Note: Ignore the fact that this review says "product refunded." I purchased the game again after the developer fixed some progress-halting bugs I experienced at launch.

If you are a fan of beat 'em ups, I urge you to give this hidden gem a try. It is one of the freshest takes on the genre I've seen in a long time.

It all centers around a unique control scheme, which utilizes sweeping motions across the face buttons to mimic the motions of your character. It may feel unintuitive at first, but stick with it and it won't be long before you feel like a kung fu god. The game rewards timing and precision, and button-mashing will net you a hilarious animation of your character flailing his arms in reckless abandon. There are four (possibly five?) kung fu styles to master, which you can switch between on the fly by tapping a direction on the d-pad. Each style feels truly distinct. And while you can mostly use them interchangeably, they each have their strengths and weaknesses depending on the situation. There are blocks, parries, counters. It all feels very fluid and is a joy to play around with (you know it's good when you can have fun just practicing the moves without actually fighting anyone).

I estimate I'm about halfway through the game, and the story thus far has been very lighthearted, leaning towards comedic. The majority of townsfolk offer little guidance to aid you on your statue-retrieving mission but are always at the ready with a cheeky one-liner or a 'so-bad-it's-good' dad joke. The training montages are like something straight out of a Karate Kid movie and are easily some of the best moments in the game. And, not to spoil anything, but there is one scene early on that will subvert your expectations in a clever and funny way.

Rounding out the package is a fantastic visual presentation, looking like a PC-Engine game on steroids. The game has a very pleasing, bright but muted, color palette. The backgrounds are detailed and have a good sense of depth, while the pixelated characters are well-animated and surprisingly expressive. The soundtrack, while not breaking any new ground, fits the theme perfectly and is reminiscent of something you might hear in an old kung fu movie.

With all that said, the game is a little rough around the edges. At the time of this review, my graphics and audio settings are not being saved between sessions. The game freezes whenever I head in the 'wrong' direction after learning the Tiger style (I managed to replicate this bug every time I tried). There is one recurring enemy who appears to lose some clothing during his attack animation. And there are a handful of typos/grammatical errors.

Glitches aside, I have only a few minor nitpicks. Since many of the NPCs and backgrounds look so similar, I often find myself interacting with someone I've already spoken with. It would be nice to have a dedicated button to quickly skip this dialogue. Speaking of buttons, there is no button remapping. Understandably, the control scheme is central to the gameplay mechanics, but at least let us swap the shoulder buttons and triggers. And finally, there are no Steam achievements, which may be a dealbreaker to some. All of these things could be easily rectified with a few QoL updates.

Sadly, this game appears to have flown under the radar of beat 'em up fans, of which there aren't that many nowadays. Any future work the developer puts into this would clearly be a labor of love. Still, I can't help but imagine all the ways in which this already solid foundation could be expanded upon. It's absolutely criminal that Five Gods of Kung Fu didn't get more attention, but I am on board for whatever Gregor Bestelmeyer dreams up next.