➤Review Kaze and the Wild Masks: Spanish game is the second best of the year 🕹

2D platform games have dominated the market for quite some time. Being extremely successful with titles like Donkey Kong Country, the genre has become one of the highlights of the industry. Over the years, the space conquered at the top was lost while other genres gained space. However, in 2021, arriving without much fuss, a nice title emerged to emerge among the great names of the year. Spanish, Kaze and the Wild Masks is the return of what we all love. Being considered a "small" among giants, PixelHive's game, published by Soedesco, is actually a colossus that brings back the fun and quality of great classics.

Kaze and the Wild Masks has great significance for the industry. I won't waste time... I can already say that the title is the second best of the year so far. The adventure starring Kaze proves that true quality is not just in AAA's great marketing and appeal. PixelHive has shown that passion and care are what it takes to deliver a result that borders on perfection.

While the industry seems to be facing a major crisis, with developers leaving exposed something that we can call "creative block", I feel extremely happy to realize that a Spanish game, gaucho here in Porto Alegre - my dear city -, emerged as a breath of quality amid so many remakes, titles without innovation and releases that are below expectations. While we look forward to "revolutionary" games - yes, you know what I'm talking about - it's titles like Kaze and the Wild Masks that can remind us why we love video games.

There is no other way to define the title. Kaze and The Wild Masks is a work of art. Maybe not the game we deserve, but rather what we need - pardon the cliché -. While we dream of false promises and receive disappointing content, Kaze didn't promise us the world... he didn't promise us a revolution, but he delivered something much bigger. We need to turn our eyes to those who really deserve our attention. Yes, we allow big companies to deceive us with false promises, thus ignoring titles that really should be valued. Maybe that's why we don't deserve the grandeur of Kaze and the Wild Masks, but its developers still gave us this fantastic game.

A beleza de Kaze and the Wild Masks

PixelHive's game has an unparalleled beauty. I'm not just referring to its look, but the title in general. Without voices and without subtitles, Kaze and the Wild Masks presents its characters and its plot with quick scenes, but that say a lot and explain well what the player needs to know to understand the main character's motivation and other elements of the simple plot.

The cinematic scenes feature beautiful illustrations and quickly immerse the player in the events of the title. It is worth mentioning the ease that the game has in presenting characters and situations, without having to say anything.

Review Kaze and the Wild Masks: Spanish game is the second best of the year — The game enchants with its beautiful look and charisma.

The beauty of Kaze and the Wild Masks can also be seen on their maps. These maps are very well created, exuding quality and artistic beauty. Each stage presents a varied look, with completely different scenarios appearing in the main character's path. Whether on an island full of ice and snow or in the midst of a more greenish setting, the title enchants even in the smallest details. The game's pixelated art must be appreciated, as it is one of the most incredible that has been delivered to the public over all these years.

The beauty of Kaze and the Wild Masks is also in its soundtrack. Important for building the world and setting in general, the songs are able to guide the player during the adventure. Contagious, simple and striking, the title songs are part of this artistic ensemble that makes the game so memorable.

fun and challenging

One of the most beautiful features of the game is precisely the way in which Kaze and the Wild Masks shows its desire to pay homage to great classics. While it is unique and has its own qualities, the title has a desire to take players back to the past, making them remember the good times in games that were part of their lives. While playing Kaze, it was impossible not to remember games like Donkey Kong Country, Sonic and Super Mario World.

Set in the islands of Carrotland, the world of this adventure, the game follows Kaze, an anthropomorphic rabbit, on her journey to save her friend Hogo. On her way, the heroine has as enemies several plants that have come to life with a powerful curse. There is a wide range of enemies, with each island presenting opponents and challenges that fit the scenario and make perfect sense in the context presented by the game.

With simple mechanics, the game allows players to control Kaze with the analog, while the character is able to hit and jump. In addition, in the air the attack button also serves to make the bunny glide, which is very useful and proves to be very necessary during the adventure. Although its mechanics are easy to learn, the game is also complex in its gameplay. Kaze and the Wild Masks is a title where observation is the key to success. In many stages, you'll need to make precise movements between jumps and flights to advance, as a good dose of difficulty becomes evident.

Its charismatic look can give the impression that the path will be easy, but in its simplicity the game is capable of delivering a great challenge. PixelHive has shown that a lot can be done with little. Death is inevitable and will often be necessary so that the right moves can be understood. The natural evolution in understanding what is necessary to advance in each phase is dynamic, providing a feeling of satisfaction in each completed stage.

While each enemy needs to be faced in a way, with Kaze even being unable to defeat some, and stages requiring different skills from players, the moments when the character uses the masks serve to give even more variety to the gameplay. Explaining the name of the game, Kaze is able to use masks of animal powers, which appear at specific points in the game, gaining different abilities that fit the purpose of the stage in which they are found. The ability for Kaze to swim while wearing the shark mask is just one example of the variation that masks offer to the game.

Interesting but problematic bosses

At the end of each of the game's islands, Kaze must face a powerful boss. Here, the game has some problems, but nothing that compromises the great experience.

Bosses have three stages, requiring players to memorize their attack moves to dodge them. If you manage to successfully evade the bosses' onslaught, an opportunity arises to attack them. This must be done three times until finally the enemy is defeated.

While the first boss is simple and fun, the second one seems a little "off the curve". At the same time that the game presents an interesting evolution of its own, as the player studies the situation and realizes what must be done, the second boss seems to deviate a little from the natural pattern of the title. Also, the last boss in the game is certainly problematic. In addition to its three stages, this one also has other stages in which the player must be very careful not to go back to the beginning of the confrontation. The big problem is that this boss seemed to have been created this way just to prolong the game, making the ending more difficult not because of the challenging gameplay, but because it borders on unfair.

Another problem with bosses is the lack of a bigger reward. While defeating them only serves to advance to the next island, I felt that something more could be offered by victories.

Still, I must say that the bosses also have quality and provide memorable moments.

secondary objectives

For those who want to do 100%, Kaze and the Wild Masks becomes even more challenging and interesting. In its maps, the game presents secondary objectives that can be checked by players, with some of these being exposed and others remaining hidden, making it necessary to pay a little more attention to discover them.

In each level you can pick up crystals, collect the letters that form Kaze's name and face two bonus stages. Sometimes the bonus stages are hidden and the player can go unnoticed by them. Such phases are able to offer more fun and increase the game time, but some also prove problematic and present an unnatural difficulty in relation to the game in general.

But just like the bosses, the bonus stages overcome their problems well and certainly weigh positively on the title.

The verdict.

As I said at the beginning of the review, Kaze and the Wild Masks is a work of art. With few problems, the title delivers an infinitely positive balance.

Review Hitman 3: The first game of the year nominee

Enchanting, the game pays homage to the classics and also shows its own heart. A game that uses its mechanics very well and proves that something great can come out of simplicity.

The second best game of the year so far, Kaze and the Wild Masks is memorable.