Realm of Ink first crossed our path in November, its art style and showcased gameplay looking both incredibly artistic and fast-paced. Having now had some hands-on time with Realm of Ink, the game shows a lot of promise. At its most basic, Realm of Ink sets out its stall like Hades but instead of fighting through the underworld gaining the favour of gods, you’re fighting through a storybook aiming for freedom.
The Book Spirit is the one in charge in the Realm of Ink, making sure every character follows their set path. In the demo, Red is the character that first realises that something isn’t right as she follows the same path over and over again. Red lives a groundhog day fighting the demons that are in her path, going through different paths and ending up at a boss.
When Red realises this her mission is to break free of the path, choosing her own destiny. As she does this, Red discovers she is immortal and on death ends up in the Fox Inn. Think of it as the Hades’ House of Hades, where Red can change weapon loadout and interact with different characters. In the full game, it will be the hub for all characters that you unlock to play as. The demo only shows a small portion of the Fox Inn, and that includes the weapon style change area and the exit to the story realms.
In the demo of Realm of Ink, only one of the four realms from the game was on show. That realm is the Monkey Kingdom, a place that has a wintry feel to it. There are various enemy types from archers that fire magical arrows, floating jar-like creatures that charge towards you, towering behemoths that dash towards you, and magical lion-like creatures that call down strikes in a wide area. They can all be dangerous to Red so you need to keep moving, dodging and attacking to survive.
There are no instant health packs, instead having to get to the correct room where there are merchants to buy health and other buffs from. The movement is fluid and combat is fast paced while the handdrawn ink style of Realm of Ink’s visual design adds to atmosphere of being in a story book too. While the Monkey Kingdom is essentially a grey dominant zone, it still holds a lot of detail within it. Enemy designs are varied in this realm too, and their combat styles are easy to distinguish due to their looks.
When fighting you are not alone. Accompanying Red is an Ink Pet, a creature that will side with all player characters. Ink Pet powers are influenced by Ink Gems. Ink Gems are essentially powers that can be equipped, two at a time. In the demo, these included an earth power that unleashed a wave of vines, a fire based power that sends out a bomb, and a tiger swipe that cuts across waves of enemies. As you venture through different dungeon rooms you will sometimes come across Ink Gems to swap powers, allowing you to play around with different builds. Alongside that, there are treasures to find too that give additional buffs, such as making light attacks more powerful, along with silver coins that can be used with merchants to buy food dishes to restore your health.
Realm of Ink has certainly left a positive impression thanks to its fast-paced gameplay, incredible artwork, and a compelling story concept. Those who connected with Hades may find that Realm of Ink is worth casting their attention towards too, and eventually help Red find her freedom from the pages of her story.
Realm of Ink is due to be released later this year for PC via Steam.
