First of all, we would like to thank BINGOBELL for sending us KAKU: The Ancient Seal and making it possible for this content to be created.

An Adventure of Disconnected Emotions

As we start the game, we come across a cave boy - yes, like a caveman, but a child - giving his life to capture a rather peculiar creature: a flying magenta pig, named Piggy. After a few cinematics of Kaku (the cave boy) failing miserably in his hunting goal, we meet an old caveman who will teach us some basic tricks to increase our chances of survival. We learn to shoot with a slingshot, cook some recipes, fight, and create elemental ammunition.

Upon completing the tutorial offered by the old caveman, we return to our quest to capture the pig... My first impressions as I delved a little deeper into the gameplay were balanced, leaning a bit more towards the negative. I would like to talk a little more about the narrative before we delve into gameplay or graphics, because I believe that before the game is actually fun, it has to convince us to keep playing, to give a meaning to it, no matter how simple. However, it is difficult to delve deeper into the plot because things just keep happening, without much context and without developing any of the characters.

In this sense, I have the feeling that the flow of the game ends up being linear, in the negative sense of the word. It doesn't evoke emotions, nor does it make you create bonds, whether negative or positive, with the characters. Things just keep happening, without many explanations, and in a way that, if you removed the dialogues from the story, the game wouldn't lose much.

You come across a character and, out of nowhere, they join you and start helping you and giving you tasks. However, you don't know why they are helping you, nor why you are going to perform the tasks that this character is giving you. In general, the plot events are not related in a coherent way and sound only as an excuse for you to keep advancing through the game.

An example of this is: the game starts with you trying your hardest to capture Piggy and, this pig, doing its best to escape. Some things happen and you lose focus on capturing the pink pig. But, shortly after, after you manage to enter the ancient temple and be chosen as the "chosen of Saga" by the guardian golem, Piggy reappears and you try to capture it again. Desperate, the pig runs away and, out of nowhere, asks for your help, as his friend Baggy (a huge pig) is corrupted by dark forces and he doesn't know what to do to save him. As a solution, the stone golem suggests that Piggy follows you on your adventure, and obviously, the pig finds the proposal a good idea and becomes your partner.

Finally, to conclude my point about the narrative and move forward, I feel that Kaku: The Ancient Seal has a very generic plot that lacks, most of the time, emotion and cohesion, which, for me, ends up negatively influencing my experience... It seems that my actions and exploration lose a bit of meaning.

Beauty in every pixel: the visual magic

Alright, I talked about what tilts the balance more towards the negative in Kaku: The Ancient Seal. Now, I would like to address the main point that weighs on the positive side, the graphics:

The developers did a great job with Unreal Engine 4 and created a very beautiful and vibrant world that makes exploring the open world experience very satisfying and enchanting. As the game lore unfolds in a universe that has 4 elemental continents (air, fire, water, and earth), you will come across scenarios with their specificities, with very different aspects and colors, each with its own charm.

The visual effects are also top-notch and add color and beauty to your gameplay. Furthermore, the character design is excellent (although there aren't many characters), being somewhat caricatured, which helps in building their identity. Overall, all the visual art of the game is very well crafted and makes our experience more beautiful and enjoyable.

Next, I would like to talk a bit about combat and exploration, that is, the gameplay of the game, which is a point that I consider neutral. Initially, the game action is very simple and calm, since the vast majority of skills (melee combos, ranged or even spells) are still locked. Thus, exploration becomes important so that you can farm, become stronger, and unlock them. In this sense, the game is well thought out and has a very rich progression, full of combat improvements. However, going back to the initial action: I feel that the mechanics at the beginning are simple and the enemies have predictable patterns, making the game less challenging.

At this point, I think the level of satisfaction and fun with the combat will depend on the player. Players looking for more challenging mechanics may get bored with KAKU: The Ancient Seals. In my case, I feel that my experience was enjoyable. Although I often avoided combat throughout the game, it was not something that bothered me at any time.

Regarding exploration, I can say that it was one of the factors that made me keep wanting to progress. As I mentioned earlier, the world of KAKU: The Ancient Seals is very beautiful, and it is very pleasant to travel through the different paths and marvel at the horizons. Another point is that a large part of the resources you obtain to level up and improve your skills and equipment comes from exploration. So, for someone like me, who has a terrible loot and plunder addiction in every game I play, the experience of venturing through the open world of the game was satisfying and enjoyable.

In conclusion, I think that the construction of KAKU: The Ancient Seal is well executed in most of its points. I had a pleasant experience in my gameplay, but I am sure I would be much more enchanted if the game brought a more well-developed, cohesive, and engaging narrative. When your path is rich in meaning and emotion, the motivation to walk it is much greater. It may seem like a cliché phrase from any advertisement, but it is still true and applies even to games.

Finally, I strongly recommend KAKU: The Ancient Seal for those players looking for an ARPG game with adventure and/or a visually pleasing experience with a calm gameplay.

Once again, we would like to thank BINGOBELL for sending us KAKU: The Ancient Seal and allowing us to create this content.

It is important to note that, for the production of this review, KAKU: The Ancient Seal was played on the Windows platform (PC) through Steam.