Akane

It pains me to leave a negative review, but this one has to be said. Akane is marketed as an arcade-style game, and when I hear "arcade," I expect fast, replayable, high-score-chasing fun with plenty of variety. Unfortunately, this game delivers almost none of that. After about an hour, the gameplay loop becomes painfully repetitive. The same enemy patterns, the same screen-clearing cycles, and very little to keep you coming back. The power-up system is especially disappointing. Most of them feel underwhelming and barely change how you play. Worse, unlocking them is tied to a set of achievements that are often frustratingly poorly designed. This isn’t a skill issue on my part — I’ve platinumed Elden Ring and Sekiro, among other notoriously difficult games. The achievements here just feel arbitrary and poorly thought out. Combat itself is further hampered by inconsistent hitboxes on both the player and enemies, which leads to a lot of cheap deaths and unnecessary frustration. And don’t even get me started on the bosses. They’re boring, repetitive, and lack any real personality or interesting mechanics. The first boss in particular is a chore — you’re forced to sit through the exact same unskippable dialogue every single attempt because the developers didn’t bother adding a proper skip option. I genuinely tried to 100% the game and chase every achievement, but I eventually gave up. The experience just wasn’t worth the effort. Final verdict: Do not buy this game at full price. It’s barely worth a dollar on sale. If you’re curious, wait for a deep discount. Otherwise, there are far better arcade-style action games out there.

Kill Bill meets Cyberpunk

Some guy made a run based twin-stick with swords instead of guns. You play Crimsonland? Like that. Little like Vampire Survivors also but no autobattler stuff. Most sex parry in all of vidya. What you play is what you get. The whole game is there from the start, just with some unlockables on top that trickle as you're able to get farther in the game. This thing would have gobbled a billion dollars in quarters 30 years ago.

This is just the best damn game. Challenging and super rewarding, balanced and fair, satisfying when you get it right, but not infuriating when you get it wrong. Simple but extremely replayable. Addictive, even. And damn, I got it for £1.99 on sale. Best money I’ve ever spent. (A note for Mac users - this runs on my M5 MacBook Pro running Tahoe 26.6.1. So the banner saying it’s not compatible may be misleading, though I can’t speak for every system)

