Developer BINGOBELL
Publisher: PRISMATIKA
Platform: PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S
Tested on: PC
KAKU: Ancient Seal – Review
We first took a look at an Early Access version KAKU: Ancient Seal a little over a year ago. Back then, the game was supposed to go on general release on both PC and consoles in late 2023, but as is often the case, this was postponed. KAKU is still on its way to PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S, with its launch scheduled for Q3 of 2024. This month the PC version left Early Access, however, which seemed like the perfect opportunity to revisit our little caveman friend.
Story
Central to the story is caveman child Kaku, who unwittingly stumbles upon an ancient prophecy involving the elemental spirits that created the world. As is typical for ancient prophecies, our hero just happens to be the Chosen One, and it’s up to him to reunite these elements and prevent a calamity from destroying the world. Fortunately, Kaku doesn’t have to take on this task by himself: throughout his journey, he is accompanied by an adorable flying pig. The story isn’t very original, but it’s simple enough to follow and serves as an adequate way to give context as to why this caveman is exploring both icy tundras and lush jungles. What little dialogue is here is told through subtitles in the cutscenes, and apart from those, there isn’t a whole lot of reading here.
Graphics
We absolutely adore KAKU’s art direction. The character and creature designs are fantastic, and the environments are varied and beautiful. That said, visual performance can be quite iffy. Jagged edges and clipping are fairly common, and we noticed that the frame rate often couldn’t keep up with the on-screen action. The game seemingly tries to mask this with motion blur, but this doesn’t work very well. Even during cutscenes, there were stutters present. Your mileage may vary depending on your hardware, of course, and the performance issues didn’t affect our overall enjoyment of the game, but they were prominent enough to warrant mentioning.
Sound
Since cavemen don’t speak English, there isn’t any real voice acting present in KAKU, with the exception of grunts and groans in the “dialogue” scenes. It works well enough to convey the story, even if you were to ignore the subtitles. The game’s soundtrack is good too and fits with the overarching sense of adventure, even if it feels a little generic.
Gameplay
When we initially looked at KAKU, one of our main observations was that the game clearly took inspiration from modern Legend of Zelda games. That inspiration is still palpable in the general release of BINGOBELL’s open-world ARPG, but it doesn’t feel like it tried to outright copy Nintendo’s homework anymore. It’s not a massive overhaul compared to the Early Access version we looked at, but the extra layers of polish and attention to detail that have gone into the game have really paid off. For one, the focus has shifted more towards platforming. With the game set across different elemental worlds, it really takes advantage of this by providing a wide variety of obstacles to overcome. Now, this is still an RPG first and foremost, so you can’t rely on just your platforming prowess. There are puzzles to solve, bosses to defeat, and a skill tree to master. That skill tree in particular is one of KAKU’s highlights because of how big it is. It’s overwhelming at first when you’re still finding your footing, but you’re able to tailor Kaku to fit your playstyle eventually as you pick up new skills. We’re pretty sure that no two players’ Kaku builds will be exactly the same after completing the game.
In the Early Access version, combat felt oversimplified, but things have noticeably improved in the general release. Beating up enemies is now centered around a satisfying combo system. Additionally, the focus on elemental enemies comes into play, with attacks, weapons, and even bombs that allow you to exploit enemy weaknesses. Speaking of attacks and weapons, KAKU strays away from the typical merchants and instead lets you manage these through a place called the Spirit Realm. Your flying pig can take you here, and it serves as a hub area of sorts. Here you can use raw materials to upgrade gear, unlock abilities, and improve your cooking skills. The meals that Kaku whips up are used for healing and to provide temporary combat buffs.
World exploration hasn’t seen a lot of change, but it didn’t really need to in our opinion. Not only are the different environments beautiful to look at, but they are also brimming with secrets and puzzle-filled ruins. Solving these puzzles typically rewards you with new gear (well, ancient actually, but you get the gist) or other resources so it’s well worth sniffing these out. The world may not be up there with Hyrule in terms of land mass, but it’s still sizeable. Fortunately, there are fast travel towers (sound familiar?) that you can unlock by solving more puzzles. And let’s not forget your piggy companion: he’s invaluable in conquering some of the natural obstacles you come across. With his aid, you can launch across chasms and cross bodies of water.
It isn’t easy to gauge just how long KAKU is, because of the sheer amount of exploration there is to be done here. The main story can be completed in roughly 10 hours, but if you want to sniff out every secret and complete the game’s challenge dungeons as well, we’re guessing you can spend several dozen hours before you have seen everything. Thanks to the varied skill tree, you can also replay the game with different builds, although this is probably a game you’d revisit every few years rather than immediately restart after completing it. That said, the game offers tremendous value, even at its €24.50 RRP.
If there’s one aspect where KAKU’s gameplay does fall flat, then it is one that permeates the entirety of the game. For as fantastic of an open-world RPG as it is, it feels very derivative. We appreciate the effort that went into pushing the game away from being an outright Breath of the Wild clone. However, the things added here just brought KAKU closer to other open-world games instead, like Immortals or Kingdoms of Alamur, rather than finding an identity of its own. Don’t get us wrong, we really enjoyed what was on offer here, but there isn’t a shred of originality to be found here. KAKU basically feels like the supermarket’s own version of a big brand product.
Conclusion
Although KAKU may not be entirely up there with the biggest AAA open-world ARPGs, what you’re getting here is more than adequate. The game doesn’t bring anything new to the table in terms of gameplay or story, but it is a lot of fun, with the highlights being combat and exploration. The fact that it comes in at half the price of the titles it takes inspiration from helps too. KAKU may feel like a Great Value version of bigger brands, but its quality is up there with the best of ‘em.
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