"Kalanoro" Throws Down a Beat in its Demo! (Impressions)

Sometimes I'll come across a game whose initial pitch is just so unique compared to anything I've heard before that I just have to dive in. Near the end of August, I came across Kalanoro; a 3D platformer where you gather a group of lemurs to perform music and take down capitalism that's destroying the world. With a pitch like that, I was already sold at "3D platformer!" After spending almost an hour playing the demo, I came away with fairly positive impressions!

I need to start with the visual design, because I think that is where this game shines the most so far. Kalanoro takes place in a world inspired by Madagascar's folklore, which is a setting I am positive hasn't been highlighted in a video game before—so that's cool! The title of the game is even a reference to the humanoid cryptids that are long rumored to inhabit the island as spirits. You play as a young kalanoro believed to be chosen by a prophecy, whose entire body is covered in hair that can be used to attack enemies around her. Using your hair-focused abilities, you are tasked with fighting your way to the big stage to take down Raneny, a witch who has brought capitalism to the island of Lemuria to host a massive concert with the most popular band around!

Yeah, the premise is kind of all over the place, but it's one of those themes that is so out there that I don't entirely mind the silliness. Plus the objective is taking down capitalism, and it's hard not to get on board with a game that has that as a story beat.

The characters in Kalanoro are easily one of the stronger aspects from what I experienced in the demo. To go between levels, you hop into a bus and drive to different locations. On board the makeshift tour bus, you have the opportunity to increase relationships with the band members you save along the way. When returning to the tour bus after finishing a stage, sometimes your band mates will want a specific dish that you have to cook with ingredients found in levels. While the cooking process is very simple as a single quick-time event, it's a neat slice of life feature that brings some personality to the characters you surround yourself with on your adventure.

Sometimes your band mates will want to hear a certain song on the radio, and this is where this game's funky identity comes through. While I only had access to 2 songs in the demo, the beats were bangers! The tracks in the demo even feature tracks from Malagasy artists JYEUHAIR and Kalakely, which is super cool. I'd recommend giving the gameplay trailer a watch for the music alone, as I found myself nodding to the beat when I first came across this game.

While the world design, soundtrack, and character interactions were strong for impressions, the one thing that irked me in my demo playthrough were the tutorials. At the start, things were totally fine with showing the basic controls, but as I got into some of the stages, the tutorials were repeated in the first and second stages, which were bothersome. If it was a new mechanic like the ability to fling your hair at an enemy and lunge towards them, then that would be fine, but I saw repeated tutorials for basic things like dashing through fences in the first couple of levels. In the grand scheme of things, that's a minor complaint, but still something the developers should look into for the sake of providing a smoother ease into the broader gameplay experience.

In addition to a standard attack, you can also hit enemies with items you find on the ground like a frying pan or a hammer, which have limited uses before disappearing. However I found that these disposable weapons, while fun to swing around, had very little use compared to the standard attack. The hammer at least had an AOE effect when you slam it down, but stuff like the frying pan and carrot were similar in damage to the regular attack with the only difference being their ability to be thrown at enemies. All that said, they are still fun enough attack options, and I'd imagine things might expand further in the full game regarding what you can do with such weapons.

Overall, I had more positive impressions than negative with Kalanoro's demo. It's an entertaining 3D platformer with a fascinating setting in Madagasy folklore, and the wholesome character interactions plus the soundtrack make for a funky gameplay experience. I can't wait to see Kalanoro get its groove on when it releases on PC & Consoles September 24, 2026. If you want to give this game a go before it comes out, you can download the demo on Steam!