One is faced with the the reality that looks can be deceiving, and that extends to the world of video games.As mentioned in our preview,when Wabisabi Games' debut titleRKGKwas first unveiled, this writer immediately pegged it as being something likeJet Set Radio,with its similar styles, grinding action and graffiti as a central mechanic. Instead, however, it turned out to be an ode to classic ’90s platformers, just dressed in aesthetics similar to those of the Dreamcast classic. And as such, it was looking impressive, surprising in certain ways. But to hammer it home, looks can be deceiving, and now with the full game here, it’s time to see ifRKGKis just as good as its first impressions would suggest.
Say It By Spraying It
RKGKis the story of Valah, a graffiti artist and the leader of Rakugaki, a group devoted to taking down the evil Mr. Buff, CEO of B-Corp whose screens planted around the setting of Cap City are brainwashing and draining the city’s people. Teaming up with Ayo, a robot assistant made out of revamped B-Corp tech, Valah sets out to use her skills and spray paint over all of Buff’s screens, waking people up and freeing them in the process. And with any luck, she’ll destroy the beams that hold up Buff’s fortress as well, sending it crashing to the ground and allowing her to face him in one final, epic confrontation.
The story, alas, is one of the weaker parts ofRKGK.The core narrative is fine enough (and it does have at least one genuine funny moment after a boss battle), but the issue partially lies with the presentation. The story is told through little more than still images that don’t come across as that impressive, and only tend to focus on three characters, those being Valah, Ayo and Mr. Buff, with Ayo distractingly not having any voice acting like the other two. The only other characters are the rest of RKGK who hang back at Valah’s hideout, and while you can chat with them in between levels, they don’t have that much in the way of personalities or world-building.
The story inRKGKmay as well just be an excuse plot used to prop up the gameplay, and that would be fine if the gameplay is strong enough to carry the whole thing. Which, thankfully, it is. Again, back in our preview, we had expressed concerns over a possible clash between a focus on fast-paced movement and a focus on exploration. Thankfully, the level design here is rather superb, with everything flowing nicely and set up in such a way to accommodate both casual platforming fans and the speedrunning crowd, allowing players to go at whatever pace they prefer. While speed is recommended, you can still take the time needed when the game calls for more precision jumps.
The Need For Speed
That said,RKGKwas designed with speedrunning in mind, and it shows. The levels are still laid out in such a way so that you can still speed through them as much as possible, shortcuts are clearly plentiful and allow you to try and find small ways to skip over whole platforms, and most importantly, the gameplay has incredibly fast movement that’s unbelievably fun and satisfying, making the game a blast to zip through. While Valah is equipped with air dashes, grind, ziplines and more, the real star here is the paint surfing, which allows you to hold a button and glide along the ground. It’s smooth, slick and makes getting through each level a joy. Plus as seen with games such asSolar Ash,this writer is just a sucker for such mechanics in general.
The surfing is enhanced by Valah’s Defacer mode, which is triggered by filling up a meter with virtually any action, be it jumping, defeating enemies or spraying screens. Once filled, Valah moves faster and gains a forcefield that allows them to just ram into most enemies, making things even more of a breeze. Take one hit, though, and it knocks Valah out of Defacer Mode. It’s a simple idea, but one that makes things even more slick. That said, good luck trying to get Defacer Mode going in some of the later levels.RKGKmay start out easy enough, but the challenge nicely ramps up over time, throwing a nice variety of platforming obstacles in your path.
But while the platforming is top-notch, some of the combat can be lacking at times, if only due to a few cheap hits. While most enemies aren’t that tough, some of the ones that spawn projectiles and/or home in on you may be quite the pain to deal with. Even worse, sometimes the game doesn’t allow you the proper space to recover after taking one hit, sending you into another, or one projectile can knock you right into a pit, sending you back a bit. Combat with groups of enemies can be a pain as well, especially once things get cluttered in the visual department, and it becomes tricky to keep an eye on everything, a problem that climaxes with a rage-inducing final boss.
The Art of The Rebel
Speaking of visuals, though,RKGKis a feast for the eyes, drawing upon the developers' love of classic anime and street art. The brutalist structures of Cap City make for nice and imposing backdrops, with blocky parts of the city decorated with a variety of cyberpunk dystopian touches, down to creepy black and red root-like structures. In stark contrast, Valah and her graffiti designs are dripping with vibrant colors, with a lot of colorful and creative artwork inspired by Japanese culture, exploding in a burst of color as you press a button to spray it on a screen while passing by (and exploding any enemies within range of it as well). It looks great in motion and is backed up by a wicked techno soundtrack with classic, intense pulse-pounding beats perfect for a journey such as this.
The great visuals even extend to Valah’s clothing as well, which can be unlocked with the coins you collect or a special ghost token currency. Again, a lot of the outfits pay tribute to classic anime series in one way or another, but more special options allow you to give Valah masked luchador accessories, a mariachi outfit or even a low-poly look, which can extend to Ayo as well. The ghost tokens can be gained in a variety of ways, from finding three hidden in each level to completing a mix of objectives. In addition, spraying screens awards graffiti tokens, which are used to eventually unlock the boss encounters at the end of each chapter.
Unsurprisingly for a game that serves as an ode to ’90s platformers,RKGKis indeed packed to the brim with collectibles and secrets in each level. The vast majority of them are cleverly designed, often marked with subtle touches like coins or spray paint cans, hinting where to go. Sometimes it’s more obvious, like when the path branches off and leads to an optional challenge. But the best parts are when you clearly notice something out of the corner of your eye and then have to deduce a way of getting to it. Again, the levels are just expertly designed, with a lot of ways to find different challenges, ghost tokens and screens to uncover, even if the game threatens to overdo it at times.
Review: Solar Ash
Solar Ash is another triumph from Heart Machine, a fast-paced burst of vibrant, surreal science fiction.
As great asRKGK’slevels are, they may have gone overboard with all of the different ways to get ghost tokens. Aside from the three hidden in each level (some involving time trial challenges that require restarting the level if you fail them), you get them for beating each level in a certain amount of time, spraying all of the screens in each one, defeating all of the enemies, beating a level without dying and collecting every coin in a level, which stretches to quadruple digits later on. Yes, this is basically all just to unlock cosmetics, but it’s still overwhelming, creating a bit of FOMO with each level. Combine that with a few hindrances like the previously-mentioned occasional cheap hit and a few issues like minor glitches and wonky camera angles that can make it tough to get around at times, and later levels can be draining, especially when the end-of-level results reveal that you missedonelousy screen.
Still, even with a bit of bloat,RKGKremains a great game, and you may say that there’s a lot to come back do, even with the modestly-sized story campaign. It seems like it could easily make a splash on the speedrunning circuit, but whatever your tastes, there’s a ton of graffiti-fueled action to enjoy here.
Closing Comments:
RKGKproudly wears its influences on its sleeve, ending up as a superb blend of ’90s platforming and classic anime, all given a unique twist thanks to a great emphasis on speed. Movement is fun, levels are nicely challenging and filled with a lot to explore, and to say the whole thing is pleasing to the eyes and ears would be an understatement. Even when it fumbles, it does so due to wanting to be so ambitious, and that makes for something that easily stands out as much as one of Valah’s murals.
RKGK / Rakugaki
Version Reviewed: PC
An anime-inspired 3D platformer, RKGK puts you in the shoes of Valah, a graffiti artists who uses their unique painting skills in order to help free the people from the evil B-Corp.
