‘You should be tracking’ is a simple idea designed to bring more light to upcoming indie titles that show promise, and The Girl from Arkanya checks every single box that you could hope to put onto a list for an upcoming indie title.
Within The Girl from Arkanya, characters play as a young aspiring adventurer by the name of Marisa as she explores the jungles of Amazonia, and it is heavily inspired by the 2D Legend of Zelda games from the past.
Including a hookshot, and a capybara companion that takes the cake as one of the more interesting companions within video games of recent years. As is tradition, here’s the YouTube trailer before we dive too deeply.
The art style alone brings back the taste of exploring through the nostalgic lens of The Legend of Zelda: A Link To The Past, and exploration to find treasure seems like it’s up the alley of everyone who wants to strike it rich.
What separates this title at the moment, however, is gameplay mechanics. You can have the prettiest title at the dance, but if the gameplay is rough around the edges you’re sure to find more scorn than admiration.
The pet capybara that follows Marisa throughout the title can be switched to at any time, allowing for more diversity in puzzles that present themselves as players explore wild dungeons, pushing themselves further for loot. If Marisa falls, the hard-earned loot is gone as Kapi (the capybara) drags Marisa back to safety.
The next #kickstarter update for Arkanya is up! ▶️▶️https://t.co/vYFGbSgttj
And guess what! The Arkanya Costume Design Contest is BACK! Resources will be in the comments. Win some prizes and get your outfit design in-game! #pixelart #indiegame #capybara #gamedev pic.twitter.com/Ii1yLICF5Z— The Girl from Arkanya (@ArkanyaGame) August 7, 2020
Players seem to consistently be pressed on this: will they venture further in the hope of acquiring a growing horde of loot, or will they play it safe and bring back what they’ve already managed to find?
That risk versus reward is a tantalizing mechanic that has done well in a wide variety of titles, such as Moonlighter and Dark Souls, constantly pushing players farther to push the boundaries of safety for glory.
Add in a few tools that Marisa is clearly comfortable with, the ability to make your own home to relax at in between daunting raids on dungeons to grab ever more treasure, and creative dungeon designs that will challenge players to solve puzzles while staying safe, and The Girl from Arkanya is simply a title that you should be tracking.
The Girl from Arkanya is currently on Kickstarter, and they have succeeded in their initial goal of $10,000 by a wide margin: meaning that somehow and someway, this will see the light of day. There are still thirteen days to go, however, and every bit helps developers achieve their aspirations of delivering a beloved title that can stand toe-to-toe with bigger machinations from juggernaut studios and publishers.
