Kona PC

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73

Mixed or average reviews - based on 10 Critics What's this?

User Score
8.2

Generally favorable reviews- based on 29 Ratings

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  • Summary: Northern Canada, 1970. A strange blizzard ravages Atamipek Lake. Step into the shoes of a detective to explore the eerie village, investigate surreal events, and battle the elements to survive. The first installment in a series of four games, Kona is a chilly interactive tale you won't soon forget.

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Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 10
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 10
  3. Negative: 0 out of 10
  1. PLAY! Zine
    Apr 26, 2017
    85
    Kona is taking the best elements from the walking simulators, survival games and classic adventure games and putting them all in one place. It relies heavily on the setting and the atmosphere of isolation and even builds a nice little detective story on top of that.
  2. Destructoid
    Mar 24, 2017
    85
    Kona is a wonderful and lovingly crafted accomplishment. It's charming, magical, and smart enough to instill real motivation in its players and layer its cast in realist ways. Kona might be the first of four planned games, but it also happens to be a great standalone adventure that'll have you reaching for the thermostat in no time.
  3. GameStar
    May 25, 2017
    77
    Kona is a well-done mix of survival, mystery and crime which makes you interested in the next parts of the series.
  4. Gameblog.fr
    Mar 27, 2017
    70
    Kona is an excellent survival game. It knows how to stand out from the crowd with his mysterious and captivating story. Too bad it suffers some technical weaknesses.
  5. New Game Network
    Mar 28, 2017
    70
    Kona takes you on an atmospheric adventure where answers to the mysteries are always just around the corner. Although searching for items is a bit tedious, and side tasks muddle proceedings, it creates a frozen world that begs to be exposed.
  6. Meristation
    Mar 20, 2017
    65
    Kona aims to satisfy those users who do not like narrative adventures, but ends up failing in their attempt. Unfortunately the narrative goes in the same way, leaving serious plot gaps after a few hours of interest. However, just to feel the recreation of a humble Canadian rural village is worth going into it.
  7. Eurogamer Italy
    Apr 21, 2017
    60
    Kona is an interesting action adventure that sports a good atmosphere and some survival elements: unfortunately it is also marred by uninspired combat, technical issues and unsatisfactory narrative.

See all 11 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

Write a Review
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 4
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 4
  3. Negative: 0 out of 4
  1. AndersMorales
    Mar 16, 2016
    9
    I'm usually reticent to offer reviews for early access games. There's a lot that can change between now and whenever the developers decide toI'm usually reticent to offer reviews for early access games. There's a lot that can change between now and whenever the developers decide to alter their material - and that isn't even getting to the point of addressing that most early access playing experiences deal with raw mechanic devoid of a story's body. Especially by way of direct genre comparison here, The Long Dark comes to mind as a Canadian blood relative. Still, the differences are important to recognize.

    I'll side-step for a second to applaud CMF's involvement with both of the mentioned titles here. Does the US have a similar kind of public-private funding structure for games? I haven't really ever thought to put the research in to see how competitively the NEA keeps up with that kind of stuff, if at all.

    I'm compelled to encourage the development of this title, and I'd be remiss in not starting by mentioning that I can't wait for more. Incredible art direction. Obviously touted and enveloping atmospherics. If you're buying into this game early, it's because someone recommended it for its fathomic aesthetic. It feels like the 1970's. It feels like The Great North. If you weren't Canadian before playing this game, you sure as hell are now.

    As an American who grew up in the New England area in the early '80's, I found myself continuously drawn by this game into my own childhood memories hearing and seeing about the massive blizzard of 1978, having myself grown up living through winters in the anecdotal shadow of a time not too long ago when North America was susceptible to the bottoming out of society's infrastructure in the face of extreme weather. In fact, I often tell my illustration students to "trust the negative space", and I think this game does that very well. Often, what I'm looking at through the windshield of Carl's pickup is nothing but fading plow scrape in the road ahead of me and some nebulous impression of grayed-out forest caught up in a gale. The wind is convincing enough to make me feel shielded by the auto glass, the driving (helped along by a clever, jerked handling that makes correcting difficult) is enough to make me feel as uncertain as I do in actual snow-driving situations. It's Parabole's remarkable triumph that I haven't felt more convinced of a vehicle's simultaneous risk and reliability in a video game. It's subtle and perfectly handled.

    I'm seeing lots of reviews hitting hard against the game's story and narration. I'm reserving judgement for the former and may just wait the development cycle out before exploring further with that. I like what Parabole has shown me thus far and trust that they're making tweaks to a story that someone has obviously loved for some time. I agree that the narration can be, at times, obvious and hokey (a common complaint), but I was never really personally taken to the illusion that the writers were going for something other than exactly that. In fact, the confusingly-charming initial tenor of games like this get me every time.