[h2]Nota Geral | Overall Rating[/h2] ⭐⭐⭐ [b]Akane é um daqueles jogos indie que acerta em cheio na proposta de ação frenética inspirada em Hotline Miami e Katana Zero, mas que deixa a desejar em tudo que está em volta dessa proposta. O conceito de eliminar hordas de inimigos com um golpe só, num visual neon synthwave, é satisfatório enquanto dura, mas a experiência é curta demais e o enredo é praticamente inexistente pra sustentar qualquer coisa além do combate em si. Funciona bem como um jogo pra sessões rápidas, mas está longe de ser memorável.[/b] [i]Akane is one of those indie games that nails the frenetic action premise inspired by Hotline Miami and Katana Zero, but falls short in everything surrounding that premise. The concept of wiping out hordes of enemies with a single hit, in a neon synthwave visual style, is satisfying while it lasts, but the experience is too short and the story is practically nonexistent to support anything beyond the combat itself. It works well as a game for quick sessions, but it's far from memorable.[/i] [h2]Jogabilidade | Gameplay[/h2] ⭐⭐⭐⭐ [b]O combate é rápido e visceral, com a protagonista eliminando inimigos com um único golpe de espada, mas também morrendo com um único acerto, o que cria aquele ritmo de tentativa e erro que Hotline Miami popularizou. A adição da katana Wakizashi como arma secundária, junto com uma pistola limitada, dá camadas suficientes pra manter os combates interessantes, mesmo sendo simples na base. É um sistema que recompensa reflexo e leitura rápida do cenário, funcionando muito bem enquanto dura.[/b] [i]The combat is fast and visceral, with the protagonist taking out enemies with a single sword strike, but also dying from a single hit, which creates that trial-and-error rhythm Hotline Miami popularized. The addition of the Wakizashi katana as a secondary weapon, along with a limited pistol, adds enough layers to keep the fights interesting, even though the foundation is simple. It's a system that rewards reflexes and quick reading of the environment, working really well while it lasts.[/i] [h2]Duração | Duration[/h2] ⭐⭐⭐ [b]A duração é curta, e isso pesa bastante na experiência geral. É o tipo de jogo que você termina rápido e não sente muito motivo pra voltar depois, já que não existe muita variação de conteúdo além da campanha principal. Pro preço que costuma custar, é aceitável, mas como produto completo, deixa a sensação de que faltou mais substância.[/b] [i]The length is short, and that weighs heavily on the overall experience. It's the kind of game you finish quickly and don't feel much reason to return to afterward, since there isn't much content variation beyond the main campaign. For the price it usually costs, it's acceptable, but as a complete product, it leaves the feeling that more substance was missing.[/i] [h2]Enredo | Story[/h2] ⭐⭐ [b]O enredo é o ponto mais fraco do jogo, de longe. Existe uma tentativa de contar uma história de vingança por trás da ação, mas ela é tão rasa e mal desenvolvida que praticamente não acrescenta nada à experiência. Não há personagens marcantes, não há reviravoltas, é só um pretexto genérico pra justificar o massacre de inimigos.[/b] [i]The plot is by far the game's weakest point. There's an attempt to tell a revenge story behind the action, but it's so shallow and poorly developed that it practically adds nothing to the experience. There are no memorable characters, no twists, it's just a generic pretext to justify the enemy massacre.[/i] [h2]Visual[/h2] ⭐⭐⭐⭐ [b]O visual é o grande destaque do jogo. A estética synthwave, com neon vibrante contrastando com cenários escuros, cria uma identidade visual forte que remete diretamente às referências que inspiraram o jogo. É competente o suficiente pra compensar boa parte das outras fraquezas da experiência, dando um charme visual que prende o olhar mesmo em sessões curtas.[/b] [i]The visuals are the game's biggest highlight. The synthwave aesthetic, with vibrant neon contrasting against dark environments, creates a strong visual identity that directly evokes the references that inspired the game. It's competent enough to make up for a good part of the experience's other weaknesses, giving it a visual charm that catches the eye even in short sessions.[/i] [h2]Áudio | Audio[/h2] ⭐⭐⭐ [b]A trilha sonora synthwave combina bem com a estética do jogo e ajuda a manter a adrenalina durante o combate, mas não tem faixas particularmente marcantes que fiquem na memória depois. Os efeitos sonoros de combate são funcionais, cumprindo o básico sem se destacar muito.[/b] [i]The synthwave soundtrack fits well with the game's aesthetic and helps maintain the adrenaline during combat, but doesn't have particularly memorable tracks that stick with you afterward. The combat sound effects are functional, covering the basics without standing out much.[/i]

Jogavel no linux na versão do proton 7.0-6

É legal ver um jogo feito por brasileiros e ele tem uma arte bonitinha, mas infelizmente fica só o gostinho do que poderia ter sido. O jogo é simples demais e não tem variação de mapas, o que faz ele ficar repetitivo bem rápido. Além disso, eu praticamente não senti evolução nenhuma depois de um tempo jogando, por isso achei até um pouco difícil (mas acho que eu só sou ruim nele mesmo). Ele encaixaria muito bem no estilo roguelike se os desenvolvedores quisessem.

Another indie masterpiece made by one guy!

I was pleasantly surprised by how fun and enthralling the gameplay loop is. The mechanics are simple, easy to understand and quite fair, the soundtrack's nice (except for that one beepy song, I'm sorry, but it blows) and it's got the "oh I bet I can go further this time" hook these sorts of games live and die by figured out. A nice bit of progression, too, and some decent variety in the unlocks. I've read some people find it repetitive? And like.. yeah. It's a score-attack game. A really good one at that. Goes for super cheap, too. Definite reccomend.