Nope, Not That One
If you’re anything like me, the mere mention of the word Avatar conjures the adolescent Airbender Aang and the promise of epic adventures on the horizon. Well, if that’s the case, you’re in for a flying bison-load of disappointment.
Developer Watt Gaming’s Kung Fu Saga, formerly titled Avatar Saga (likely renamed due to its likeness to the Nickelodeon series), is an idle RPG adventure game set in the fantastical martial world of Loya. At the start, players must choose between six classes of fighters—bladesman, archer, swordsman, assassin, spearman, and wizard.
Each fighter class features a unique weapon and character design. Bladesmen use a broadsword, while swordsmen wield longswords. Assassins attack with daggers, and wizards channel their magical abilities through their staffs. Naturally, spearmen and archers employ spears and bows, respectively. As you level up your character, they’ll gain other class types. However, these additional typings have no benefit beyond stat buffs.
Kung Fu Saga features some of the most hands-off gameplay I’ve ever encountered in an idle RPG game. After choosing a class, you’ll find yourself in a forest near your village. Tap the Main questline under the Quest banner to begin your journey. Characters will automatically travel to their destination, fighting in enemy-filled dungeons and talking with NPCs along the way.
Eventually, you’ll reach your village and speak to your Auntie Liu, who gifts you a goofy-looking rooster named Exeggcute and a horse. You’ll discover other pets like Exeggcute called Protoss that follow your character during your travels. Protoss, including Exeggcute, gradually evolve by consuming fruit and experience after battles. These creatures also provide a small stat boost for your character but never physically aid in battle.
Serpentine Saga
Kung Fu Saga’s story is so convoluted that I never fully grasped what was happening. I chalked most of the fuzzy details up to localization issues since the sentences themselves make sense. However, collectively, they failed to form a solid, coherent story. From what I gleaned, your journey across Loya begins solely with encouragement from local villagers to join the great battle and find eight artifacts.
Early on, one of the lords reveals that there was once a great schism in the martial world, which split the world’s fighters into good and evil sides. After his defeat, (presumably) evil wizard Skymagic Archdevil reveals that the land’s eight powerful artifacts were scattered across the world after many conflicts. Other NPCs offer little further insight. One stated that members of the good side sometimes act evilly and vice versa.
At that point, I stopped trying to understand the story, and my experience seemed slightly better for it. With no messy plot to muddy the waters, I allowed myself to focus on the beautifully rendered world of Loya. West Suburb, Kung Fu Saga’s initial region, features temple ruins and woods aplenty. The kingdom of The South appears to be in a state of perpetual Fall, with amber-leaved birch trees and mushroom bridges on full display.
Perhaps my favorite region was the Chinwoo Gate—a foggy, mountainous path accented with an alternating symphony of rain, croaking frogs and Chinese orchestral music. I only managed to explore six of the ten kingdoms featured on the world map since progression requires a specific level threshold to access other quests and kingdoms, yet, I thoroughly enjoyed each environment.
A Feast of Famine
Like other games in the genre, Kung Fu Saga displays a ton of information on its home screen. Normally, I’m unbothered by a game’s layout, but Kung Fu Saga’s left me perpetually irritated. With the automated gameplay and lack of a tutorial, the cluttered screen only overwhelmed me. Typically, idle RPGs surround the edges of the screen with modes and icons, but not this game. The screen is so flooded with information and icons that it’s hard to tell what you should do first. You can hide these icons by tapping the black and white compass, but they reappear after exiting dungeons.
While I enjoyed Kung Fu Saga’s interesting and colorful world, I never wanted to stay in it. I need rich lore and engaging gameplay to be invested in a game. Sadly, Kung Fu Saga never delivered on those fronts. Still, players who want a completely hands-off experience might thoroughly enjoy this game. For the rest of us, a different saga awaits.
