Kya: Dark Lineage

Kya: Dark Lineage
Magic. Rebellion. Combat.
Protagonist(s): Kya Genre(s): Platform Beat em' up Platform(s): PlayStation 2 Release Date: November 18, 2003 Developer(s): Eden Games Publisher(s): Atari Country: France

Kya: Dark Lineage is a platform beat em' up developed by Eden Games and published by Atari.

Good Qualities

1. Kya is a strong female protagonist, something not commonly seen in platform game at that time.
2. Your main weapon is a boomerang that is upgraded several times.
3. Solid platform with a strong focus on using wind currents to cross obstacles and fly across different areas.
4. Slide sections with a pipe-like design similar to Super Mario Galaxy.
5. There's a stealth mechanism where you sneak around Wolfen camps and avoid Wolfens with guns.
6. Each world has several fast travel points.
7. Frequent puzzles that aren't too hard to figure out.
8. Kya can carry around some objects by kicking them like they were a soccer ball.
9. Wolfens are battled in a beat em' up style combat system. After you defeat Wolfens you can exorcise them to return them to normal, which in turns unlocks new shops in the main village. Buying Bracelets increases Kya's options in combat.
10. As the game progresses Kya continuously obtains more abilities to expand her mobility.

Bad Qualities

1. Kya lacks a double jump and her single jump is often just barely enough to cross some gaps.
2. Unreliable camera.
3. If you knock a Wolfen into a bottomless pit, you'll have to leave the level and come back so it'll respawn otherwise you won't be able to exorcise them. Othertimes you'll find yourself without enough mana to exorcise defeated Wolfens.
4. The beat em' up combat system works well with one-on-one fights but when Wolfens attack in groups you'll quickly get comboed to death, turning those fights into tedious wars of attrition. It is also hard to exorcise defeated Wolfens when other's are still attacking you.
5. Often you'll run into an obstacle you can't pass in the middle of a level, when that happens you'll have to go back to the village to buy an item and go back to the level to continue, breaking the pace of the game.
6. Very obvious sequel bait ending but a sequel never happened.

Reception

Kya: Dark Lineage received mixed to positive reviews. The combat system and use of wind in level design were praised but the controls were criticized.

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