[If you would rather watch or listen to this review, you can check the video down below. Additionally, you can check out the gameplay footage that I'll post at a later time this evening (or tomorrow at the latest.)]
Although you might brush this game off from one screenshot, looks can often be deceiving. As a case in point, we’re going to talk about a quaint yet surprisingly impressive demo for a puzzle game by the name of Akurra. Now why is this demo so special? It took me a little over two hours to complete 96% of the whole experience—and that doesn’t include all the other puzzles that are inaccessible as of the time of this build. Bear in mind that this game had a Kickstarter only a month ago, and this demo is only the very beginning for what is already shown to be one of the most impressive puzzle games I’ve recently played.
However, we’re getting ahead of ourselves, so let’s go into more detail about the game itself. Upon first glances, Akurra is a traditional puzzle game in the vein of games like Sokoban or other block-puzzle games, but the real cleverness involves the overworld map. Taking cues from classics like Ittle Dew, The Witness, and the original Legend of Zelda, Akurra combines free-form exploration with solving puzzles at the player’s pace to carve their own path through the world. Previous areas are meant to be revisited after the player obtains new methods of solving puzzles, and there are always various gates throughout the overworld to let players know what they should be working towards. While this design never gives you complete freedom like The Witness or Stephen Sausage Roll, this design still obscures the intended route as well as providing additional rewards for observant players.
Now this game isn’t the first to try this approach as I’ve illustrated many other games with similar foundations, but the most surprising thing is that this game only uses your movement keys to solve puzzles. At first, you might think this limitation would quickly overstay its welcome, yet the puzzles continue to add new obstacles to test what you already know. Furthermore, this design does not impede your exploration because you will always have the means to solve every puzzle unless that room is tied to a checkpoint that you will soon unlock. As a result, these discoveries feel even more genuine because the game never holds your hand and all the information you will need is presented visually without text. If I had any complaints, I might suggest that some accessibility options could be included for the colored buttons and bells because the symbols are difficult to identify. Otherwise, this game has a solid enough foundation that the only complaint someone might have is its adherence to traditional puzzles.
Before we discuss that matter, there are some problems with the demo worth mentioning because they needlessly confuse players with what is and isn’t possible. Some areas are not meant to be solved, but there is no clear distinction until you have tried everything. The only suggestion you are given is from the Zelda-esque mini-map, which will inform players what items are left in the given area. You have to directly pause the game in order to view it, so chances are you’ll bring this screen up only after exhausting all possible solutions. Secondly, there is no world map out at sea to inform players where any remaining items are located, so you will have to either remember the location or jot the thought down on paper. Additionally, you are not told the total number of items in the demo, which can make it difficult to figure out what is there left to do when there are many temporary dead ends. While these complaints will be absent in the full game, you could easily resolve most of these issues with a completion chart.
Now those are problems only specific to the demo itself, so what else is there left to criticize? As I’ve mentioned beforehand, Akurra doesn’t reinvent what you would expect from this genre, so you will be solving your typical box-puzzles with familiar modifiers. In this demo, you come across pitfalls, teleporters, crystals that block off your routes, rolling statues, buttons, and even a doppelganger at one point. Some puzzles utilize these mechanics to solve more unique ones specific to the island or for another secret, which typically reward you with a star, the main currency for progression. All in all, you won’t find anything here to revolutionize the genre, and the mechanics are utilized so well that I might even argue the game itself is perfect—or perhaps complete is a more appropriate word. However, if I had to criticize any one puzzle, it would be the only doppelganger sequence because there is no progression, so it may come across as an unfair difficulty spike, but there are multiple solutions for that room based on where you enter.
Besides that one moment and the issues exclusive to the demo, there is honestly nothing stopping this game from becoming a classic for puzzle fanatics who don’t mind its use of conventions. In an era where most puzzle games rely on a novel concept to stand out, Akurra relies on its free-form nature and its minimalistic approach to inspire pure curiosity from the audience. If that description alone is enough to entice you, then perhaps you too should set sail and try out the demo or wait until the final release set to embark for next year.
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