Akane Review

Japanese inspired media, in our highly interconnected age, is a dime a dozen. This year in particular brought us Ghost of Tsushima, which introduced many people to the chanbara (or simply “sword fighting”) genre of film popular in Japan (and to some extent the West) from the '50s to early '70s. The growing popularity of the Persona and Fire Emblem series in America and other Western countries also shows that Japanese animation has been a major influence on the games industry, both more recently but also for a longer period than some might assume (See Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest).

This brings us around to Akane, a cyberpunk indie action game developed and published by Ludic Studios, and released in 2018. Combining Kurosawa style action with Akira and Blade Runner’s aesthetics, Akane is a brutal and satisfying game that pulls no punches with how it plays. You get a single tutorial and that’s it. From then on, there’s no hand holding, and you’ve got only your gun and katana to keep you breathing.

Akane’s primary draw, besides the addictive but surprisingly low commitment gameplay, is its aforementioned pixel art aesthetic. The titular character fights her way through a night in Mega-Tokyo, polluted with bright neon signs, billboards and flying drones. Yakuza assassins teem the city square you’ll come to call home, toting laser rifles, enhancements, but principally, swords. Blades will clang together and scrape against each other during combat and bullets will ping off Akane’s sword block, simple sounds that still satisfy the ears. Akane’s special abilities echo classic Samurai cinema, with a speed Toshiro Mifune would be proud of. The main character’s rival, Katsuro, is designed like a classic ronin. Nothing is particularly new, but that’s not to say the combination of elements doesn’t please the eyes and ears. The names and designs of the weapons all echo and nudge at previous works, with references to Tarantino and even Mad Max in there. The music is familiar but functional, it compliments the carnage with reliable but strong beats that can be tuned out in the settings for a podcast or your own music if so desired.

Like many post Hotline Miami indie titles, Akane gives you one hit before you’re torn to juicy pieces by whichever Yakuza goon manages to smack you. You also kill most of everything else with one hit as well, so the combat is never slow at any point. You have both a dash and a block at your disposal that allows you to control the arena to the best of your ability, which also adds an extra layer of speed to the fights. There are no checkpoints or breaks to save, so any mistake can send you back to square one. There’s no story, bar some occasional dialogue, too. This is an endless arena, and that could be a turn off for some people. The mainstay is the unlock system, which rewards the player with various different weapons or pieces of gear that give you different play styles. You start with a bog-standard katana blade and pistol, but can work your way up to a throwable sword and sawed-off shotgun. Different boots alter your dash as well, though the unlocks don’t change your appearance past your weapons. The game is deceptively simple, but it is hard as nails because death is literally inevitable here. The accomplishment is taking as many bad guys down as you can before you bite the dust.

Whilst I’d be lying if I wasn’t saying something more of a story wouldn’t be the worst addition to the game, at the end of the day, it fulfils a specific niche that will likely not take it out of my rotation for the weeks to come. Sometimes, you just want a game to zone out and play to unwind and Akane fills in this spot beautifully.