Official Review PlayStation 5 Updated

Inkulinati (PlayStation 5)
Official GBAtemp Review

Name: Inkulinati
Item: Inkulinati
Rating: 7.5
Author: Foxi4

Product Information:

Release Date (NA): February 22, 2024
Release Date (EU): February 22, 2024
Release Date (JP): February 22, 2024
Publisher: Daedalic Entertainment
Developer: Yaza Games
Genres: Strategy
Also For: Computer, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S

Game Features:

Single player

Local Multiplayer

Online Multiplayer

Co-operative

Review Approach:

Inkulinati and I are not strangers. It's a title I've seen many times while scrolling through the list of games available via Microsoft's Gamepass. It always seemed vaguely amusing - enough to give it a glance, but never quite enough to download it. I liked the way it looked, it reminded me of the excellent Pentiment which I absolutely adored, but how would that art style translate to a strategy game? At long last, after many years of Early Access (700, according to the developer - talk about a long development cycle!) version 1.0 landed in my inbox, so it came time to sit down to it like a medieval monk and give it a thorough shake. Have I been missing out all this time?

Inkulinati is a 2D strategy game available for the PlayStation 4, Playstation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X, Nintendo Switch and PC

Praefatio

They say that "the pen is mightier than the sword". In the world of Inkulinati, this phrase is taken literally. You play the role of an apprentice inkulinati, learning the art of drawing medieval illustrations. Your final exam is coming up - soon you will become a real master of Living Ink. What is Living Ink, you might ask? I can see why you're still an apprentice - the name should've given you a hint. Any illustration put to paper using Living Ink comes alive on the page, in the most literal sense. Ink Masters use this uncanny resource for a variety of purposes, the most important of which is... fighting boredom. Do you have any idea how long it takes to copy a single manuscript? It takes forever! You have to kill the time somehow, right? Don't question it. Where were we? Ah, yes, the exam! Your Master awaits! Get ready to challenge him and earn your title. It's really straightforward, it won't involve a bizarre adventure involving a long journey during which you'll fight strange beasts and Ink Masters, accumulate an army of humorous creatures or fight Death itself. Trust me, would I lie to you?

Capitulum I: Ludus

The game itself follows a simple concept - you draw beasts on a 2D "page" which serves as your battlefield using Living Ink. This resource is limited and can be replenished by slaying enemies or resting your creatures on ink blots which get sucked into your inkpot at the end of each turn. The goal is, naturally, to defeat your enemy either by destroying all their units or, where applicable, kill their miniature on the battlefield called a Tiny. In order to avoid stalemates, the game is time limited - if you're a lazy bones, the impending apocalypse will engulf the field with hellish fires, forcing a more direct confrontation until only one master is left standing. It's elementary!

Capitulum II: Creaturae et Gestus

Huh, so that's what Andreas chose to do after the end of Pentiment - he became an Ink Master!

The stand-out element of Inkulinati is easily the monsters - they're colourful, fun and accurate to their depictions in real medieval manuscripts. Not only that, they often have special defenses, special attacks or unique abilities which inflict status effects that can turn the tides of battle. For instance, the Bishop, an ordained feline, is under divine protection. Attacking a holy man like that turns the enemy into a heretic! The divine knows who's naughty and who's nice - units who have their halos intact will deal increased damage against heathens. Of course... this only applies to those who care about holiness. If you happen to worship mammon instead of god, like a bandit, you're completely immune to the effects of foolish superstition. What if you get attacked by a donkey bard? It could fight fair and square with you, but it could just as easily fart in its pipe, giving your units a headache and causing them to skip a turn. What an ass! What drags them down is the fact that a lot of them are different versions of the same thing. A rabbit swordsman is not all that different from a dog swordsman and outside of unique creatures like the man-eating snail you can always narrow things down to "the best" unit of each category. The developers were of course aware of that and implemented a boredom system. Using the same beasts repeatedly gradually increases their boredom meter which in turn increases their ink cost. After all, the inkulinati play this game to fight boredom, and using the same unit time and time again is, admittedly, quite boring. You don't want to be the guy who constantly uses the leg sweep in a fighting game, right? Right!? Well, you can't - there's some strategy involved in keeping your roster fresh, and in order to really flood the field with units, you'll have to rotate your creatures often.

There's something really amusing about the hands coming in from off-screen and the live battle record - the field really is a living manuscript

Besides fighting indirectly using their monsters, the inkulinati can affect the battlefield directly with hand gestures. Think swapping chess pieces when the other guy's not looking, but it's legal and everyone does it - get it? There's a variety of gestures, and just like with units, you accumulate more by defeating other Ink Masters or purchasing them from merchants. You can do all sorts of things, from moving creatures against their will or healing units in the middle of a fight to more naughty tricks like putting your enemies to sleep, forcing them to lose turns. There's quite a bit of strategy involved in using those hand actions because, while situational, they can score you an easy win if you know exactly when to step in. I remember going through a lengthy battle against an Ink Master, long enough that the fires of hell have started engulfing the battlefield, and because the master had his Tiny high up and very well-defended, I couldn't quite get to him with my monsters. What a pickle. It'd be a real shame if someone... gently nudged them off the edge of the map... and made them fall to their death. Such a simple action you get at the very beginning of the game, and yet, it was the strongest weapon in my arsenal!

