Kitsune Tails

About

"Kitsune Tails" is a single-player game with an interesting plot, exploring the complex relationships between kitsune and humans in a Japanese mythology-inspired world. With stellar gameplay, amazing visuals, and a fantastic soundtrack, players run, jump, and dash through emotional highs and lows, making for a highly entertaining and immersive experience. This follow-up to Super Bernie World promises to be a must-play for any gaming enthusiast.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

98%

Audience ScoreBased on 1,197 reviews

story110 positive mentions

grinding6 negative mentions

Kitsune Tails is a charming and nostalgic platformer that captures the essence of classic Mario games while introducing unique mechanics and a cute story.
The game features excellent voice acting, beautiful pixel art, and a variety of power-ups that enhance gameplay, making it enjoyable for both casual and experienced players.
With adjustable difficulty settings and unlimited lives, the game is accessible to newcomers while still providing a challenge for veterans, especially in the postgame content.

The story scenes can be overly long and frequent, interrupting the flow of gameplay and detracting from the overall experience.
Some players have reported issues with hitboxes and enemy placements, leading to frustrating moments during platforming challenges.
The game requires players to replay levels with a different character to see the full story, which may feel tedious to some.

story
308 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
36%
63%
1%
The story in "Kitsune Tails" is generally described as cute and engaging, featuring a charming blend of sapphic romance and lighthearted drama, reminiscent of classic platformers like Super Mario Bros. 3. While some players appreciate the fully voiced cutscenes and character development, others feel that the frequent story interruptions can detract from the gameplay experience. Overall, the narrative is praised for its representation and whimsical tone, making it a notable aspect of the game that keeps players invested.
- “The story is well written and thought out.”
- “The story is cute, fun, and just enough to keep you interested beyond the awesome levels you're working through.”
- “It's a simple but sweet sapphic love story with fox girls.”
- “However, it is littered with story scenes that aren't particularly long, but pop up at both the beginning and ending of each stage and take up almost as much time combined as the actual stage does.”
- “The poor quality of the story scenes combined with how frequent they are make for an overall disappointing experience, even though the actual gameplay is good.”
- “My biggest complaint is the sheer amount of story in this game.”
gameplay
215 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
53%
45%
1%
The gameplay of "Kitsune Tails" is widely praised for its tight controls, engaging mechanics, and nostalgic homage to classic platformers like Super Mario Bros. 3, while also introducing unique twists and power-ups that enhance the experience. Players appreciate the gradual difficulty curve, accessibility options, and the variety of level designs that keep the gameplay fresh and enjoyable for both beginners and veterans. Overall, the game successfully combines charming aesthetics with a solid gameplay foundation, making it a recommended title for fans of the genre.
- “Smb3's gameplay was compelling because of its sense of exploration, with its mountains of golden bricks hiding cool secrets or power-ups if you whack them with your raccoon tail, kick them with shells, or find p-switches to change them all into coins.”
- “The gameplay is spot on, the music is great, and the graphics are absolutely gorgeous.”
- “It's an inventive, visually beautiful game that has a challenging (but entertaining!) gameplay loop.”
- “Same mechanics, same gameplay.”
- “On a gameplay level, it's mostly nothing.”
- “I honestly don’t care much for the story and maybe wish they had spent less time on it and more on tightening the gameplay.”
graphics
126 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
65%
33%
2%
The graphics of "Kitsune Tails" have been widely praised for their charming retro aesthetic, reminiscent of classic platformers like Super Mario 3 and Super Mario World, featuring cute pixel art and vibrant color choices. While most visuals are beautifully crafted, some areas show inconsistency in quality, with a few assets appearing rushed. Overall, the game's art style, animations, and attention to detail contribute to an engaging and delightful visual experience.
- “The graphics are beautiful, especially if you enable the CRT mode in one of today's big screens.”
- “The voice acting is superb; the art style and aesthetics are gorgeous; the soundtrack is catchy, upbeat and fits the mood of whatever level you’re on; the little details of the level designs, characters and pixel expressions are so well done and articulated.”
- “Solid platformer with beautiful visuals (and that CRT filter!!), good feeling gameplay.”
- “While the vast majority of the game looks and sounds amazing, some of the art and sound assets are noticeably shoddy, leading to a sometimes inconsistent aesthetic experience that reminds you this was made by a very small indie team.”
- “Could've been a much better game and the artwork is pretty low effort.”
- “The music is decent enough but the instruments are way too high fidelity for a game with this art style, with the sound effects being a bizarre mix of bleep bloops and more realistic sounding ones.”
music
105 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
56%
41%
3%
The music in the game has received a generally positive reception, with many players noting its catchy melodies and charming retro aesthetic that complements the game's visuals. While some found the soundtrack to be initially unremarkable, it grew on them over time, enhancing their overall experience. However, a few critiques mention that the music can become repetitive, and there are instances where the background tracks do not add much to the gameplay atmosphere.
