Little Kite tells us the emotional story of Mary, a woman and a mother who tries to take everyday the best as possible, among a troublesome relationship, and at the same time trying to save her son Andrew from all the household issues.
Mary was happy once, with her husband Mark, in a wedding full of hopes and dreams. Didn’t take long for little Andrew to be born, and for a moment they were a happy family.
Times of happiness didn’t last long for the family, as Mark dies in a car accident, and with it, changing Mary’s life forever. Although Andrew was just a baby, his mother had to endure the loss with the inexorable help from medication.
Time went by on Vladimirskaya Street, where days were passing by while Mary used to contemplate the skies and think about her past… But she made a decision, Andrew deserved to grow up in a family, and to stop the small town gossip, Mary married again, with Oliver.
Oliver was a nice man, who liked her and her son, enough to marry her and live with them. But as the seasons changed, so did Oliver, who begin to drink and affections were replaced by empty bottles.
After some years, Oliver was a completely different man, and Mary is now living a true nightmare. During the day she endures Oliver’s drunkenness and violence, at night the memories of happiness with Mark haunt her dreams. The player will gain interaction with both Mary and Andrew, as they both have to make important decisions that will mark a new beginning for them as a family.
Little Kite was developed by Anate Studio, a one-man studio who had previously developed Octave. A much different game, although a Point & Click, it had a horror setting. Little Kite is in fact a remake of the game The Kite, released in 2012, only on Itch. The original game resembles both in plot, and in characters. Names did change, however, but some of its atmosphere remained.
Little Kite is obviously a much more ambitious project with emotional attachment and portraying a real life issue on modern society. The developer used all the experience he gathered from previous games to produce what as become one of the most interesting Point & Click games of the latest years.
Visually the game takes a huge step up from the previous work of Anatolii Koval, Octave. A Lot more details were improved, but the overall hand drawing style is still present in this 2D thrilling adventure. The Ukrainian artist portraits Vladimirskaya Street neighborhood with a fanciful perspective over Eastern Europe, and Europe in general. One can feel shifted in such location by how the building contrast against the skies. The concrete building, the corridors erased of any emotional connection, the cold iron fighting the rust in an archetypal pattern… It’s a romantic vision for those who grew up with it, and maybe a cold perspective from those who didn’t.
Either way, Little Kite nails the atmosphere for a regular household in Europe, right in the middle of the 90’s, and adds its own style. The age gaping the walls, the kitchen waiting for a much better mood swing, and even the bad bottled habits laying around the apartment define the struggles of this urban family.
A game that reflects its emotional distress through details in its design through characters, dialogues and the overall visuals.
One of the major improvements made by the developer was the introduction of cutscenes through several pieces of artwork in segments to describe a scene or a situation. These scenes are beautifully presented by portraying painted canvas. It’s a fantastic way of introducing new scenes, and the artwork reflects the feelings perfectly.
The second huge improvement was the inclusion of dialogues. Players can and will interact with different characters in order to progress through the game, complete quests or pursue further information.
As the adventure progresses, both mother and son deal with their issues in their own way. Little Andrew has quite the imagination, and the players can progress through the story by entering a fantasy world. Both scenarios have a distinct design, but always inflicting psychological elements onto it. In fact, Little Kite is a perfect example of mixing emotional struggles with psychological traces, leaving the player annexed to the plot development.
Mary’s hopes for a better future are constantly swallowed by her past’s vortex, but hope comes in many forms, and with such design improvements, we managed to unveil a little bit more of the story's progression. However, not even for a second does it become predictable, and the final game scene is a genuine mark of excellence and top-quality!
Little Kite honors Point & Click genre with simple gameplay and still delivering complex environments entwined with puzzles.
Players can interact with objects and gather items to progress to new areas or unlock a new gadget. Areas of interest can be automatically spotted making things easier, but even though it still has a traditional feeling to it.
The puzzles are simple and easy ranked. Managing objects and how to use them may be the real challenge, as you might have to think outside the box most of the times.
Actions make complete sense and once you realize how it works, you can’t stop but wonder why haven’t you done that sooner! Like in many other Point & Click games, dialogues have clues or sometimes may give the correct idea on how to approach a specific area.
Like with previous titles released by the developer, Unity is the engine running behind, but that shouldn’t be an issue, since Point & CLick games rarely use too much GPU resources, therefore option settings aren’t something to cope with. Expect a clean and smooth experience from Little Kite, as smooth as your emotions can allow it…
Emotions alone are a powerful thing, but the soundtrack can push things even further, and Anate Studio included dedicated music tracks to go along with this experience. There is a total of 8 music tracks, mostly dedicated to each scene or chapter. The original Soundtrack can be purchased separately on Steam at a relatively low price, and goes incredible with the game. The music was created by Abstracode, and portraits ambient sounds that blend in with the background events and emotions alongside the drama.
Little Kite is the tremendous reflex of its creator dedication and passion for storytelling. Developed, both artistically and coded by one single person, Little Kide is an emotional experience about the struggles of a woman, who would do anything for his son, even the extreme. We usually associate extreme motions to the fantastic, paranormal or the unrealistic, however real life issues are quite a nightmare in many households, and the player will experience trauma in the first person.
Mary will do everything and anything to bring a better life to herself and his son, and this small adventure that can take up to 5 hours, or much less if one already knows what to do, will test your sensibility.
In a different case scenario, this game serves as a testimony to domestic violence, with clues, hints, and a deeper perspective from those inside the situation, rather than outside. A fantastic tale of love and sacrifice, of shattered dreams and the most powerful force of nature; Motherhood.
