Our Akatori review takes a look at the new Metroidvania from developer Contrast Games. The game launched on PC via Steam on 5 August 2026 and is published by Games Harbor and Esprit Games.
You play as Mako, a young girl who travels between two parallel dimensions. Early in her journey, she meets the ancient god Akatori, who soon becomes both her companion and weapon.
At first, Akatori feels familiar. It has ability-based progression, hidden collectibles and plenty of platforming. However, its biggest strength is how approachable it feels. Backtracking is kept to a minimum, while new movement abilities help exploration stay fresh.
The story focuses on Mako’s identity, her connection to Akatori and the idea of destiny. It never fully clicked with me, but it gave the journey enough direction. For me, the movement, exploration and visual style were the real reasons to keep playing.
Movement Quickly Becomes a Highlight
The platforming feels good from the start, although Mako can feel a little floaty at first. It took me a short while to adjust, but once I did, moving around the world became one of the game’s biggest strengths. Traversal gets even better as you unlock new abilities, with the mid-air dash and glide giving you more freedom to explore.
There are some strong set pieces built around these abilities too. One underwater chase was a particular highlight, with tight platforming and just enough room for error to keep things fair. Not every sequence works as well, though. A section involving a crumbling bridge seemed to suffer from inconsistent triggers, and events did not always play out as expected. Thankfully, moments like this were rare.
Exploration is also easy to follow. Akatori has the familiar structure of a Metroidvania, but it avoids excessive backtracking and usually keeps pushing you forward. That makes it much more approachable than many games in the genre, especially for newcomers.
Combat Can Feel Uneven
Combat is less consistent than the platforming, but there is still plenty to enjoy. Mako starts with a simple string of attacks, while more options become available as you progress. You can dodge on a short cooldown, unlock a counterattack fairly early and throw your polearm to stun enemies while dealing a small amount of damage.
I found the polearm especially useful against ranged enemies, as it gives you a chance to interrupt an attack before closing the distance. When combat flows well, it feels responsive, while Mako’s attacks carry weight and the animations remain smooth.
The problem is that the difficulty can change very quickly. Some fights feel almost too easy, then a boss or crowded corridor can punish you within seconds. There were several moments where enemies attacked from different directions at once, with one shooting from range while another jumped towards me and a third attack came from off-screen.
A well-timed dodge can avoid most of it, but if you are caught off guard, your health can disappear very quickly. Bosses are expected to be tougher, yet some of the difficulty spikes felt sharper than they needed to be.
Chaos Bells Add Another Layer
Chaos Bells appear during the opening hours and give you another reason to keep fighting. To activate one, you need enough Chaos Energy, which is earned by defeating enemies without resting at a shrine. Once you have built up enough, you can enter a challenge area and earn a new ability.
It is a decent risk-and-reward system, but I sometimes found gathering the energy harder than the challenge itself. Because of that, these sections could feel like an extra barrier rather than a test of skill, and they occasionally slowed the pace.
Akatori Looks Fantastic
One of the games greatest strengths is it’s pixel art which is packed with detail, while the mix of 2D characters and 3D environments gives the game a distinctive style. There is also enough variety between locations to stop the presentation from feeling repetitive.
Some areas are dark and gloomy, while others are bright and colourful. The more vibrant locations looked especially good on the OLED screen of my Legion Go 2. I did need to lower the resolution while playing on the handheld, but this had very little impact on the overall image quality.
Mako is also well animated. Her movement has weight, combat looks fluid, and she remains easy to see even when the screen gets busy.
Steam Cloud Caused a Frustrating Issue
My biggest technical problem came from switching between my desktop PC and Legion Go 2. There are collectible cats hidden throughout the game, but some of mine appeared to vanish after switching devices, even though Steam Cloud was enabled. That was especially frustrating because the first collectible can be missed, so I may now need another playthrough if I want to reach 100% completion. The issue never stopped me from progressing, but it is worth keeping in mind if you regularly switch between a desktop PC and a handheld.
A Short but Focused Adventure
I completed the story in just under six hours. During that time, I collected most of the items I came across and finished the majority of the Chaos challenges. There is still plenty to do if you want everything, though. Some items are expensive, while several achievements require you to collect large amounts of Amber. Because of that, I could easily see the total playtime doubling for anyone chasing 100%.
The shorter runtime worked in Akatori’s favour for me. The game rarely feels padded, and the limited backtracking helps keep the adventure moving at a good pace. Even when the story was not grabbing me, there was usually another area, ability or challenge waiting ahead. That was more than enough to keep me moving forward.
Verdict
Akatori does not reinvent the Metroidvania, but it gets many of the important things right. Movement becomes more satisfying as you unlock new abilities, exploration remains easy to follow, and the mix of pixel art and 3D environments gives the game a strong visual identity.
Combat is more uneven, with some encounters feeling too easy and others becoming difficult without much warning. I also ran into a frustrating Steam Cloud issue that affected my collectibles, while the story never became a major reason for me to keep playing.
Even so, there is plenty to enjoy. Experienced Metroidvania players may find Akatori familiar and a little short, but newcomers should find its focused exploration and straightforward progression easy to get into. What stayed with me most was the movement, the environments and how rarely I felt lost. In a genre that can sometimes feel overwhelming, that simplicity is one of Akatori’s biggest strengths.