[Akaneiro] You got Japan in my ARPG! You got ARPG in my Japan!

karmacappakarmacappa Registered User regular
edited January 2013 in Games and Technology
The Basics:
Akaneiro is a new free to play action RPG from Spicy Horse and American McGee. It uses the tale of Red Riding Hood to create an order of demon hunters who fight Japanese demons on the island of Yomi. Your character is an agent of the Order of Akane who is sent to investigate and control an outbreak of demonic influence in the human world. As you progress, you will upgrade your gear, buy additional abilities, and generally kick every demonic butt right back to their own dimension. If you're interested, links are at the end of this post.

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So how does it play?
It's a point and click ARPG, so it is similar in play mechanics to Diablo, Torchlight, or Titan Quest. You play in missions, so you leave the village with a specific destination and goals. On those missions, you collect loot, karma (currency), and add to your completion XP. Once you complete the goals, you return to the village, where you receive your XP for the mission, and bonus karma based on the threat level of the mission.

How many missions are there?
There are 3 missions per area, and will be 8 areas per region. At launch, there will be 5 areas, with 3 more added soon after. Additional regions are planned in the future.

How does Akaneiro do Free To Play?
Karma is the sole currency of Akaneiro. Everything, from unlocking areas, to buying skills, to purchasing equipment, is done with karma. You have a choice of playing the game to earn karma, or buying it outright. It is not pay to win though, as you need to level up to use equipment or purchase skills. Therefore, though you can buy karma, you'll still have to earn the right to use things you purchase by playing the game and earning XP. Players who chose to play for free need only invest a little bit of time to earn that same karma. The principle is that every player has equal access to all the content, regardless of whether they have chosen to pay or play. More specifics of the F2P model here.

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How do skills work?
Your character levels up and gets additional stats in Prowess, Fortitude, and Cunning. Each of these disciplines has associated abilities, weapon masteries, and armor masteries. However, any character can buy abilities and masteries from any discipline. Prowess is focused on doing damage in large area of effect. Fortitude is focused on healing and defense. Cunning is focused on large single target damage. While players can concentrate on the skills/masteries of one discipline, they will often find that the best builds are ones that take complimentary skills from the other disciplines.

The equipment in this is cool!
Yes, there are lots of different types of armor and weapons. You can trick yourself out in gear that makes you look like a geisha, a samurai, a hunter, a british soldier (yeah, that's not a typo), a ninja, or more. There are a lot of different styles you can mix and match.

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Why does this art look like some other games I've seen?
That's because they use the same source material, which is traditional Japanese art. The style of brush strokes, color palette, and design of the spirits is based on actual historical Japanese artwork.

Is there multiplayer?
Not at the moment, but it is a feature Spicy Horse is trying to raise support to implement.

What platforms can I play it on?
Akaneiro is based on the Unity engine. It currently has a web player version and a downloadable BETA PC/MAC version. Android, iOS, and Linux versions are on the table for future ports.

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Can I play it?
Akaneiro is currently in Open Beta. It will run until Jan 16th, when they wipe open beta and take the game down to fix bugs. It will launch about a week after that, which is Jan 23rd.

Is it on Steam?
It's one of the front runners for the next Greenlight batch (Jan 15th).

LINKS?
Akaneiro Web Player
Akaneiro BETA Download for PC/MAC
Akaneiro STEAM Greenlight Page

"In Europe, it's not America."
Scott Kurtz, The Morning After, Aug 31 - 2010
A duck! on

Posts

  • PLAPLA The process.Registered User regular
    This makes me wish that I were better at computer-acquisition and maintenance.

  • karmacappakarmacappa Registered User regular
    It is actually fairly easy on the computer. I have gotten the download client running just fine on a business computer with 4gb of ram and using an Intel HD 3000 graphics that are on the Sandybridge Intel CPUs. Try it out and see how it runs for you.

    "In Europe, it's not America."
    Scott Kurtz, The Morning After, Aug 31 - 2010
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