clickbliss

Copy Kitty is a set of interesting mechanics wrapped in a lesson on bad visual design

by Omar (@siegarettes)

• Copy Kitty
• Developer - Entanma Project
• Publisher - Entanma Project
• PC (available via itch.io)
• Rating - N/A

Copy Kitty is a game where a cat with the ability to steal other’s abilities gets sent a military training program by her strange uncle. It’s also a solid action game that combines Gunstar Heroes style weapon mixing with an almost Bangai-O sense of level design that’s built to get you to explore the myriad applications of your weapons. Now I’m a big fan of Treasure, so having Copy Kitty hit some of those same notes solidified it as action excellence for me. 

I still found a lot to dislike about it, however.

My main problems stem from the fact that it is a mess of visual design. You might have been able to tell from my title. Developer Entanma Project has mixed a variety of visual styles, creating an inconsistent aesthetic that combines  2D and 3D style artwork with a seizure inducing amount of particle effects. While I believe you can enjoy a game despite disliking its visual style, I often found that the design of both the game and its interface interfered with the act of playing it. The mass of particles, movement, and colors made actively interfered with my ability to read the action, requiring more time to parse and respond to the situation. Eventually I ended up turning down the effects in order to make it more playable. While it helped, it still didn’t solve the problem.

The menus suffer from the same problems. The hyperactive backgrounds and abuse of color and iconography distract from pertinent information about the game. Menus are often the least interesting part of a game, so it’s important that they be clear and communicate immediately the functions and information available. 

At this point it would take a what essentially would be a remake in order to clean up the design and make it more readable, which is honestly entirely impractical. 

Putting aside the visual troubles, Copy Kitty is clearly a labour of love. The action is solid and the levels design, while not uniformly excellent, are playful in a way that feels similar in to spirit to the aformentioned Bangai-O and to Taito's Bubble Bobble. Entanma Project manages to pack a lot of levels into the game while still keeping them feeling fresh and varied. Boss fights are solid as well. There are a lot of familiar ideas here, but still solidly executed.

I’m less enthusiastic about the writing.  It takes on a tone that I’ve been quite a bit of lately, with a self aware script that’s keen on a bit of *wink wink* *nudge nudge* nods to the fourth wall. It’s one of my least favorite types of humor, especially since it takes a lot to actually get it right. It really only pops up during a few pre-level interludes however, so it’s easy to ignore.

It all creates a aesthetic and tone that tends to grate on me after extended play sessions. It definitely holds the game back from being entirely enjoyable, but there are still enough solid mechanics here to play around with.

The devs have put up a demo on their store page, so you can make up your own mind if it sounds interesting.