:: 2025-01-05] [Clear Time:: 9h 5m] [Total Play Time:: 9h 15m] [nReplays:: 0] ## [Rating:: 82] # Playthrough Notes - got for christmas 2024. - Elizabeth Dumler was lead level designer - I wonder how much Mario 3 she has played - After beating this, I moved onto [[Super Mario Bros. 3 - 2025 Replay]] with the bunker. # My Thoughts ## Level Design - This is a [[Super Mario Bros. 3 - Super Mario Advance 4|Super Mario Bros 3]] game. - enemies line up well - the grabbing mechanics are on full display - actively required for the ghost house climb - tells us to learn how to jump and hold stuff. I'm sure that'll be relevant later - Kuribo shoe powerup in 1-4 - If you've played a modicum of [[Super Mario Bros. 3 - Super Mario Advance 4|Super Mario Bros 3]], you'll understasnd that the levels are often design top be completed while holding a constant P-=Speed, and that it';s super fun to do so too. - First started noticing it in 2-7, - The acrobatic nature of bouncing from one enemy to the next and recognizing that I could hold right and jump off multiple floating enemies in a row to execute the platforming. - and by 3-1's introduction to the shark running, that's a game where you're rewarded for building up speed. - I actually want to go and try 3-1 again to see if I can pull it off. - The devs seem to really understand some of the fun of Mario 3 is just moving in an elegant fashion, and as a result they can capture a similar magic. - "Fortress" in World 3 has a fun troll - I like the vibe in the underwater levels, especially when I have the shark powerup which makes swimming feel way better than I expected it to. - FAST SLIDE SWIMMIN? - There's probably some kind of cool warp whistle in 4-4 if you can make the invisible block jumps. - I did not make them, though I did come very close! - I love that each fortress Boss is about as competent as Boom Boom too. The rhythm isn't the same, but there is a VERY similar rhythm to it. - 4-7 is the invincibility dash level - There ARE a number of blind "gotcha" enemy placements with teh racoons throwing knives. I won't deny that I got a little annoyed by I think it's 2-6? The one where you have to climb the hill, but can go under the hill if you want. The obscuring trees. ### Yuzu Mode - Since you can apparently play as more than Yuzu, I have to define her playstyle section with notes - I think Yuzu moves like Mario! I didn't notice too much of a weight difference and it felt a lot like Mario 3 Mario, good job Yuzu! - For better or for worse, I think Yuzu mode isn't all that different from a Super Mario Bros 3. Romhack #### Power Ups - The apple power up with teh spin jkump isn't my favorite, it's clearly lifted from [[Super Mario World - Super Mario Advance 2|Super Mario World]] - The shark powerup is a "good" frog mario - samurai spear attack is fine. I didn't get to use it much because of the way the spear attack worked. - Bird Powerup is actually really needed thank god I got it. the Double Jump is aweseom and the glide akin to the [[New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe]] squirrel suit is really nice - Lava Swimming is great, though it breaks the later levels - then again, some of them kind of deserve it lol ### Kiri Mode - Oh you get to go FAST now - This is the mode more people are going to enjoy because you can run and bounce off walls and use the P-Speed to blasst through levels. - This is where the cool mid-air combo type shit comes into fuill swing, and I get why people enjoy this! The momentum feels REALLY good! - You get a "go fast" button, as opposed to having to earn and maintain Qi-Speed at all times - Okay, Rising Strike Chained withthe dash strike, and you can chain them in the air is pretty great to do. It feels great even in the tutorial. - And then the first stage you can maybe use it in is an underwater stage LOL rip. - Yeah, I think the reason people enjoy Kiri mode more than Yuzu mode is because you can chain together sick movement tech to breeze through levels. That's cool and all, but that's not the point of these levels. - In Yuzu mode I had to plan my movement through the level. In contrast, in a few Kiri Mode levels now, because I know what's ahead of me I can blaze through them like the cool fox girl I am. It's a reward. - 6-2 is insane with kiri - The 6-5 dash over lava is an insanely cool highlight if you can pull it off (I can) - 6-6 is very cool but the camera is fucked at the very end of the level with the diagonal climb. ### Qi-Speed - Like with Mario 3, the primary movement speed involves running along a flat plane long enough to build up some speed so that you can move quickly. The cool fast speed with its movementum has to be earned and respected. You will not be able to change directions in midair if you've built up enough speed. - While this might be unsatisfying to someone who wants to have cointrol of their character at all times, I think that this speed-momentum slipperiness is quite a meaningful challenge. You have to both earn your speed, and demonstrate that you can handle it. - Kiri Mode gives you a "go fast" button, which is probably why people like Kiri mode more than Yuzu mode. - And in people's defense, YEAH! it IS cool to move at blistering speeds with the elegance of a Celeste-like character movement style. - But to say that Yuzu's mode is bad because she plays more like Mario than MAdeline is wrong, in my opinion. - But here's the thing: you are not entitled to go fast. You are not entitled to have cool sick movement tech until you have mastered it. You are not a bad player because you need to go slowly through a section of the game. You are not a bad gamer because you are bailed out by a very forgiving hit box. ## Characters and Plot - jesus my mom is a horny poly kitsune huh - the "oh. I need to go" at the end of world 3 is a great read lol - The parental romance overshare is really funny actually! ### Hey I Know that Voice! - HAHA iT'S KAT~! - Kira buckland as Yuzu, - I personally dfon't enjoy the voice, but Kira Buckland did a good job with the performance. That was definitely a direciton choice which I have to respect - DON'T LIKE MILO - ohhhhh I don't like Milo and it's annoying because he's perfectly suited for the role. - His recorded lines sound much worse than the rest of the cast. HIS FIRST LINE IS BOXY. - Okay, I don't know Kiri's VA but they sound like someone I know who streams, - I think some of Kiri's lines have a strange nasally sound to them at times. ## The Reviews and the Breakdown of Expectations - Everyone says this game is floaty - What do they mean by this? (ORIGINAL QUESTION) - It's KAT! Talking slippery controls ![[kitsunetails-floaty-phys.png]] - It's biggest failing it seems like [[Kitsune Tails and Incorrect Expectations|people went in with incorrect expectations]], on multiple fronts: - [[Kitsune Tails was Advertised as a Platformer First with a Queer Love Triangle Second]] - [[People Wanted Kitsune Tails to be more like Celeste and Got Mario 3 Instead]] - so the game maybe doesn't review as well with the "average gamer" because of this mismatch of expectations when it comes to platformers like it. - Where did the expectations and the advertising breakdown? - why is it that people expected this game to be more "cozy" than it actually is? Is it because of the combination of the pixel art + fox girls + queer plot? - What makes people think that pixel-based games with cute qwueer love stories all need to be "cozy"? # Favorite Moments / Memories - # What were you doing when not playing this? - # Relevant Links -