HomeNewsRealm of Ink
You can pet the Ink
Image credit:Leap Studio/Maple Leaf Studio
Image credit:Leap Studio/Maple Leaf Studio
Hadesis one of the many GOTY award winners I feel extremely guilty about barely spending any time with. I think I’ve played a couple of hours tops. Nobody must know! Oh drat. Anyway, despite my lack of expertise, the Supergiant action-roguelite was the first comparison that came to mind while watching the trailer forRealm of Ink, which has just been announced.
It makes use of a similar angled perspective, appears similarly focussed on build customisation, with hundreds of magic items to equip, and sees you playing out the backstories of various mythological personalities - derived, in this case, not fromAncient Greecebut China and Buddhism.
Realm of Ink - Official TrailerWatch on YouTube
Realm of Ink - Official Trailer
Fortunately for philosophy-phobes, the majority of these existential ponderings appear to be framed as the act of clobbering things very hard. Red and two other unlockable playable characters must fight through four realms, each with its guardian boss, gathering treasures that bestow attribute bonuses, while exploring the nuances of various martial arts schools.
Image credit:Leap Studio/Maple Leaf Studio
The character progression seems to be a mixture of limited-to-each-run and longer-term. You’ll collect Ink Gems that “enhance” how you play, though I’m a bit unclear on how exactly - does each correspond to a special ability? There will be 20 in all, and you can equip two at once, mixing and matching them to create different builds. Ink Gems accompany Ink Pets, companion creatures with their own buffs and abilities, which have different appearances depending on which Gems you have equipped.
The game’s swish inky art direction is its obvious silver bullet, or perhaps, silver rope javelin. I feel like we’re reaching saturation point for games that try to look like paintings, but this is appealing to the eyes all the same.
Speaking of appealing to the eyes, I guess if we’re going to position this as a Hadesalike, we should rate the hotness of the characters? There’s a buff monkey dude and a sultry fox lady in there, but I’m not sure any of them are Tumblr-worthy. The voice-acting is certainly lacking in the come-hither stakes. Still, I’ll let the internet’s fan artists make the final call. Here’s theSteam page.
