Tribal Hunter Game Review
Tribal Hunter is a mysterious indie game made by Melonsoda Soft (cute logo, by the way) that feels and plays like a retro side scrolling rpg and platformer - for you other old people out there this means very much like Mario but instead of goomba stomping your enemies you are beating the slime out of em with bare fist and foot or...oh wait yea there is goomba s Also, instead of being a real person, he is a cute lizard plush whose job is to protect the island and its people from pigs, ghosts, dragons, and very persistent foxes that can change into anything.
The character you play, Munch, is a very interesting one. He is a guardian spirit who has moved into a stuffed animal and given it a life of its own so that he can roast a group of greedy pigs who are making life hell for the locals at the behest of a really tall king of all evil named Bowser—oops, wrong game. Darkdread. A bad guy who will make you laugh and cross your legs if you belong to a certain group that will almost certainly be playing this game. Why is he making it so hard for the people who live on the island? Well, as Munch, it's up to you to find out by going around the island and beating up every single one of his subordinates while other NPCs give you cryptic tasks to do or make your journey hard by making you go back and get more healing items to try again and again. I think that each of these characters really adds something to the game, and that each one was really important. It works well there. I just wish there was a little bit more conflict going on that made these characters vulnerable or scared. Darkdread doesn't seem to do anything that could hurt the village. Maybe it's because he's not very good at being a bad guy.
I was surprised by how hard this game was and how much detail was put into the characters, making them important, challenging, and cute all at the same time without giving anything up. I don't think there was ever a time when I wasn't looking forward to the next area and dreading the next big bad guy I'd have to beat by making them weak with hand-to-hand combat or making them hate eggs for the rest of their lives. Each boss was made with care and creativity, and there are rules you must follow to beat them. Some of them need to be hit until they fall over, while others need you to figure out a trick. That's great. More games like this need to be more like this.
If you want to get the most out of the game, there are some minigames and challenges you can take on. These range from bullet-hell-style slopes to rematches with familiar enemies who have learned some new tricks. I think I only finished three of them, and I'm not going to try again for a while. They are not simple! But that's good, because they're not supposed to be.
The second part of the game that I think is important to talk about is how the levels are made.
I love how colors and music are used in each of the game's different "zones." There's nothing that needs to be changed. Everything works so well together that you forget this is an independent game. It feels like a real labor of love, and you can feel this as you go from the village to the top of the island. Games that are made with this much care really do deserve more praise than they get.
The maps are well-made, and if you get stuck, the NPCs will give you tips on how to deal with the obstacles. As you move through the game, each area was made to make it harder for you to control Munch. This is because being careless and running through areas can really make your palms sweat when you make mistakes. The levels were made to be played so that the enemies that give you experience for your upgrades or money for buying items give you a good reward for clearing a path to the boss. This is hard, but that's to be expected. Your upgrades and the skills you get from killing enemies are necessary to make the game easier.
From a technical point of view, we have to get here eventually. The game feels and plays like a side-scrolling beat 'em up with RPG elements and an upgrade system that is locked behind progression. The controls may take some getting used to, since holding down the button doesn't make Munch run faster. The key will be learning how to move and where to aim your eggs and magic. Checkpoints in the game give you health back instantly, which is a great feature. However, if you use fast travel, you'll end up at the last checkpoint you rested at before teleporting if you don't stop at the nearest checkpoint first. I made this mistake a lot, and it cost me a lot more than once. haha. There are some bugs on maps where you can see the edge of the screen when you divebomb, but I never noticed them. There aren't many problems I can think of. There are two coats of wax on the game, which gives it a great shine, and there is a lot to look at.
To answer the obvious question: Yes. This game is EXTREMELY sexual. You'll eat everything and everyone like Kirby, but instead of getting power-ups, you'll gain weight that can make the ground shake or give you your own pull of gravity. There is NOTHING here for adults. The characters are meant to be cute and sexually appealing to the target audiences, who are furries and vore or inflation fans. The game does everything it can to make weight gain an important part of the game that can both help and hurt your chances of winning. You can be thin and quick, or you can be big and strong but slow and sometimes unable to climb walls. Which one you pick will depend on what you're doing. If you eat too much, it's game over. You will pop like a balloon that killed a cactus if you carry too much weight. Or, if you ate too many jello monsters, you could just turn into a slime that is a little annoyed.
In the end, this is a cute, well-made project that was made with love and turned into a great little game. I'm a little partial, but I'll give this game an 8.7/10.
It stands on its own two wobbly legs, gives you what you want, and throws beautiful places and people at you as you make Munch eat, hurt, and talk his way across this little island.
It has a lot to offer, and I think you should play it.
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