Akatori Review - Speak Softly & Carry a Big METROIDVANIA!
- Ole Gamer Joe
- 2 hours ago
- 7 min read
2026 has felt noticeably lighter on Metroidvania releases, especially for us at I Dream of Indie Games, where covering one every couple of weeks has practically become tradition. So when Akatori arrived in our inbox, it was oddly refreshing. That said, Akatori is better described as "Metroidvania-lite." It certainly includes the genre staples: an explorable map, discoverable upgrades, and plenty of bosses to tackle, but it opts for a more streamlined experience. Hardcore fans of the genre may scoff at its simplicity, while more casual players could appreciate its straightforward, accessible approach that's often closer to a standard 2D action platformer. Thus, because this game aims to keep it simple, I'll try not to overstuff this review, sorry, I’m old.
Akatori centers on Mako, a young girl wielding a magical staff and tasked with ending the toxic Amber Storms plaguing her world. This is no ordinary staff, either. Sealed within it is a magical bird, fittingly named Akatori. Hey, that’s the title of the game! Our feathery companion has a voice of their own, and over the course of this roughly 10–15 hour adventure, the pair grow closer than a pair of balls, frequently bickering and bantering throughout gameplay.
While the story itself leans generic, I did enjoy many of the interactions between the two leads. The dialogue isn't particularly sharp, but the dynamic between Mako and Akatori carries a kind of mystical buddy-cop energy that's easy to appreciate. Unfortunately, the rest of the cast isn't nearly as engaging, and the main plotline didn't do much for me beyond pushing the adventure forward. The world itself, however, is a beautiful one, with five unique areas to explore. I wish some of the NPCs had a few more interesting things to talk about, but eh, they are NPCs for a reason I suppose.
The first thing you'll notice about Akatori is just how drop-dead gorgeous it is. Like, holy fuck, this game really surprised me in the best of ways with its stylistic approach. Blending 2D pixel art with 3D backdrops, each location feels lush, vibrant, and, more often than not, beautifully animated. From green shrubbery swaying in the wind to caverns glowing with light, the art direction evokes some of the great 32-bit era titles. Games like Xenogears and Klonoa come to mind: nostalgic in flavor, yet with a modern sheen that smooths out some of the rough edges that era was known for. Akatori is truly beautiful to gaze upon from beginning to end, great stuff art team, or should I say, great staff!
Fear not, Akatori isn’t all style as there is also some substance here too. Much of the gameplay is exactly what players would expect. Mako can thwack enemies with her staff (eventually), but she'll also need to rely heavily on her platforming abilities, which she has quite a few of. It's your standard Metroidvania setup: explore new areas to unlock fresh paths, hunt down treasures and secrets, including optional hidden cats of which there are 20, and tackle quests as they appear ever so neatly in your log.
There's a puzzle or two mixed in as well, if you even want to call them that. These diversions are extremely simple to solve. Toss your staff at a switch, flip a few panels, that's about the extent of things. Hey, ya gotta switch things up a little bit.
Akatori's map is well-designed, simple to follow, and refreshingly uncluttered, avoiding the overabundance of symbols and confusing markers that often plague the genre. It strikes a nice balance between guiding the player and letting exploration feel organic, making navigation, to my surprise, one of the game's more enjoyable elements.
That said, there isn't as much room to get lost here as there typically is in a Metroidvania. The pacing is brisk, secrets aren't especially plentiful, and the game rarely demands the kind of deep backtracking or intricate route planning that genre veterans might crave. Instead, Akatori keeps players moving forward at a fairly rapid pace. I personally didn't mind this approach, but I could see it being disappointing for some players who like to dick around and run into the same wall 50 times, only to say, “OH, I think I’ve been here before!”
The platforming itself feels solid. Mako's jumps are fluid, (eww, why did I choose that word) and I enjoyed putting her new abilities to use: floating through wind currents with her staff, clinging to walls, and hopping between them just to name a few. You'll even need to swim a bit during certain sections of gameplay, where you have limited breath to survive. Suddenly I'm getting flashbacks to Sonic, OT AH! These sections weren't my favorite, but hey, swimming in games doesn't have the best track record historically, so I'll forgive some of the jank. It still beats playing Ecco the Dolphin! Sorry, I had to take a dig at ya Ecco fans, I know lots of people love that game, I'm just not one of them. It’s freakin’ weird.
Combat is also decent, if a bit unremarkable, built around standard attacks, a dodge roll, and not really much else. There's a charge attack Mako can use, which also busts down certain doors, as well as a launcher attack, but things never get all that deep or combo-heavy, which maybe I wouldn’t have minded a bit more of. Boss battles fare better though, mixing the game's platforming elements into their patterns in clever ways, but your typical encounters are... well, kind of blah and mostly a means to collect currency, which you’ll need to buy stuff, more on that in a sec.