Capitulum III: Praesentatio et Altiore Experientia

Reusing the same units repeatedly increases their Boredom, forcing you to rotate your roster accordingly

In terms of audiovisual presentation the game doesn't skip a beat - it looks exactly like a medieval manuscript, and the sound's on-point as well. The game is, naturally, quite simplistic, but it's meant to be, so... mission accomplished! The same can be said about the performance - no noticeable hitching or stuttering, but then again, what's there to cause it? One thing that I did have some gripes with is the UI which I think could've been streamlined a little bit. My big pet peeve is that every kind of directional input does something different - Left and Right on the D-pad is not the same as Left and Right on the analog sticks or L1/L2 and R1/R2. This is rather odd in a game that, realistically, is very simple - so simple it could be played on a touchscreen. This led to some misinputs until I was fully accustomed with the controls. The developer wanted to cram every single function onto the controller all at the same time when that really wasn't needed and perhaps introducing separate screen sections or some menus would've helped. I understand trying to stick to the theme of a medieval manuscript, but if it impedes controls, that immediately reduces the enjoyment of the game.

Conclusio: Magnificus an Malignus?

So, did I enjoy Inkulinati? I absolutely did, in spite of my initial skepticism. There's a lot of hidden depth to the game that shines through once you accumulate more units and more gestures, and the roguelite nature of its campaign encourages replayability. In fact, you will have to complete the campaign multiple times in order to see its "true" ending, not that the humorous story is the highlight here - the game is fun even in isolation. I can see players sitting down on a couch and booting up Inkulinati to have a good, old-fashioned Hot Seat battle, much like they would with Worms in the past. This makes the lack of an online multiplayer mode especially odd - a glaring omission that Yaza Games is probably planning to address with an update at a later date, at least according to their FAQ. With that being said, despite its shortcomings, the game is very unique - there's nothing quite like it out there, and it's a great first title for this developer. Should you buy it? Well, do you like Monthy Python and the Holy Grail? Do you like deceptively simple strategy games? Are you looking for a game to challenge your guests at? Do you have £19.99 burning a hole in your pocket and you want to play something "different"? Inkulinati might be for you, Ink Master - just don't stain your fingers, that stuff's a nightmare to wash off!

Verdict

What We Liked ...

A lengthy and humorous campaign
Large variety of creatures
Beautiful presentation that mimics the appearance of a medieval manuscript
Classic hotseat multiplayer? In 2024? Excelsior!
A lot of hidden depth in terms of strategy

What We Didn't Like ...

The tutorials can be a little intrusive and annoying after a while
Many of the units are functionally identical outside of stats
Lack of online multiplayer seems like a glaring omission
Gamepad controls are initially hard to get used to which could be fixed with a different UI

Gameplay

Inkulinati is everything it says on the tin and more - an ink-based strategy played on a medieval manuscript. The large variety of monsters and hand actions allow for great deal of customisation and the roguelite nature of the campaign will keep you engaged and entertained. That being said, the experience is not without its flaws - constant tutorials interrupt gameplay instead of letting you learn it on your own, the UI and controls when using a gamepad need some work, a lot of the units, while visually different are quite similar in function and the lack of an online multiplayer mode confines a game that's obviously designed to be competitive to a single household. Hopefully those things will be addressed in future updates, but the game is quite enjoyable as is.

Presentation

The game looks exactly like a medieval manuscript would, and its humorous depictions of various beasts are spot-on. There's not much to complain about in the presentation department except for the UI which, in my opinion, could've been more friendly to gamepad users. This is a console release, after all.

Lasting Appeal

The game encourages repeat playthroughs thanks to the roguelite nature of its campaign and its multiple endings. Even once you've become an absolute Ink Master, you still have the option to play with or against your friends. The one glaring omission here is a lack of online multiplayer, which is a big shame.

7.5

out of 10

Overall

While Inkulinati isn't groundbreaking by any means, its unique presentation draws you in. The title has a lot to offer to fans of the genre. While the game is not complex, it can surprise an unprepared player - its simplicity is deceptive. It's endearing, it's humorous and it's fun, what's not to like?

Reactions: CoolMe, Kirby6417, Prans and 1 other person

raxadian
Mar 25, 2024

This definitely feels like a game that's better to play on a PC.

Reactions: Subtle Demise

Looks boring

Reactions: Subtle Demise and KiiWii

*reads name and snickers*

Dark_Ansem said:
*reads name and snickers*

"In ass in on you"?

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Product Information:

Game Features:

Review Approach:

Praefatio

Capitulum I: Ludus

Capitulum II: Creaturae et Gestus

Capitulum III: Praesentatio et Altiore Experientia

Conclusio: Magnificus an Malignus?

Verdict

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