Realm of Ink Review
There is an old proverb that says, “vulgare proverbium est, quod nimia familiaritas parid contempium.” You may recognize it as, “familiarity breeds contempt.” Does it though? If I am playing Call of Duty or Apex Legends and I jump over to Borderlands or Remnant, it is nice knowing that aim, shoot, and reload are all in the same spot. Could you imagine if one game decided to use face buttons for aiming and shooting or the d-pad for camera control (listen, this is a game review and I can make any connection I want, tenuous as it may be)? Same goes for action RPGs a la Hades or Windblown. When movement and attacking basics are the same control scheme, you can reach a comfort level of just playing that much quicker. Speaking of Hades, what better game to choose to model a new action RPG?
Developed by Leap Studio, Realm of Ink is a fast-paced, roguelite, combat RPG very much in the vein of Hades. You play as Red, a swordswoman, as you challenge destiny to write your fate (literally; you are in a book, of sorts). Forewarning, this is in Early Access although, it’s more of a game than some “released” titles.
Realm of Ink presents as a 2.5D, top-down, dungeon crawler. Red (as Red, or in her Red form - I will explain later) can dash (2 charges are available that recharge over time), and has light and heavy attacks. Light attacks are quick while heavy attacks are slow but hit significantly harder. Red also gains access to up to 2 ink powers which are randomly found throughout each run. Ink serves as an on-use abilities that also provides a constant passive buff.
For example, Tiger Ink increases Red’s critical chance, and critical damage, and does extra damage to targets when any hit is critical. “Using” Tiger Ink summons a tiger claw that does frontal damage in the direction Red is presently facing. Other inks can boost elemental damage and cause the same or provide defense in the form of shields. Ink found can start as low as common quality but upgrades can move it up to legendary. The better the quality, the more improved both the passive and active traits. Additionally, Momo, your ink companion will change forms to match the Inks equipped.
Red also has access to perks, abilities, and elixirs to aid in her quest. Perks provide both a stat increase as well as an active effect triggered by anything ranging from taking damage to using ink skills.
Abilities can alter how and when Red uses her vast repertoire of skills. Glutton Blade increases your Light Attack by 20% for every dish consumed and this is stackable. Instead of eating just to restore health, you will want to buy all the food you come across. Swift Edge will speed up the cooldown on Ink Skills by half a second for every enemy hit with the final Light Attack hit in a combo. You may look for Light Attack bonuses during the run as a result since you want to prioritize it. Iron Lotus increases Damage reduction by 30% during Heavy Attack. Perhaps finding ways to increase your heavy attack speed and/or damage is the route to go since you will be taking less damage while in use.
Beware beware of ye olde roguelite gods though. In some runs, you may find an ability like the ones mentioned or others right away (there is a talent that will always provide one at the start of the run) meaning you can spend your entire run building around this playstyle. Other times though, you may be working around a Light Attack focused build and come across a Heavy Attack ability. Luckily, there is no limit to abilities that are picked up and they all provide usefulness even without the rest of the build supporting them.
Lastly are the equally important elixirs but a bit boring when compared to abilities and perks. Sure, increased light attack damage or reduced cooldowns are great but they just do not wow you. Hey, someone has to work behind the scenes. In one run, I grabbed enough reduced Ink Skill cooldown elixirs that when I checked my stats, it was a zero-second cooldown. I was able to just spam the Tiger Ink endlessly.
Each run consists of moving Red from room to room by defeating all the enemies. There is no roadmap here like Slay the Spire but the exit to each room generally presents you with a choice of where to go by enticing you with the rewards available. Silver is always the option whether it be coupled with Elixirs or Perks or by himself. This is handy because Silver is the currency that is needed to upgrade your Inks, purchase food dishes to restore health and provide a temporary buff, and buy Perks. The area to purchase all of this will spawn before every mini-boss and boss fight on each level. Occasionally, you will come across Foe Forge and Trial Valley as optional paths which are mini-events that can reward better rewards (i.e. Ink that is higher quality or more powerful elixirs and perks). At random points, NPCs may appear offering you an extra reward although some come at a cost such as silver or your health. Silver only exists during the run but talents are available to grant you silver at the start of every run.
When you die, and you will, Red finds herself at the Spirit Fox Inn run by Miss Ching. Here you can relax, chat up the numerous NPCs, and spend that hard-earned currency from your previous runs. The dumplings you have collected from boss fights can be fed to Momo to increase its stats. You can even transform Momo into a giant dumpling.
Foxblood is used on the Talent Stele to provide permanent upgrades for every run. Any buffs you get during a run stack on top of this as it becomes the baseline. You have your basic damage increase and damage reduction but there is also increases to the amount of silver that drops or how much you start a run with, the availability of ink/elixirs/abilities at the start of a run, or the ever-crucial, extra life. The final currency you can spend is Jade Ink. Jade Ink allows Red to purchase different forms. Her appearance completely changes but so does her weapon of choice. All forms still use the light and heavy attacks but they are wildly different. Some forms even transform Red into a ranged attacker.
The forms also come standard with a unique buff like more health, faster movement speed, or reduced cooldowns. Specific abilities will only spawn if you are using that form as the abilities affect the light or heavy attack of that form.
As I said earlier in this review, for an Early Access title, Realm of Ink feels very much like the total package. There is even a quasi-end game. If you do manage to finish a run, you unlock an endless mode that takes that Red can replay. This mode uses the form complete with any elixirs/perks/abilities that you acquired during that run and throws you into a horde mode. Every completed run has access to this mode turning this Hades-like game into the 29th minute of a Vampire Survivors run (IFKYK).
Even after completing the game several times with different forms over increasing difficulties, I am still in awe that there is more to come. As a frequent purveyor of roguelites, I do hope/wish that there is more randomization of mini-bosses/bosses in the final version. Trust me, there is plenty of variety in the different forms and the increasing difficulty levels you can choose from but randomization would add a whole new level of replayability. That said, this is one of the best games I have played all year and you should not be sleeping at Realm of Ink any longer.
