River City: Knights of Justice

Genre: Arcade Brawler / Action-RPG

Players: 1

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Review:

River City: Knights of Justice is an Arcade Brawler with Action-RPG elements released on Nintendo 3DS in 2017. This game reimagines the characters and gameplay of the Kunio-Kun series to take place in a medieval fantasy setting, with players taking the role of Kunio-Kun Alexander Valford as he… er… performs various tasks for the people in villages across the kingdom, and specifically tasks that involve beating up groups of enemies.

Yeah, story definitely isn’t one of this game’s strengths, though it does at least have a fun sense of humor and doesn’t seem to be taking itself seriously. One of the first quests you’ll do (repeatedly) is head to a town’s neighboring graveyard to beat the crap out of the zombies hanging out there. Oh, not because they’re zombies and not because they’re dangerous or attacking the villagers… no, you’ve been sent to pacify the zombies because they’re rowdy and causing too much noise.

The presentation in this game makes use of retro-style pixel art for the characters in simple 3D locales. These visuals are backed by repetitive, upbeat music that gets just a bit annoying. Overall, this game’s presentation is sub-par, though I suppose the retro-style characters may seem endearingly nostalgic to some players.

While the gameplay here is clearly based on the same Kunio-Kun style gameplay we’ve been seeing in the series since back in the days of River City Ransom, there have thankfully been a few changes made here to cater to the genre. Players can now outfit their characters with equipment bought in shops, and the confusing maps of River City Ransom have been replaced with a more simple overworld map. Also, it seems like the issues with hit detection I had in the previous Kunio-Kun game, River City: Tokyo Rumble have been resolved, making for much more satisfying gameplay.

That said, I do have some complaints. The actual Arcade Brawler gameplay here is simple and repetitive, and fights are often so insignificant that they’re over just a few seconds after starting, making one wonder why the game even bothers to toss them at you. Also, while players can buy weapons in the game’s shops, one wonders why they should even bother with this when it can easily get knocked from your hands in the first hit, and likewise you can easily just grab up the weapons of disarmed enemies in much the same way. Also, as noted above, the missions you’ll find yourself taking on are pretty simple and straightforward, without much variety – mostly a lot of “go here and fight these guys”. Finally, there’s no multiplayer in this game, something that’s often the cornerstone of the Arcade Brawler genre.

Despite the areas where it is lacking, River City: Knights of Justice still succeeds in taking the Kunio-Kun series into a medieval fantasy setting and highlighting the game’s RPG elements. Unfortunately, it’s still shallow as an RPG, and repetitive as an Arcade-style Brawler. Kunio-Kun fans may find this game worth playing, but both RPG fans and Arcade Brawler fans have better options.

tl;dr – River City: Knights of Justice is an Arcade Brawler with Action-RPG elements that reimagines the Kunio-Kun series in a medieval fantasy setting. This game succeeds in that core goal, but unfortunately, this makes for a shallow RPG and a repetitive Arcade Brawler. Series fans may find this game worthwhile, but everyone else has better options to choose from.

Grade: C

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