Go to the Principal's Office! — "Kotama and Academy Citadel" 【EP07】

Описание: It's rare that the very first game I play in a year knocks it out of the park as well as "Kotama & Academy Citadel" does.

You'd think that a school-focused anime metroidvania would be one of the things I'd steer clear of, but in this case the demo sold me on solid combat, interesting exploration, and an intriguing time-based mechanic that I really wanted to find out more about with the full game.

What the full game of "Kotama & Academy Citadel" presents is a suprising world full of deep scifi lore/world-building, some interesting ethics, and a narrative that unfolds through conversations with other students and within detailed and (mostly) well-written lore notes scattered throughout the Academy Citadel.

Unlike in "Dragonloop", the time mechanic complements certain quests and actions rather than forming the main structural crux of the game; and, just like in "Dragonloop", it had me staring at my screen trying to figure out how to get to certain places before specific things happened — a cat dozing off, a gang member/student moving on, or a batch of cooking ingredients spoiling.

And you'll want to find everyone and do everything you can to help all the students, get all the Votes, and win the election to become the Carmel Star.

Adding to this rather interesting selling point is some excellent melee combat, with a choice of three weapons that each also have their own ways of opening up exploration, a suite of traversal powers that allow Kotama greater freedom to explore the Academy, and a lot of collectibles that you can use to enhance your own playstyle in the form of tetris-block-shaped memocards that you can slot on an expandable board.

While there is a Parry move in the game, you don't have to focus on it, choosing your own play style and which weapons you want to use in any given situation. There are even upgrades to allow you to morph between weapons mid-combo with a button press if that kind of depth tickles your fancy. On the Recommended difficulty, there were only a handful of bosses that I needed more than a couple of attempts for, but there was a definite sense of satisfaction in beating the more challenging fights.

The game also features a novel "shield" system, where you only have a single life pip (upgradeable through gameplay), but it is protected by a "Chronoshell" shield that you can recharge through melee combos and "detonating" purple fluid on enemies — OR using your crystal currency to charge up a heal. Normally I wouldn't be a fan of a healing system costing currency, but it is all VERY well balanced and I never really found myself starved for cash or healing as long as I played well. And when I didn't, I had the currency as a backup.

While there IS a little fanservice in the character designs — they remind me a little of what I've seen of Nikke stuff from the Stellar Blade DLC (I haven't played Nikke) — I was invested enough in the story and gameplay to actually barely notice it. It certainly isn't shoved down your throat at every opportunity.

"Kotama & Academy Citadel" took me just under 20 hours to 100% on the Recommended difficulty, which is the perfect length for a game of this size and complexity in my opinion. There are two harder difficulties — including the amusingly-named "Reality" difficulty where your "Academic Stress" is at its maximum and opens up after you complete the game on "Challenging".

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Enter the Carmel Academy, a sci-fi labyrinth governed by the survival of the fittest. As the mysterious transfer student "Kotama," master fluid-based combat, manipulate time, and unravel a century-old conspiracy in this high-octane 3D Metroidvania.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/36...

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