The Legend of Kusakari

Genre: Arcade

Players: 1

.

Review:

The Legend of Kusakari, released on Nintendo 3DS in 2016, is an Arcade-style game that seems to have been designed with the sole intention of being a parody of the Legend of Zelda series. However, rather than playing a legendary hero, this game casts players in the role of a nobody assigned the task of maneuvering around the heroes and monsters to cut all the grass in each area.

It’s a cute premise, and the gameplay is fairly simple. Players cannot attack enemies or do anything to affect the characters moving around them, they must simply avoid them like it’s an obstacle course, while chopping away at each square of grass in the level. It’s a fun take on the Zelda formula, especially because many of the top-down entries in that series do have players spending at least some time doing much the same – chopping down grass.

Unfortunately, the actual mechanics in this game are somewhat lacking. Your grass-cutting blade is woefully short (yes, even shorter than Link’s sword typically is), and the game’s controls feel too loose. Frankly, cutting grass in this game just isn’t as fun as cutting grass in a Zelda game… and Zelda games aren’t even about the grass-cutting.

The presentation is another issue here too. This game’s visuals make use of 2D characters on a simple 3D background, all with a bright, colorful style that roughly resembles the Zelda series, albeit without much of the character and depth. However, the real issue here is the music.

Right from the title screen, this game blasts you with instrumental music featuring a very off-key trumpet. At first, this is delightful and amusing, clearly parodying the fanfare that goes hand in hand with Zelda games. Why, there’s even a cute little on-screen band that plays the tune, with the trumpet player being particularly bouncy! Unfortunately, before long, that off-key trumpet playing will get absurdly annoying, to the point where you’ll feel the need to just mute the volume altogether.

It’s disappointing that The Legend of Kusakari fails so miserably in its execution, because the core idea is fun and unique. Unfortunately, lackluster gameplay and an annoying soundtrack result in a game that will likely only entertain you for a short while before you look for something more interesting elsewhere.

tl;dr – The Legend of Kusakari is an Arcade-style game that parodies the Zelda franchise, putting you in the role of a guy charged with cutting grass around the heroes and monsters rather than fighting them yourselves, playing out sorta’ like an obstacle course. Unfortunately, loose controls, a frustratingly tiny cutting implement, and an aggressively annoying soundtrack all make this game lose its charm very quickly.

Grade: C-

^{You can support eShopperReviews on Patreon! Please click HERE to become a Sponsor!}

^{This month’s sponsors are Ben, Andy Miller, Exlene, Homer Simpin, Johannes, Talissa, Eli Goodman, Gabriel Coronado-Medina, Ilya Zverev, Kristoffer Wulff, and Seth Christenfeld. Thank you for helping to keep the reviews coming!}