Kivi’s Underworld Impressions, Continued

Shamus Young over at Twenty Sided has whipped a final set of impressions for Soldak’s action-heavy RPG, Kivi’s Underworld.

The greatest weakness of the game is that expectations work against it. I looked at the game and expected (Diablo) style play, and was then frustrated by the lack of character development, inventory, or complex spells. But that’s not what this game is trying to be. It just looks like one of those. It’s a short lunchtime diversion. A quick round of scoring points and bashing stuff up for fun. It’s closer to Swarm than to Fantasy-Themed Isometric Hack-n-Slash III. In keeping with this (quick round) mentality, the game starts almost instantly and is basically free of any sort of loading-screen nonsense.

As a fan of (spreadsheet) RPG’s, I do find myself looking at Kivi and wishing there was more to do. Based on comments I’ve seen in the past, I know this game is precisely what some people are looking for. I’m worried they’ll skip it because it looks like games they don’t enjoy. If you hate the flow-breaking Diablo flea market, iterative character development that has you throw out early characters, and managing an array of complex hotkeys, then Kivi is crafted with your tastes in mind.