- “The difficulty ramps steadily but not excessively, additional game mechanics are brought in to keep things fresh, and the music is absolutely delightful.”
- “The voice acting is superb; the art style and aesthetics are gorgeous; the soundtrack is catchy, upbeat and fits the mood of whatever level you’re on; the little details of the level designs, characters and pixel expressions is so well done and articulated.”
- “Gorgeous pixel art and animation, excellent controls, catchy music, and a fun Japanese folklore theme.”
- “In particular, the death music sounds like it could've been ripped from an RPG Maker sound library.”
- “The soundtrack is probably the weakest part here.”
- “Other than that really good art style, the music is a little repetitive but rather relaxing and inoffensive, though I think it's a bit suspect that you literally just play the game again after finishing it for the first time.”
humor
31 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is widely praised for its charming and quirky dialogue, as well as its lighthearted narrative that incorporates queer themes and relatable characters. Players appreciate the blend of adorable and funny elements, often finding themselves laughing at the game's witty moments and unique voice acting. Overall, the humor adds a delightful layer to the gameplay experience, making it feel reminiscent of classic platformers while also standing out with its personality.
- “It's a simple feel-good narrative, with a lot of humor and personality.”
- “The queer themes are another highlight, adding to the humor and uniqueness of the game.”
- “No but seriously, it plays like a classic Mario game (a la Mario 3), it's got voice acting (very unlike a classic Mario game I guess but still great voice work), it's got charming and funny dialogue, did I mention disaster lesbians?”
emotional
19 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game is praised for its emotional depth, evoking laughter and tears through a cute and wholesome narrative that resonates with players. It offers strong LGBTQ+ representation, including ace representation, and is described as a heartfelt homage to classic platformers, making players feel empowered and nostalgic. The combination of fun puzzles, challenging gameplay, and a touching story contributes to a fulfilling emotional experience.
- “It's made me laugh and it's made me cry.”
- “And of course it's really nice to have a wholesome queer game made by really nice queer devs. Just want to say how nice it is to see ace representation because that does generally seem less represented in games.”
- “While it may have been more difficult than I had initially envisioned, completing the game to the end was worth it, if only to see Yuzu and her friends’ stories come to a close in a heartfelt way.”
stability
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
80%
20%
The game runs smoothly on the Steam Deck and Linux, with users consistently reporting good performance on these platforms. However, many players note the presence of pervasive bugs that, while not game-breaking, detract from the overall experience, raising questions about the game's development timeline.
- “Runs great on Steam Deck.”
- “Linux version runs great.”
- “It runs great on the Steam Deck too!”
- “The most consistent aspect of the game is that there are constant bugs that pull you out of the experience. While they never ruin it, they're very pervasive, and it's bizarre that a game that took this long to make feels so buggy.”
character development
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
60%
40%
The character development in "Kitsune Tails" is highlighted by its charming and appealing designs, particularly the cute sprite work and the transformation mechanics that add a playful element to gameplay. Players appreciate the visual aesthetics and the engaging story, which enhance the overall experience of the platformer.
- “I particularly liked the character designs and the fact that when you get hit, your small form is a regular fox, which is really cute.”
- “Visually, I enjoy the sprite work and character designs quite a bit.”
- “Kitsune Tails has everything I look for in a solid platforming game - good control, consistent physics, accessible with increasing difficulty, and appealing character designs.”
grinding
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players appreciate the option to revive in place, which helps minimize grinding and allows for smoother story progression despite some challenging levels. However, many find certain encounters tedious and frustrating, particularly due to repetitive pathfinding issues that detract from the overall experience.
- “I stand by that room being terrible still; having a reliable method to beat it did not make it any less tedious and annoying.”
- “The pathfinding for this encounter also seems to like going back and forth a lot, and it's a bit tedious when it keeps happening after every stage.”
- “Levels can be tricky, but you can choose to revive in place, which makes it possible to follow the story without too much grinding.”
optimization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The game is praised for its excellent optimization, featuring crisp and smooth controls that enhance the precision required in platforming gameplay, a notable achievement for an indie title.
- “Importantly, given it's an indie game, the controls and performance are crisp and smooth, which is something that can ruin a platformer that requires lots of precision, but the dev team here got it right.”
replayability
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
150%
Users highlight that the game offers interesting replayability, suggesting that it provides engaging experiences that encourage players to return for multiple playthroughs.
- “The game offers interesting replayability.”
- “The game has great replayability.”
- “There are multiple ways to experience the game, enhancing its replayability.”