Hey Fort Friends and welcome to another Review. Today it’s all about Koa and the Five Pirates of Mara, a new 3D platformer that’s making a cannonball splash in the Platformer world. It currently boasts Very Positive reviews on Steam after only a few weeks of its release. This comes as no surprise as they did a beautiful job marketing the game and keeping the community updated about its development, and they delivered a well-polished game that’s packed with personality and fun. We want to take this moment to say thank you to the Developers for allowing us a Review Copy of Koa, as it was a true pleasure playing it, and while we weren’t paid or promoted for this review in any way, it is a positive one because our genuine experience of the game was a good one.
With that, let’s break it down…
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Story: Pirates have pillaged and thieved...
In Koa, you play as… Koa. A little girl who’s keen on saving the Islands of Mara from Pirates, who seem to be a bit bored with nothing better to do… soooo they decided to put on a challenge to find the next pirate, but that involved wreaking havoc on the locals, and now, it’s up to us to restore some sense of peace. All while simultaneously becoming the next Pirate? No spoilers here, so you’ll have to play if you want to find out.
I have to compliment Koa on its ability to not only offer great gameplay but also an engaging story. For a level-based game such as Koa, it’s hard to deliver the story through much more than cutscenes and text lines from NPCs, and that is how most of the story is received, but it was far more polished and playful than most titles.
The characters you meet along your travels are all unique in their personalities and art, and the overall storyline you follow not only flows well but makes sense with the world around you. There were no awkward moments of ‘Why did they write it that way?’ or ‘How is this relevant to the game?’ the way I’ve felt with a few titles lately.
I’m a big fan of less is more, but also, too little is not enough, and finding that balance in a storyline can be tough, but paired with a genre that isn’t story-driven to begin with it becomes even more of a challenge.
Koa truly took it a step further than most titles in the “level-based” Platformer Genre as they baked the level system into the game in a way that doesn’t create a lack of immersion. Being someone who’s played Super Mario 3D World in its entirety, I was glad to not be following a little line to the next level bubble, then hitting “okay” to start it.
Nope, Koa presented the levels as Islands you had to sail to, just so they could keep the story immersion intact. Kudos to them for caring that deeply because they honestly probably could’ve gotten away with just a level select system, the gameplay is tons of fun, but they chose not to, and for that, I say thank you.
Gameplay: Island Hopping & Trash Collecting
Since I’ve been mentioning already that the gameplay is great, let’s go ahead and jump into it.
I want to say that my favorite thing about this game, despite the fact that it is a level-based 3D Platformer, is that the gameplay doesn’t reside in just the levels. Some of my favorite moments were going back to the home Island after finishing a few levels and checking out what new things I’d unlocked in the shops, and doing my civic duty throwing away the random bags of trash on the island. They’re simple things, but they add a level of depth to the game that makes it feel cohesive, as I mentioned in the story section. The even better part of it is that the graphics are cute and comedic so it’s enjoyable wandering around and sight-seeing, meeting our neighbors, and spin-jumping accidentally off a cliff and into the ocean.
Let’s talk about the levels, and I’ll start by saying that I adore how different they all are. Koa revolves around visiting different islands and completing a set of levels, then returning to your main island with a new map fragment that will unlock more. The best part is, each island has a distinctly different theme around the levels, allowing for enough diversity that I didn’t find myself getting bored or feeling as though the levels were just assets being re-used. From rocky lava-filled mountains you have to sprint through delicately, to luscious tropical paradise levels that have you swinging from coconut trees. They were all so vibrant and well-made that I didn’t find myself disliking any of them. Sure, some are harder than others, but that’s what I’d expect, especially as you get later into the game.
I do stand by what I said in my original review of the Demo, this game is a speed runner's dream. The amount of level decorations that you can use to hardcore parkour your way to a secret shortcut is ridiculous. I’ve seen a few runs on social media and it’s insane the routes people have found. So, while I’m nowhere near skilled enough with a controller to do speed running, if that’s something you enjoy, this one should be on your list of games to pick up.
