Fate of Kai takes you on a boy’s journey to earn his freedom. The boy in question, Kai, finds himself shackled to a mysterious chest. His only clue lies on the shackles that bind him to his portable prison, the image of a castle.
Once Upon a Time
Fate of Kai, is a short interactive comic that’s presented to you in the form of a magical book. Something that reminds me a lot of the opening scene of Shrek. It’s a short little caper filled with mystery, faceless people, strange creatures, and unlikely allies. Its world is intriguing and the artwork, which is hand drawn, looks fantastic. There’s a lovely use of colour and personality which, coupled with its dynamic soundtrack really come together to bring about a memorable experience.
The most memorable part of Fate of Kai, however, are its puzzles. Here it’s not just a matter of manipulating your own actions to overcome obstacles. Kai is somehow able to change the thoughts and actions of those around him, both in the present and the past. This is where Fate of Kai really hooked me.
Time is Relative
Without spoiling too much let me try to paint a picture for you. Kai comes across a broken bridge. You turn to the next page of the book and you’re greeted with a couple of dark pages explaining that Kai couldn’t find a way across and gave up. Now that could be the end, but if you go back a couple panels, you find a symbol that allows you to view events of the past. That alone caught my interest, who doesn’t love a look-see into the past?
You find out, a pair of travelers caused an accident which damaged the bridge. By going back to their past actions and altering them just a bit, you can make sure that accident never happens. Giving Kai the chance to cross it safely.
Now that’s far from the only instance you manipulate the past, to fix the present. That mechanic also mixes in with Kai’s actions in the present, but also with his manipulations of other people’s thoughts and actions, as we saw above.
Fate of Kai encourages you to backtrack, interact and play around with the space-time continuum willy-nilly and it’s a great mechanic. I love games that allow me to manipulate time as part of the gameplay and Fate of Kai does a great job of implementing it.
However, it did leave me with one nagging question. What does Kai’s manipulation of time and people say about free will in this world?
Leave Them Wanting More
Unfortunately time is also the problem I have with Fate of Kai. Not the manipulation of it, but how much of it we spend in Kai’s world. While his road is long and arduous. For the player it’s about an afternoon’s fun, If even that.
The game is criminally short. So short, that not long after completing it the first time around. I could go back in for a second session and still have some daylight left. It’s a shame really, because I did enjoy my time with it. Even on that second go.
Don’t hesitate to go for that second run as well. It gives you the chance to enjoy the story’s nuances and artwork without being bogged down by unfamiliar puzzles and questions of free will.
