Review: Akuma Rise (Nintendo Switch)
There are many ways in which retro JRPGs can distinguish themselves from one another: story, battle systems, character art. KEMCO’s Akuma Rise chose to do so with the color purple.
Honestly, look at the screen caps. Have you ever seen many purple and pink hues in an RPG? It’s not something that factored into my enjoyment of the game and, therefore, this review, but it sure does help the game stand out.
And that’s good, because not much else does.
Case in point? The game begins with our protagonist, Kaine, awakening on a beach with no memory of who he is or how he got there. Considering how many RPGs start this way, I wonder if developers think we’re all suffering from amnesia and aren’t tired of the trope.
At least this time, however, we’re the demons in the demon world. Specifically, the Shadow Realm, which has lost its Overlord. This has caused rival demonic factions to turn against each other, and has also opened it to attack from the Radiant Realm, where our typical heroes live. It’s up to Kaine and friends to hold the world together while piecing together his past.
Doing so, of course, means traversing an overworld full of villages to explore, sidequests to pick up, and random battles to encounter. Many of the side and story quests will take you into dungeons filled with treasure, puzzles, and dead ends.
Of course, there are numerous battles in the depths, too, and I’ll get to those in a bit. I know random battles are a sticking point for many players, but they’re also required to keep your characters leveled up for the more difficult boss battles. Or, they would be if it weren’t for the DLC you can purchase to speed up the experience earned in combat or the damage inflicted. I’m all for allowing gamers to pay a bit extra to ease progression, if so inclined, but it seems KEMCO has upped the price for this luxury. Thankfully, you’re not likely to need it. Akuma Rise is a pretty easy adventure.
It can also be a pretty entertaining one. This is, in part, due to the characters you meet along the way.
As with many games developed by Exe Create, it often seems the party members are trying too hard to be entertaining. The dialogue comes across as stilted, like everyone’s vying to be the most entertaining person in the room as if in a Disney sitcom. They succeed enough, though, to become a fun group of people to adventure with by the game’s end. Both the story and the conversations therein become better as the party picks up members (although I’ll never understand why women in video games always develop feelings for the amnesiac dude).
The combat becomes better, too. Akuma Rise implements the typical turn-based system of allowing party members to use standard attacks or more powerful orb skills. The latter is powered by orbs the characters obtain and equip, allowing for plenty of configuration customization.
Orbs grow more powerful as they’re used in combat, making most battles relevant to some degree. There are also unique POW skills that can be built up and unleashed for major damage when used correctly.
What I really enjoyed, though, is the 3×3 grid placement of the party and enemies. Some attacks affect just one square on the grid, while others can damage multiple squares. This forces the player to be smart with the orb and POW skills to make sure their effects aren’t wasted, and to be careful with party setup, too.
This also factors into the boss battles, as do the various skills at your disposal. I can’t recall a game where the majority of bosses weren’t immune to your available debuffs. In Akuma Rise, the bosses can actually be defeated by good strategy as opposed to over-leveling.
All of the game’s elements come together pretty well, making for a fun time. But it’s not a very distinctive time. Even with the minor tweaks, KEMCO players will feel they’ve been here before. They’ve explored these lands, they’ve travelled with these characters, and they’ve fought these battles. But, as I’ve said before, there’s a comfort to that. I prefer to get my nostalgia fix by playing games like those from my past, not the ones that are from my past, and Akuma Rise gave me that.
And a whole lot of purple.
