Akatori, an Agile Metroidvania with Great Potential – PC Preview

It's been quite some time since the first announcement of Akatori. The work by Contrast Games was presented towards the end of 2020, with a release planned for 2022. At the time, it was still called DeathStick, and TeamNora Games was at the helm. We don't know what happened in the interim, but it seems to have finally resolved its directorial issues, and a demo will be arriving on Steam in just a few days. How is it?

Let's start with the obvious: yes, it's another 2D metroidvania. What does it do well to stand out from the crowd? It's hard to say at the moment; the trial version is extremely short and focuses purely on gameplay. What shines through, however, is not bad at all.

Mako: Agility and Precision Platforming

Contrast Games has assembled a series of disconnected levels, eliminating any narrative elements to provide a small taste of the framework that will support the full adventure. As Mako, a young nun, we must defeat creatures distorted by the Amber Storm, soaring through the air and stomping monsters with her trusty staff.

The game's adopted structure is not yet clear. The protagonist's abilities have been spread out to allow access to a homogeneous kit in just a few minutes, but judging by their number and the presence of a map (not accessible) among the menu items, it's likely we'll be dealing with classic interconnected and pseudo-labyrinthine environments.

The proposed rooms are very spacious and allow full use of Mako's acrobatic abilities, who boasts remarkable agility and a rather wide range of options. Her movements are immediate and reactive, almost nervous, ideal if you like uncompromising precision platformers. Mako can reach dizzying heights with a double jump, cling to walls, dash and glide mid-air, swing and launch herself from swaying poles, and the level design is perfectly crafted to emphasize each technique and encourage the player to chain them together.

The execution windows are quite narrow, and this will certainly become a problem when the most infamous challenges arise, if any. Despite a chase with a giant snake and a confrontation with a horde of attackers, including a boss, the Akatori demo isn't that difficult, and we even have a lot of healing potions (although the minor ones are useless).

It might take a while, however, to get familiar with the combat system. Mako can attack both on the ground and in the air and disengage in both cases with a dash, even in the middle of a combo and with i-frames. Enemies, on the other hand, have somewhat strange ways of anticipating their moves, and the invulnerability period after being hit is close to zero. No big deal, with all the agility we have, it's best to take off at the first sign of a response and resume the assault immediately after; against aerial targets in particular, it's a blast. I expect tougher adversaries, but not patterns to memorize or timings in the order of tenths of a second. Be aware, however, that you can send projectiles back to the sender.

Akatori's Technique: Hybrid Graphics and Solid Performance

From a technical standpoint, Akatori offers a colorful graphic style that combines pixel art for characters and background elements, with 3D models for environments and larger enemies. The locations are evocative and rich in detail, and performance is solid. Some doubts about a couple of collisions with spikes in the underwater sections, but you move so quickly that it was probably my fault. The only drawback: the on-screen command prompts are incorrect. Funny, in the options the commands are reported correctly. Minor stuff anyway.

In short, not much has been seen of Contrast Games' title, but the foundations are there and the execution looks promising. I reserve a more detailed opinion for the final version, but for now, consider me interested. If you also want to take a look at this intriguing metroidvania, you can download the Akatori demo in a few days during the Steam Next Fest.