You're given only a small handful of enemy types to contend with. Some fire projectiles, some fly straight at you, and many, frankly, don't do much of anything upon first encounter before suddenly striking you out of nowhere and taking half your health. Sadly some of these foes seemed to have earned their degree at the Al Bundy institute of stupidity.
Difficulty spikes might be my biggest issue with Akatori. You're given four difficulty options, but I never found a way to adjust them mid-playthrough once the choice was made. Had I known that even basic enemies would deal absurd amounts of damage, I might've gone with Story Mode instead. I chose Confrontation, which is supposed to be the equivalent of normal, and ended up dying countless times, forced to replay the same stretches over and over ad nauseam. Mercifully, there are plenty of checkpoints scattered throughout the world, and death itself doesn't come with any major penalties outside of losing your Chaos, another thing I promise I will talk about.
Even with its leniency, Akatori can be plenty annoying. Cheap hits can wipe you out instantly, random chase sequences are absolutely brutal to learn, and bosses can be downright infuriating as you're forced to repeat the same encounters over and over. I consider myself of average skill and patience, so I was willing to adapt, but fair warning: if you're a more casual fan of the genre, Akatori is far from easy sledding and can be genuinely frustrating at times. Those who enjoy a stiff challenge, however, will likely appreciate the satisfaction of eventually mastering the game's mechanics.
Speaking of mechanics, Akatori does have a few interesting ideas of its own. You'll collect currency from fallen foes and come across shops where you can purchase healing potions and other tinctures that will help give you an edge in combat. This isn't inherently different from countless other releases, but what is a bit of a change is that Chaos I touched on earlier.
This is a separate purple meter at the top of the screen (Side note, was Sunny Delight purple once or did I imagine that?) which can be filled, allowing you to ring bells scattered throughout the map to unlock new abilities. There's another catch, though: you'll be transported to a different realm as if you’re about to take part in MORTAL KOMBAT, locked into an arena-style battle where you must clear out every enemy before gaining your reward. Personally, I thought earning Chaos on its own was enough of a challenge, especially since you lose it each time you use a rest spot, and didn't feel the need for these sometimes obnoxious sections to exist. They weren’t fun in the least.
Akatori's sound design is pleasant enough. Whether it be the cute grunts of Mako as she hops about, the echoes through caverns, or the ringing of bells, the game evokes a lovely atmosphere accompanied by a sparse, Eastern-influenced soundtrack that's adaptive to the situations you find yourself in. I can't say there were any major standout compositions here, as even during this review process I had to go back and remind myself what some of the songs sounded like, but overall, the game is pretty both visually and aurally.
Great news on the performance front, too. Due to having to be away from home, I was forced to play Akatori on my Nitro 5 laptop, which is far from a beast. To my surprise, after updating the drivers, the game ran like butter, even at framerates above 60 FPS. A few skips here or there, but commendable optimization. This bodes well for those of you who wish to play on lighter hardware, or hopefully the soon-to-be-released console versions.
Steam Deck is sadly not the best way to play currently unless you're okay with some pretty severe framerate spikes when traversing different areas. Playable depending on your tolerance, but far from ideal. As far as options go, there's really not much here outside of changing resolution and the usual settings, though like I said, I would appreciate the option to change difficulties in-game at some point because this bitch gets TOUGH.
While Akatori isn't perfect, it offers a solid Metroidvania experience that keeps things basic. The visuals and sound are very impressive, there's some decent combat and clever boss encounters, a few secrets to discover, and an easy-to-follow map that makes for a streamlined experience.
Sure, hardcore fans of the genre probably won't get a ton out of this one, and the difficulty spikes can even be off-putting to more casual players on the normal setting, but I still had some fun exploring this world and getting to know Mako and Akatori, even if I shouted at my screen once or twice... or 20 times. It's a well-made product overall that's worth checking out, and I look forward to seeing more from this talented developer in the future. I am awarding Akatori the Bronze Genie Lamp of Approval.
Pros
Gorgeous visuals
Strong environmental design
Clean, readable map
Accessible progression
Fun platforming
Good, though VERY TOUGH boss fights
Mako & Akatori are cute enough characters
Excellent optimization on lower end PCs
Plenty of checkpoints
Cons
Generic story
Weak supporting cast
Basic combat
Poor enemy AI in spots
Low enemy variety
Weak Puzzle design
Chaos arenas aren’t fun
Harsh difficulty spikes
No mid-game difficulty adjustment
Limited Metroidvania depth
Steam Deck performance wasn’t great