Aside from your main island and the level islands, there are also smaller islands and sunken treasure spots to find when you’re out sailing. These provide some extra unlockables and fun things to do and I admittedly wound up completing all of them, so you can expect a Full Walkthrough from us that features where to find them. Check out the YouTube channel for details on that.
One of the last things I want to talk about in this section is the sheer amount of replayability Koa has. Each level offers a Gold, Silver & Bronze time, so if you’re an achievement chaser, get ready to join the Koa Olympics. As I mentioned previously, there are also plenty of collectibles and you’ll need to find every item around the world to unlock all of them, so get ready to be diving for treasure chests and aiding the spirits.
Visuals & Audio: Playful, Nostalgic & Fun
Touching on the Visuals & Audio, we’re happy to report we didn’t run into any performance issues during our playthrough and for that we’re glad, because we got to fully enjoy the vibrantly fun graphics and playful soundtrack. Koa currently holds my makeshift award for 'Game with the soundtrack that remained the loudest'. It’s so fun and reminds me of all the old Nintendo soundtracks, so it sparked nostalgia that just feels good to the soul. If you’ve seen a few of our reviews you’ll know I rate a game based on if it earns a mute or not, so maybe you’ll see why this award was a big deal for me (lol).
The world and level design, as well as the character art, were all brilliant. Exactly what you’d expect for a title such as this, so if you’re a fan of this graphic style, rest easy knowing it’s something to look forward to.
The Bad, Broken & The Boring: Placeholder Text
I always prefer when this section is more of a placeholder in our reviews, but it does keep us humble and forces me to think about things I truly didn’t like about the game. That being said? There’s honestly nothing I didn’t enjoy about Koa. I can say that it’s not a game I can play all in one sitting. I find my time limit for any platformer game is about 2 hours per session, but I always wanted to come back to Koa until I had finished it, so it’s how I know it was a good one. I give up on the Platformer genre the most out of any other genre as it frustrates me more than any other gaming experience, that being said, there wasn’t any of that for Koa. Even when I got frustrated because I was failing at a certain jump or movement combo, it was due to my own lack of ability and not the game's challenge level.
Adding on from this perspective, I suppose I can say that the races against the NPCs on the main island, which get unlocked after you complete each new set of levels, are definitely what I found to be most challenging. There aren’t any checkpoints or restart portions, so if you die, you’ll have to completely restart. This, ironically, wasn’t a problem for me as I found myself able to take first in all of them within the first 5 tries, which is significantly less than it took me to complete the boss portions of Ori & the Blind Forest, so I was nowhere near my “limit” of patience either.
Conclusion: Pillow Fort APPROVED
All-in-all, Koa is a game that I feel hands-down deserves a recommendation. Sure, avoid it if this type of game simply isn’t your forte. I always advise people to stick with what they love and only pay to venture out of their comfort zone if it truly feels like something you’d enjoy, but if Koa and the Five Pirates of Mara falls into one of your preferred genres or game style, you should absolutely give it a look.
It offers hours of gameplay with exciting and unique levels, quirky characters, fantastic animation and design, a nostalgic soundtrack, tons of unlockables, and the ability to jump-roll combo yourself infinitely into the ocean, what more could you need?
Here are the accolades and drawbacks awarded to Koa during the Review
Positives:
Engaging & Cohesive Story
Story & Gameplay Fluidity
Fun & Beautiful Visuals
Level Diversity
Speed Running Potential
Plenty to Do
Replayability
Collectibles
Great Soundtrack
Character Art
Not Overly Frustrating
Keyboard/Mouse + Controller Support
Difficulty Feels Balanced
Negatives:
Not Bingeable
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Disclaimer:
Please note that while we did receive this game for free, we have not been paid or promoted for this review, and are not affiliated with Koa and the Five Pirates of Mara or its developers officially in any way. All thoughts are based on our own genuine experience of the game. All footage is based on the Game in its current state as of 08/20/2023 and is subject to change or be completely omitted in future patches at the developer's discretion.
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