A worthy title in the platforming universe.
At the start of the game the story moves along quickly. It only takes about 10 minutes before you're trusted by the Nativs, taken to their secret home, given magical items and entrusted with the goal of rescuing them all. And the whole time your character is taking this all in with great ease. A sort of "Yeah, yeah, whatever. It's all good." kind of mentality.
I can't complain of course, because there would have been a lot of great game-play missed if she turned down the role of their saviour.
The levels are comprised of fairly standard platforms goals, but add a variety of activities to mix things up. At any one time you could find yourself flying on air currents, free falling through caves, trees & traps, riding animals that are a cross between an ostrich and a dinosaur, or even sailing down tree roots and dodging lava flows on what can best be described as a magic snowboard. The air currents can also be used to help you climb walls, or will hinder a trek up a mountain side by blowing you off ledges. Wind is both a friend and an enemy in this colourful land.
A very bright palette is used for most of the environments and characters, which give it a classic fantasy-platformer look. The areas of the world feel very large an open. Although there are specific tasks you must complete, and are set in the way you must complete them, there are a few optional areas you can visit to add to the experience either during the main quest or after it's complete.
Unfortunately the voice acting, and the sound in general, does not share the vibrancy of the look. The acting is bland, and much of the soundtrack seems dulled.
Thankfully the action was able to hold up nicely. On your way to jumping, climbing, gliding and bouncing across the land you will have to get your hands dirty by punching and kicking some bad guys. You start with being able to do basic melee attacks that are powered by a bracelet. As you progress, you'll be able to purchase new bracelets that let you perform stronger and more complicated combos, and add some acrobatic moves to your repertoire.
You're also supplied with a weapon of sorts called a Boomy, which is essentially a deadly looking boomerang. You will be able to upgrade your Boomy which is required to unlock certain doors. There is a lack of consistency with it's usefulness as a weapon however. It will kill some enemies in one shot, where with others it causes no damage, pushing you to use your melee attacks. I get the point is to get you fighting, and give you some challenge, but at the same time it's silly that the sharp metal Boomy only hurts certain enemies, where your fists will hurt them all.
There are also secondary weapons and equipment available, but I found them cumbersome to use, and often forgot I had them in my inventory. These include a variety of bombs, health packs, temporary invincibility power ups, and more. Despite me forgetting to use the items, it is nice that the variety in gear was supplied, and can help mix up your strategy a little bit.
If fighting is not your thing, there are some areas which will let you take a more stealthy approach, and avoid the Wolfen enemies all together. Of course this will limit your progression in some cases, which I'll touch on in my next point.
Taken the Wolfen down will allow you to perform an "exorcism" and convert them back to Nativs. The more Nativs your free to return to their village, the more shops they will open, and the more mini-games will become unlocked. The mini-games include free-fall games, racing games, and games to hone your Boomy skills. A great addition to these mini-games is that they all have a 2-player option, so you can go head to head!
The mini-games help add to the replay value, as does the option to go back when the main story is over, and try to free any remaining Wolfen out there.
With all the variety in game-play, a unique world to explore, and a decent length story to play through, this platformer should rank up there with the best of them. The only things really holding it back are the refinements missing from the controls, which are not well suited for delicate movements, and the camera which is at some times is uncooperative. If these two items had a little more polishing done on them before the title ship out, Kya would have given the other big hitters in the genre a real run for their money.
The impact of the faults I found in the game were minor, and would easily recommend to anyone looking for a fun platformer on their PS2.