Kya: Dark Lineage

What do you get when you mix a splash of American McGee’s Alice with a dash of NiGHTS: into dreams, a large helping of Legend of Zelda and wrap it all in a decent coming-of-age fantasy story with some daddy issues and Tarzan-esque vine surfing thrown in?

Well you get a pretty nifty little Playstation 2 game called Kya: Dark Lineage that I picked up some time ago for five bucks. I’ve been playing alot of PS2 lately and between bouts of Katamari Damacy I’ve mostly been checking out games I missed (like Prince of Persia: Sands of Time. Yes. I hadn’t played it til recently.)

I heard about Kya from a Games Radar aritcle and it piqued my interest. I’ve only played about 4 or 5 hours of it total (and I’m currently stuck actually) so consider this a first impression.

The game begins with the titular Kya, a young girl (woman? Her age is a little unclear) with blue dreadlocks and a midriff shirt. Despite being obviously designed with some Disneyesque sex appeal in mind she is a likable character. One night her half-brother finds a secret work area behind a wall in their house, it turns out to be the study of Kya’s father who left her years ago. While Kya is being all angsty about that her brother, now seemingly posessed, opens a portal to an alternate dimension where, surprise! Daddy has been ruling as tyrannical dark wizard.

You get all that?

Although it’s pretty clear Kya was doomed to one-shot obscurity the game shows genuine effort. Although the character design is a bit lackluster and could use some work the illustrative graphical style of the game is undeniably gorgeous. I normally hate excessively comparing games to other games when I describe them but the smooth, cartoony, colorful backgrounds really are akin to Alice. Except, you know, without all the blood and trauma and creepiness obviously.

The world Kya finds herself in is home to a battle between the Nativs and the evil Wolfen, however it turns out the Wolfen are just Nativs who were altered by dark wizard daddy. You’re given a basic goal in each level and along the way you need to beat up and exorcise Wolfen you encounter. As you do this the Nativ village fills up and expands and you can buy more items and such. There are a couple of other animals like a piggie you can use as a springboard and some flying fish that electrocute you, and some screenshots I’ve seen suggest you later get to ride some variety of creature. Although sparse in enemies and critters the levels are still rich in detail.

The combat system is surprisingly deep and very well done, it’s real-time and you use button combos for different punching and kicking moves. Sometimes you’re even treated to an artsy slow-motion angle when you K.O. a baddie. You can also purchase a boomerang for Kya which she adorably keeps hooked to her ponytail when not in use. You can also get a variety of items such as bombs, a magic surfboard for the aforementioned vine surfing sections and special gloves that allow you to climb vines. The levels are full of all sorts of switches, mini-puzzles, coins, spring piggies and wind cannons so the platforming aspect is actually uniquely varied and quite fun.

Ah yes, wind cannons. It seems the Natvis use wind as a major form as transportation (aside from magic vine surfing of course) and thats where the rather NiGHTSy aspects come in. In several areas you’re tasked with navigating Kya through thorny caves and outcroppings as she basically flies using powerful gusts of wind.

The voice acting in the game is surprisingly pretty good as well, although a tad cheesey as if the actors were sure they were recording for a game aimed at little kids.

I have become a bit frustrated with a few game aspects though. There was a particularly long surfing section in one level and it was really easy to fall of the sides. So every time I did I had to start from the beginning. The map is also a little frustrating and there is no mini-map. I eventually opened these wind elevators that allowed me to quick travel to different areas, but each elevator has four options and they only have a picture of the area without a written name, so if I’m supposed to be in a certain section in order to reach a certain goal I can’t always remember which picture is what area.

But, if you’ve been looking for some cheap-ass Ps2 games to buy you can’t really go wrong with this one. For five measly bucks it’s worth checking out.

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2. Alan Wake
3. Bayonetta
4. Assassin’s Creed 2
5. Okami (For Wii)