    You're given a constant tablespoon of 1970's Canadian razzle dazzle - the uniformity of the goofball music, the snazzball whir and click of '70's design and appliances (everything seems strangely intended for some kind of pasteurized breakfast use), the matter-o-fact go-on of the narrator. You're allowed full tastes of an aesthetic and have inescapable moments of alarm when you're ripped away from that, when the music starts to slow and distort, a tape or record or radio signal battered and lengthened by the cold, when the narrator comments on things in real time as opposed to looking back on your experiences cheerily, when the voice becomes terse, quick, and speaks in the immediate present tense. You get cozy with an idea of yourself and your safety in space, and the game toys with that definition perfectly and with perfect rhythm. This is the first game I've played in some time where the effect has caused me to feel unquestionably watched by something dark and knowing. Nearby, even.

    I could go on, but I'll leave it at this: Parabole has released early content of a game that does a great job leaving you feeling isolated and anticipatory in the face of what comes next. It has the disturbing thrum of The Long Dark's survival bend without beating you over the head with it, the unsettling pause-and-rattle of the Silent Hill franchise without jumpscaring you out the door (yet), all while rocking to the desolate rhythm of a Cyan Worlds joint. The aesthetic is thick and well-researched. The models are dynamic and shift convincingly. The sound design is a gaming experience entirely unto itself. If this game can deliver a thorough story that avoids patronizing the audience (an unfortunate hallmark of most Kickstarted/indie games, the "here, let me be really crowd-fundedly clear about the game you're playing" trope), it's a near-perfect 10.    … Expand
  2. SuperkenGaming
    Mar 25, 2017
    8
    KONA
    A chilling Adventure
    Kona is a first person survival mystery... The game takes place in a village located in northern Canada in 1970    KONA
    A chilling Adventure
    Kona is a first person survival mystery...
    The game takes place in a village located in northern Canada in 1970
    And this village has its secrets
    You play as detective Carl in this mini open world trying to solve the murders and disappearance of this villages residents
    The pacing of this game is near perfect, lasting about 5 to 6 hours, you’re here to explore and discover…
    uncover clues, figure out ways to get into building and deal with the environment..
    There is really only one puzzle here, which is near the beginning of the game when you have to figure out how to get the generator running to get gas into your truck to drive around the world…
    The rest of the game is you exploring the homes and searching for the frozen bodies of the missing people… all while trying not to become frozen yourself…
    which is where the survival portion of the game kicks in…
    There are wolves you have to deal with in the world…
    And you can do so with guns you find in the world…
    But for the most part you’re dealing with the cold…
    You have to gather materials around cabins and homes to light fires to save the game and keep your warmth meter up…
    You also have to keep your health up and your stress levels down from med kits and alcohol for example
    Thankfully this system is never annoying..
    I had some close encounters during the final stretch of the game because materials were practically nonexistent during the stretch… but I still managed to make it through…
    I never died in the game from cold once…
    Explore, investigate, collect…
    This is the game...
    Theres a story to uncover in a beautiful frozen world…
    My only issue with this game is that it runs like a ps2 game…
    it constantly stops to load the next area…
    it’s a slight annoyance…
    But not annoying enough to skip this title for mystery fans…
    Because this game is so open and so free after the initial puzzle…you feel like a true detective as you try to uncover all this village has to hide…
    I give KONA
    An 8/10    … Expand
  4. New_Neo_72
    Apr 11, 2017
    7
    Kona è un gioco che evidenzia la giovane età e l'inesperienza degli sviluppatori, con continui alti e bassi. Pregno di difetti sul compartoKona è un gioco che evidenzia la giovane età e l'inesperienza degli sviluppatori, con continui alti e bassi. Pregno di difetti sul comparto tecnico, principalmente dal punto di vista grafico e delle animazioni, per non parlare dei fastidiosi caricamenti e del finale deludente, riesce a compensare con una storia molto bella e con un'atmosfera che gode appieno di un'azzeccata ambientazione di gioco e di una colonna sonora strepitosa. La pecca principale è quella di voler strafare sforando in componenti action anziché limitarsi a ciò che gli riesce meglio: l'avventura. Tirando le somme però chi ama questo tipo di ambientazioni e ha voglia di una bella narrazione dovrebbe dargli una possibilità, potrebbe rimanerne piacevolmente sorpreso.

    Recensione completa a questo indirizzo ---> http://www.gamesark.it/mostra_rece.asp?c=29320170341434799&p=34&a=0&f=1&s=1    … Expand
  5. TUmaDO
    Apr 9, 2017
    6
    i bought the game in its exact first day of early access, i knew it would be great,it looked amizing,the game play was exactly what i love ini bought the game in its exact first day of early access, i knew it would be great,it looked amizing,the game play was exactly what i love in mistery games,but latter updates downgraded the game making some texture look like blobs and effects removed,i was like why?
    then i sent a message asking why did they downgraded the game...answer: because other people with weaker pc wouldn´t be able to run it and also the xbox one ,and thats not true i have a laptop with m860gtx and it ran on maximum just fine ,again we get a dumbed game because console can´t run it properly and we pay with downgrade
    Then in the end of the message they said it will be implemented back in future updates ,until then im not playing,because i want the amazing experience i got when it was in early acess.

    ATENTION!

    this review will change if they give it back,if you want to see that conversation find it on Imgur with the same user name TUmaDO.    … Expand

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