Retro Replay Review

Gameplay

The first few minutes of Kentilla ask you to settle into classic text-adventure habits: read carefully, map your surroundings in your head or on paper, collect useful objects, and try to infer what the game wants from a short command. It is unapologetically old-school. If you enjoy the slow satisfaction of turning a stubborn description into a solution, there is immediate comfort in its direct, command-driven format.

The companion commands are where it starts to click. Rather than merely typing directions and item requests for yourself, you can address Elva with orders such as telling her to get an object. Since companions can carry things, perform tasks, and fight, they are more than flavor; they expand how you think about a problem. You are not simply asking, “What can I do here?” but “Who should do this, and what should they be holding?” That is a genuinely smart wrinkle for a game of this vintage.

It also means frustration can arrive in a very particular form. The parser accepts conventional commands, but progress still depends on finding the wording and chain of actions the adventure recognizes. Commanding another character adds possibilities, yet it also adds another layer to experiment with. Go in ready to take notes, retry ideas, and treat failed attempts as part of the conversation with the game rather than a sign that you are playing it wrong.

Graphics

Kentilla pairs its text adventure with graphics, giving its fantasy journey more to look at than a purely text-only release. Music plays during the game as well, a welcome companion when you are lingering over descriptions and working through a puzzle.

Story

This is a sequel, and it picks up after Velnor’s defeat rather than starting from a blank slate. Velnor’s soul has been cast into the Abyss, but the brief opening of the corridor allowed Grako to return. Grako now controls the Moonstone of Aigrath, the source of Velnor’s power, and that leaves you with a clean, suitably grim fantasy objective: defeat him and send him back to the Abyss.

The premise has the efficient momentum of a good adventure-game setup. There is a villain, an artifact worth fearing, and a destination for your efforts. The mystical sword Kentilla gives the quest its heroic center, while Elva and the other companions make the journey feel less solitary than the usual parser expedition.

You will get more out of the continuation if you know Velnor’s Lair, since the game’s conflict is explicitly built on its aftermath. Even without that history, though, the central stakes are plain enough to follow: an old evil’s power remains in dangerous hands, and your job is to put that wrong right.

Overall Experience

Kentilla is more appealing for the way it stretches traditional interactive fiction than for any attempt to disguise what it is. This is a fantasy puzzle adventure built around typed instructions, careful reading, and persistence. Its strongest idea is letting you issue meaningful commands to companions, because that makes the familiar hunt for objects and solutions feel a little less predictable.

The trade-off is clear: this is not the kind of game that rushes you toward the next dramatic beat. Much of the pleasure comes from making sense of its language and finally discovering that a person, item, and command belong together. If that rhythm sounds draining, the game’s solid premise will not magically change your mind. If it sounds inviting, the extra party interaction gives you a good reason to dig in.

At a 6.4 level, Kentilla lands as a respectable, niche sequel with a memorable command twist rather than an essential adventure for everyone. Give it a chance if you already enjoy parser games, can tolerate some trial and error, and want a fantasy quest where telling a companion what to do is as important as choosing your own next move.

Retro Replay Score

6.4/10