Kitaria Fables Review

Game: Kitaria Fables
Genre: Action, Role-Playing, Adventure, Other
System: Nintendo Switch (also on Steam, PS4, PS5, Xbox One & Xbox Series)
Developers|Publishers: Twin Hearts | PQube
Age Rating: US 10+ | EU 7+
Price: US $15.99 | UK £19.99 | EU € 19,99
Release Date: September 2nd, 2021

Review code used, with many thanks to PQube

Following in the footsteps of games like Rune Factory and Harvest Moon, Kitaria Fables is an action, adventure, farming hybrid RPG designed by Indonesian developer Twin Hearts and published by PQube.

Nyanza von Whiskers

As the player, you take on the role of Nyanza von Whiskers or Nyan for short. Nyan is a feline soldier who’s been dispatched by the Empire to the far-flung Paw Village along with his trusted companion-in-arms Macaron, a hat-wearing pink blob. I’m honestly not sure what Macaron is, is he based on the sweet meringue confection by the same name?

Anyway, moving on, you can customise the look of Nyan and change it into a different coloured kitty. Once you have progressed in the game you can also buy clothes and change Nyan’s look even more.

As the Story Goes…

Our furry hero Nyan has been charged with protecting Paw Village by the Empire as there have been reports of nearby wildlife becoming aggressive of late. In years gone by, creatures in this world were corrupted by an influence known as The Calamity, until it was driven away by a legendary hero. Since then, peace has reigned and wildlife has returned to normal. Until now that is, the creatures of the world are stirring and there are whispers of the Calamity returning once more.

Nyan’s role of hero becomes even more significant when a strange book leads to the discovery of magic. It’s here that Nyan learns of four ruins that must be found throughout the lands of Kitaria, and so Nyan’s adventure begins.

Paw Village

Shortly after arriving at Paw Village and meeting its mayor, Nyan is given access to his late grandfather’s homestead, Thunderbunn Farm, which acts as a base of operations for Nyan and Macaron from here on out.  Nyan returns home each evening to save and sleep in his bed.

Storywise Kitaria Fables doesn’t offer anything particularly new, the “hero goes off to save the day” we have seen the same storyline in nearly every RPG’s. But it is an interesting enough story and should hold your attention while playing the game.

Crafting and Farming it is all Here

Nyan is a very busy cat. As well as investigating the Calamity, fighting enemies using swords, bows and arrows and magic spells during combat, Nylan also has a home and crops to look after. The game has a day and night cycle, and weather patterns.

While Nyan is off battling monsters and saving the world, he is also collecting the ingredients that are needed to craft better gear and consumables. Or items that he can sell for a nice hefty profit at the stalls. When Nyan is at home in Paw Village, he carries out quests for adorably cute anthropomorphic characters that live in Paw village.

He can harvest crops that he grows to use as ingredients in dishes to fuel Nyan on his journey. At the start of the game, he only has basic gardening tools. However, these can be upgraded to silver and gold tools later on and the same for weapons.

Combat

Kitaria Fables is teeming with monsters and wildlife. Nyan will slay monsters and loot dungeons in search of the mysterious ancient relics and take on dungeon bosses. The fighting is fun and very enjoyable. Nyan can equip melee weapons and bows and swap them in and out as he requires. The use of magic attacks adds to the combat and mixes it up nicely and keeps it fresh.

A few Niggles

Overall I have enjoyed my playtime with Kitaria Fables but I do have a few niggles with the game. It’s a slow to start game, at five to six hours into the game I didn’t feel like I had progressed very far, after a further five hours of play the game picked up. Also, a few things in Kitaria Fables could be explained a little better to the player.

There is a short tutorial that explains the basics but there are is some info missing from the menus. For example, Nyan upgrades his equipment using resources from the drops from enemies that have been killed. But there isn’t anything in the menu to tell you what monster drops what particular item. So you spend a lot of time grinding, killing monsters in the hopes of killing the correct monster to find that precious item that you need to use in an upgrade.

Visuals and Controls

Visually I really like the look of Kitaria Fables, it is bright, cosy and Paw Village is very welcoming. All the characters are animals as I’ve mentioned and they are all very cute, even the not so nice ones.

Kitaria Fables is full of distinctive regions to explore. From the towering icy mountains to sun-soaked Canini Beach, to the South Swamp there is a good variety in the environments.

You can play Kitaria Fables with a friend using couch co-op mode, unfortunately, I can’t try out that option so I have to go adventuring alone. The game runs reasonably well on the Nintendo Switch, I did encounter the odd frame rate shudder but nothing too off-putting.

Though for whatever reason known only to the developers they have included a blue dotted line on the ground. When you come across the blue dotted line you will know that as you cross over that line the game loads the next area. I understand that the game must load the next area, but surely there is a better way of implementing that as it breaks up the immersion for the player with the game constantly loading.

Conclusion

Kitaria Fables has a lot going for it. From the cute cast of animals to the combat and the crafting and farming, you won’t run out of things to do. In fact, you’ll probably be pushed to fit it all in as there is just so much in the game. Anyone who has played Role-Playing, adventure, genre before will find what they are looking for in Kitaria Fables.

Final Verdict: I Like It A Lot