Akatori Preview

Some time last year, I came across Contrast Games' Akatori, a side-scrolling metroidvania where players take on the role of Mako, a girl who embarks on a journey to save all the worlds from the Amber Storms. Its fast-paced gameplay and beautiful artstyle looked like a mix of Hollow Knight and Celeste; shortly thereafter, it became one of my most-anticipated titles. So when I was offered the opportunity to preview it, it didn't take much convincing to sit me in front of the PC TO try it out.

The build I got to trial out has players controlling Mako from what seems to be the beginning of the experience. The very first thing I noticed was the stunning look, as Akatori opens up to a 2D pixelated cutscene with a parallax background to die for.

The short tutorial teaches the basics of gameplay, as the game taught me how to fight, rest to recover health, dash, and the overall movement that we've all familiarised ourselves with. It's short and serviceable, quickly introducing us to our protagonist, our goal… only to skip ahead.

The preview build available takes players through four different scenes, each taking place in different parts of the game. At one point, I was at the Firebird Temple, which was being attacked, and then the next, I was in a beautiful Eastern-themed location that emphasised vertical movement. Then, I was in a quick underwater chase sequence against the snake boss shown off in the Steam page, and then I was in a Lovecraftian-like space setting, fighting another boss.

It feels like a highlight reel of "Mako's greatest", but one problem I took with this approach is that I felt a bit disconnected from the experience. Speaking to broken mirrors, Mako would talk about the feats she accomplished there (likely a teaser for the full launch) and then move on to the next scene, which felt a bit ungratifying to experience.

I played through the given demo three times to ensure I wasn't missing anything, and on my second playthrough, I browsed through the menus to find a few abilities. Our protagonist can cast some powerful attacks by expending some of her stamina, and the preview build had a vast selection of them on hand, offering the likes of charge attacks, down smashes, and even finishers.

The build itself doesn't outright tell you these are available, so they were evidently missing in the overall combat by the time I reached the second scene. It shows the potential of the battling that Akatori has in store, and it vastly improved the fights once I started utilising these tricks.

However, it's hard to say that the battling was "there" yet. Despite having access to finisher moves at the end of my combo, combat felt inconsequential whether I was utilising the staff or fists — I wanted more oomph in my whacks and more speed in my punches.

Taking on the role of a battle monk, I didn't feel the strength I'd wanted to without depending on the various abilities available, which, though it does its job, meant I was relying on tricks. The final combo hit wasn't enough to deal with most grunts on the battlefield, so the game required a short cooldown period between my attacks, opening me up to a hit.

While this is something I've gotten used to in the likes of Hollow Knight, in Akatori, it feels contrasting to the skill that Mako has, as ending a combo with a strong finisher meant I had to flee from my opponent to recharge, only to finish them off with the second of three hits. It made the final blow in my combo inconsequential, as oftentimes, it was a random move that would end my opponent.

The slow speed of combat didn't change when I was introduced to fighting with the fists, either. The two styles feel nearly identical, with just a change in animations to represent your different weapons. There was no mechanical change, and no need for me to alter my playstyle accordingly — I would do an aerial combo to do a three-hit attack quickly, and then promptly move to a three-hit attack on the ground to stunlock enemies.

This is only a problem whenever fighting overworld mobs, however, as the final boss battle of the preview build felt far more engaging. The flying enemy had a few attack patterns that were predictable; though they weren't difficult to dodge, the onslaught of foes attacking me offered a change of pace from keeping a close eye on the boss' movements.

Verticality seems to be a big emphasis in Akatori, and by the time I'd reached the finale, I was well-familiarised with aerial combat. Three-hit combos whilst airborne magnetise to the enemy and feel punchy, even if they're a bit weaker than ground attacks. But the lack of skills that would allow me to hit upwards felt like a vastly missing element in my toolkit — it didn't take long getting used to, but I did yearn for the chance to hit my foe from below as a final "screw you" on my way down to the floor.

However, I was a big fan of the attacks on display — using the combo abilities offered for stamina resulted in strong, impactful moves. Not all of these were as flashy as the downward thrust — a quick, three-hit combo after a dodge did more damage than a combo from neutral.

I liked these, but they don't feel impactful enough to earn the damage they're dealing — it shifts Akatori into an ability-based fighter, but the attacks aren't flashy enough to warrant their strength. It's a minor complaint, but it made my feeling of power feel disjointed at times, and using the downwards thrust on the final demo boss obliterated the poor flying monstrosity before it could enter phase two.

After my preview build experience, comparing this to Hollow Knight is a bit off. Readable attack patterns and combo-based combat veer from the soulslike metroidvania, and that's not to say it's a bad thing — Akatori is just a high-action platformer rather than a tough-as-nails experience.

My hope for the future is that Contrast Games leans stronger into whichever side they want the game to be: hard, precision-based combat or a nigh–spectacle fighter battle fantasy. The current in-between feels like it's missing a bit of oomph to go either way.