The most relaxing game about war that you'll ever play - Aka Quick Review

PLAY IT OR SKIP IT?

I hate to be wishy-washy, but Aka gets a big old “maybe play it” from me. It all depends on how much you’re looking for a super-chill game that provides minimal direction and just lets you go off and do your own thing. If that sounds appealing, then Aka will probably work well for you in spite of some problems here and there. But if you’re looking for a well-developed narrative or a heavily goal-driven game, you should look elsewhere.

TIME PLAYED

I’ve spent three hours relaxing in the gorgeous world of Aka. In that time, I’ve completed a majority of the quests that I was able to find on the starting island, started a small farm, and built some random pieces of furniture and such.

WHAT’S AWESOME

• Unique perspective. Title character Aka begins the game having returned from a long, devastating war. While the game toys with some difficult topics around that subject, including PTSD and learning to live with the ghosts of what you’ve witnessed and done, this isn’t an action game. Aka’s sword is only used for cutting down tall grass, and his goal is to build a new home for himself and find inner peace.

• Max chill. Related to that search for inner peace, Aka focuses on relaxation. Beyond the fact that the game is nonlinear and doesn’t push a sense of urgency on to players, it also regularly pushes players to take a deep breath and just take in the beauty of the world—whether that comes in the form of catnapping under the passing clouds, watching fish swim around a pond, or letting your virtual muscles soak in some hot springs.

• Simplified crafting. While Aka features a crafting system for making everything from tables to magic potions to food, it’s a much less complex approach to crafting than many games. With my first glance at the crafting menu, I thought the game might be going for a full survival game vibe, but crafting actually often played out more like solving a tiny puzzle.

• The card game. Aka packs in a number of fun mini-games, including some fun rhythm game challenges. The best one though? The surprisingly deep, compelling card game that you can challenge a number of NPCs to. You earn and upgrade some cards in your deck by completing quests, but even with the basic deck I was able to score some victories and had a blast doing so. I’d honestly play a stand-alone spin-off of Aka’s card game. That’s how good it is.

WHAT SUCKS

• Controls and camera angle. Aka employs a skewed isometric camera and allows you to run around in full 3D. Paired with a floaty, imprecise feel to movement, it can be very difficult to judge distances for jumps or how close to the edge of cliffs you are. Falling down a cliff doesn’t damage Aka or anything like that—it’s not that kind of game—but it does force you to waste a bunch of time finding your way back up, and that’s annoying.

• User interface. Opening and navigating the inventory and the crafting menu always felt clunky to me. This would be a bigger problem if the game had more pressing challenges that required fast reaction, but as is it’s just kind of a nuisance.

💬 Are you going to play Aka or skip it? Let me know in the comments!