There is something inherently eye-catching, at least to me, about calligraphy and inkbrush art. That particular aesthetic was impressive even before games like Okami came out. Feels kind of a shame that more games haven’t used it, or used it well. But Leap Studio seems to be working on a title which not only builds up a visually enticing world, but one which feels coherent.
In Realm of Ink, you start off as Red, a swordswoman in a bamboo forest trying to hunt down a fox demon. The hunt does not quite go successfully, and not for the reasons you might think. Turns out Red is trapped in a book by a nameless entity, referred to only as “It.” She’s going to have to fight her way to the end of the book, and past it, to escape. The good news, she’s making new friends and picking up all sorts of useful items to help her try to reach the last chapter. The bad news: if she dies, it’s right back to page one for her. But at least she’s got a place to rest up and feed her funny little blob of ink she calls a pet between read-throughs.
It’s tempting to look at Realm of Ink and immediately think “kung-fu Hades clone.” But it’s not nearly that simple. If anything, it’s a lot stricter, since Hades let you start at later floors instead of having to go through the first zones over and over again. Realm of Ink requires a fresh start every time, and nothing really carries over. That said, you can make stat related upgrades to your character which persist through subsequent playthroughs. Some of them will provide you a bit of gear when starting a new runthrough, but it’s definitely more stingy than Hades. Your only constant companion is your ink pet, Momo. As you progress through each chapter, you’ll find “ink stones” with different special abilities. Two stones are required to upgrade your basic pet into something specialized and quite dangerous. Ink stones all start at a basic level at first, but better ones can be found as you progress, or they can be broken down and used to upgrade your existing ink stones, though the costs get increasingly higher with each iteration. Along the way, you’ll run into vendors who will sell you food to restore lost health, upgrade ink stones, and sell you widgets to further enhance your abilities.
Visually speaking, Realm of Ink looks lovely. There’s a lot of Asian art influences in virtually every element, from the UI to the environments to monster and character designs. Some of it leans more towards a shoujo manga/anime tone in spots, but overall, it’s an engaging aesthetic. You’re never left guessing where the enemy attacks will be falling, though you might understandably lose track of them in a sufficiently frenzied battle. Enemies are varied and each definitely fits their particular chapter area. The bosses and mini-bosses are equally well designed and certainly feel like residents of their respective zones. As for the UI, it also fits the aesthetic, though the currently missing information about ink stones does hamper its effectiveness slightly.
The audio elements of Realm of Ink are pretty good. Every battle brings a variety of different sound effects to the mix, from sword strikes to flying monsters impacting on the ground. The voice acting is quite good, both in English and in Mandarin. Could use a little work on the delivery here and there, but overall, a decent set of performances. If there’s any complaint here, it’s that the music doesn’t quite shine like it probably ought to. It’s good, but for some reason, it’s quieter than it probably should be, even when the volume sliders are all the way up. Whether this is a technical or aesthetic issue, I’m not sure, but it deserves to be heard more readily.
Gameplay for Realm of Ink is a roguelike, to be sure. Your first two or three runs are probably going to be nasty, brutish, and short because you haven’t unlocked all the points in the Inn. Once you do get them unlocked, and get a couple more runs under your belt, things will start to move a little faster and become more productive. Certain upgrades can be purchased at the “Talent Stele” with a currency earned by clearing rooms and beating bosses, though it feels like some of those talents (particularly health regeneration) either aren’t working right or they’re working but not explained very well. Beyond that, players can earn a currency to unlock different “skins,” based upon the other residents of the Inn and with their own particular inherent buffs. Each of them points you towards a different sort of play style.
Going through the chapters, you’ll be presented with choices about which path you want to take, though at the moment there doesn’t seem to be any actual delineation or differentiation from the rooms themselves visually, save for the occasional “Trial” rooms which require you to either protect an item or do a lot of dodging. Depending on the room, your rewards will be either in the form of Perks (special items attached to your character), Elixirs (general buffs), Silver Coins (useful for purchasing Perks or restoring health in “rest stop” rooms), or Ink Stones. Defeating end-bosses also gives you an option to pick up special “martial arts” buffs which modify your basic attacks in very specific ways. Periodically, residents of the Inn and rest areas will pop in at the end of a room and offer you special deals for unique Perks, needed refills of the health bar, or even a “cursed” Perk which promises a big bump with a monkey’s paw drawback to it. The choices are at least as agonizing as what you might find in Hades.
All in all, Realm of Ink has gotten off to a solid start at this point. The art style is eye-catching, the characters whimsical, and the action intense. We’ll see if it can keep the good stuff going while it makes its way to the final evolution for its official release.
Axel reviewed Realm of Ink in Early Access on PC with a review code.