Review from "TheRPGmakerAddict" from the RPG Maker.net homepage:
"Good day
and welcome to play something really different from the usual games:
"Team JethKo - Knee Deep" is an RPG Maker 2003 adventure game created by Norpoleon, about two investigators, Jethro Adimari and Aoko Kitamoto in Chillcottin City. The game is divided into four chapter/cases that the due has to investigate, but who are those two?
Jethro Adimari is a journalist that is fired in the intro, so he decide to take a camera and a gun, and start investigating some killings that are happening in town, since the police of Chillcottin City is inept. Aoko looks like a more cheerful and talkative version of the Kimiko from the Boys: an apparently innocent but extremely violent oriental girl, that assists Jethro in his adventures. She starts unarmed (still she can throws grenades!), but she likes breaking the fourth wall, comics and using machetes or chainsaws, and she is deadly with them!
Setting: Now, the world: the game is set in a strange city where mysteries and weird things abound, a mix between Sam & Max and some other adventure/investigative RPG Maker 2003 games I played, in particular the trilogy composed by these three titles: "Mystery Falls" / "Similar Mountains" / "Deadly Woods", that similarly propose a world full of mysteries and conspiracies but also including some humor.
Unlike the games I mentioned, while these are set in a more modern mystery/horror setting inspired by Twin Peaks, the world of "Team JethKo - Knee Deep" is a more cyberpunk-ish one, with hackers, ufo, androids (but also some mutants that seems to come straight out Lisa: the Painful!) existing side to side with some less modern items like typewriters and old cars.
For some reasons, maybe the first person view, the investigative theme and the futuristic world, it also reminds to me of 2064: Read Only Memories. I do not know if this was among the sources of inspiration, what I am sure is that the game borrows something from Hotline Miami: the top down view for exploring gritty modern locations like the crime scenes and the urban dungeons.
Gameplay:Yes, there are dungeons in this game, and it's clear from the (very cool) intro that our heroes have also to fight criminals, from normal thugs to monsters and supernatural serial killers, that act as fine chapter bosses and will provide some tough challenge, but also offer a great reward in terms of cash and experience points. Ok, it's true that there is an area, the park, where you can grind, but there enemies are rather weak and do not provide lots of cash and experience, by the way I did not find the need to spend much time there, once I had some of the best weapons available. Uhm I guess I struggled only with the very first boss (probably because Jethro had just his gun and Aoko had nothing. With the earned cash I bough the chainsaw and later I got a third party member, and everything changed!), even if I defeated him on my first try, it's true that there isn't plenty of consumables or locations to heal or restore (there are none, from what I noticed... just shops), anyway it's not a really combat focused game (except for some obligatory sections where technically you CAN avoid most random enemies), it's an adventure!
Saving is also limited to some installations you will find in dungeons and in some locations like the headquarters of the Team JethKo.
Speaking of locations, you have a top down view of the map of the city with some places that you can visit, some are added or removed after each chapter. The team travels around in a red and white Iso Isetta car, entering the various locations were we can explore and interact with items and people choosing between various actions like : "Pick up", "Talk to" or "Investigate" but also "go to the Pub" or "enter the Mall" when we can enter other locations inside the various city blocks. Finally there is the "Use" option when we can use something that we have inside the inventory. Mind that IF you have to use something from the inventory during the top down (Hotline Miami-style) sections you will have to instead press Esc to open the menu.
I am cruising around town in my Isetta!
The enigmas and tasks are all pretty much simple (just collect the clues and feed the computer with them!) even if not always intuitive, I mean during a particular case I had to check the walkthrough (when you have to find a body, and I think that stumbling on it is pretty random! You need luck, or a walkthrough!), for the rest I was able to guess most of the solutions... thanks to the bum of the underground station that is always helpful with his advices and hints, that in any case are just indications and will never explain plainly what you are supposed to do! Anyway he helps a lot!
Music and Sounds:During the whole adventure you will also listen to some music that... I did not recognize but it's pretty catchy and good as it fits the atmosphere of the various moments, except for a specific map (done on purpose since also Aoko commented that!). Anyway there are also some moments that are strangely silent, but ok. But besides music there are also weird sounds, voices and other noises, all custom made!
The bad:Unfortunately it's not all good, since, besides the font that's not always easily readable, I found a couple of errors: for example in chapter two, if you go to the countryside you cannot use the car to leave meaning that you will be stuck there! Also the menu charset of Aoko in te last parts of the game it becomes the car, but this isn't really a problem, unlike the dreaded bin section: in that part you have to grab an object inside a bin, guiding the hand and avoiding glass shards and germs... the problems are three: the first is that you are no faster then them, the second is that the path is narrow, and the final problem is that touch one and it's instant Game Over! Uh I hated that part, the best strategy is approaching the germs "diagonally" since there is only vertical and horizontal movement, and move AS they move, so they cannot intercept you. Anyway that part was really TRASH (literally and not literally!), the only good thing is that it seems to be optional so hopefully it's unnecessary to finish the game. Still it helps!
Yes, this game is linear but includes some optional parts and extra rooms that may offer extra cash, items, weapons and a companion, still I'm not sure I've seen 100% of the game since there are some things that were left unclear... maybe for a sequel?
The best: Ok, so far I wrote what I liked and what I did not like, but now it's time for the AWESOME! Yes, because I simply loved the custom graphics. This game uses a stylish mix of pictures and drawings, and sometimes even pictures with drawings over them, there are cutscenes, some of these animated and a real cool aspect: almost every character is drawn (and often has various "versions"), but they have a photorealistic faceset that still more or less matches his/her appearance. And what about the battlers that have different animations depending on the weapon used? Or the cool looking maps? Oh yes, cool is a good way to define this "Team JethKo - Knee Deep", but it's late, let's read the final verdict!
"Team JethKo - Knee Deep" is a great adventure game inside a colorful but grim futuristic world. I probably don't have to specify, but being a game all about investigating killers' homicides it involves blood, violence (never gratuitous or exaggerated), feet pics and also drugs (despite the cartoonish nature). This isn't a lighthearted game, but it's also not a game without irony or comedy, it has a bit of everything (it's a game of contrasts) and overall I liked the story. Clearly those players who like the classic adventure games like Sam & Max will appreciate it more, since the game is about going around back and forth, getting useful items to obtain clues.
The first two chapters felt a bit longer than the last two, and the final one is especially short, but it's also because in the first two cases you have more locations to visit, and you have to learn what is present in each of one, before starting to put together the pieces of the puzzle (I admit that at first I believed the game was only the first chapter! I was happy to be corrected!).
Sigh! I wrote too much! Anyway it's obvious that this for me it's a great game with some little or minor flaws (and also a bit unsure about some events of the game, but maybe I missed something!), but for the most part I enjoyed it very much! I can recommend this, and I will!"
4/5 stars!!