540th played so far
Genre: Action/Adventure
Platform: Playstation 2
Year of Release: 2003
Developer: SCE San Diego Studio
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
I’ve been enjoying a number of action/adventures for the blog – the likes of Ratchet and Clank and Uncharted often being amusing (assuming combat is handled well). The Mark of Kri hews a bit closer to Zeno Clash in that respect, but with more of an exploration focus.
The setting of this game seems to stand out specifically – based on Polynesian designs, it looks like the world will be quite different. That alone seems worth exploring.
Our Thoughts
Let’s get this out of the way first – this game has save scrolls. You’re not limited by where you can save – you’re limited by how often you can save. This was annoying enough in Resident Evil, but at least that series has a narative justification in that it heightens the tension and risks hopeless situations. Here, we don’t have a survival horror aspect and there seems to be no reason for it other than adding artificial difficulty and adding another collectible. There is no technical reason to limit how often you can save (after all, if you can do it three times, you can do it thirty times without any real penalty), so this is a game design choice that has no place in the world.
And it’s not as if save games bring you any advantages. You respawn in the exact same state as before, low HP and all, so you can’t use or abuse the extra save games for anything. This is just to be obnoxious… and I can’t say I like that at all.
Beyond that, though, the game is pretty good. As a single fighter against groups, a lot of the combat is optimized for rapidly switching between enemies and dealing with different ones (attacking three at a time with three different buttons, or using combos if less than that attack you). It takes a bit of getting used to, but soon feels natural enough to make it through larger hordes.
The real stand out feature, though, is the use of your raven. You can send him to spots around the levels, allowing you to scout ahead and occasionally pick up items for you. In a game that would normally force you to go from fight to fight, it prepares you to do a lot more sneaking and plan out your attacks instead. It’s really well done and makes the game a lot more interesting.
The Polynesia-influenced looks help set the atmosphere. They look different, and very nice just through the different, having some Japanese influences, but in a jungle setting and with far different designs. It really sets an interesting atmosphere once it starts.
Final Thoughts
The Mark of Kri is a good game that feels like it had some unfortunate decisions made. They do make it more difficult for me to consider going back to it, but there are a bunch of good elements in here that I would love to revisit.