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Yenching is a bucolic, peaceful island populated by adorable animals. They seem to stick to themselves – the cats have their own village, for example – but it's a simple and harmonious existence right out of a storybook. The winds of change are inevitable, though, and soon the militaristic and aggressive gorillas bring war and strife to the land. Kay is a young martial arts student who does not welcome the intrusion. Through him and with the help of his friends in the cat village and beyond, you'll have a lot of responsibility in the struggle against Shun, the gorilla king. Legend of Kay establishes the setting early: This is a game written from a dual perspective of innocence and reality. The animal citizens of the island and the setting itself are presented beautifully. Bright colors and rich textures abound, resulting in a world of small cartoon animals in the vein of classic Disney. Most of the dialogue is very simple, which also indicates the game is meant for children. But at the same time, there is real violence here, and even a martial arts master with an alcohol problem. So while at first it's easy to classify Legend of Kay as an adventure game for kids, once you get into it the game isn't that consistent.
Regardless of the intended audience, Kay is a very able main character. As the game begins, Kay is eager to get moving and start the fighting. Your adventures are structured around quests given out by NPCs scattered throughout different friendly villages. During the fetching and message carrying, you'll get deep into the three dimensional fighting and exploring for which Capcom has become known. When a Capcom game offers combat, it's expected to be stylish, fun, challenging and look great in motion. Legend of Kay hits all those marks, for the most part. Kay uses his claws, a sword and a hammer throughout the game, and they fall into the fast, medium and slow categories, with common sense damage results – the hammer does a ton and the claws do very little. In addition to the standard attack for racking up combos, you can crouch down, then jump up and deliver an aerial attack. After a combo, you can hit one button, teleport right to a new enemy and continue the combo where you left off. There's also going to be a lot of tumbling behind enemies to attack from behind or throw them. With all the combinations, dispatching gorillas and rats doesn't get old until you find yourself in a crowded screen. That's when the speed of the game slows down, sometimes to a crawl. It's extremely annoying, because the game starts to move so slow that it takes you right out of moment. To mix it up, Kay will also be riding on the back of a dragon and other wild animals. The platforming, puzzles and minigames dotting the adventure are pretty standard: lots of blocks to push, levers to throw and double jumping to execute. The only things dragging down Legend of Kay are the terrible slowdown and a very youthful image. Kids old enough to master the mechanics should love it – there's no doubt about that. But adults are bound to be put off by the shallow characters and the cuteness permeating the whole game. In spite of all that, the world created in Legend of Kay is beautiful and fun to explore.
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