Drawing Your Way to Victory: An Inkulinati Review

By Al

Players: 1-2
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, XBox, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, PC

Have you ever wondered what turn-based strategic combat would look like if it took place on a medieval manuscript? Well wonder no more as Inkulinati has the answer to that very specific question! Inkulinati was brought to life via a successful Kickstarter back in 2020, released onto Steam Early Access the following year, and has now arrived on consoles! We're going to be taking a look at the Nintendo Switch version today and see if this game is more than just a cool visual concept. We're about to face apocalyptic events head on and go to Hell and back, so strap in and let's get on with the review!

The game works well when it focuses on Duels.

Can you believe this is a tutorial screen?

There isn't really a story to describe in Inkulinati, beyond a bare bones one you get in the Journey Mode. Basically the game sees you training to join the other Ink Masters within the Inkulinati. That's right, "Inkulinati" is a play on "Illuminati", and you're looking to join their elite ranks. You'll meet several great figures of the medieval past, but you'll mainly be playing the role of a peasant looking to rise into greatness. Along the way your Master dies, and it's up to you to bring him back. That pretty much wraps up the story, as it's mainly just an excuse to get you into a lot of duels, even one where you face Death himself. You'll meet other members of the Inkulinati and put them in their place, but I'd be lying to you if I said I remembered that all this was being done in the name of the fallen Master. Normally this is where I would excuse the lack of a strong story in a game like this, but this is a case where I feel that players should be given stronger motivation to clearing tons of battles than simply saving the life of a character you interact with for all of five minutes. There's a lot of reasons to love this game, but there's almost as many reasons to feel that it falls short of delivering a proper full experience. I'll leave this point alone for now and move on to discussing gameplay, but we'll come back to this topic for sure.

RIP The Master.

Yes, this is an actual scene from the game.

Inkulinati's gameplay loop is probably too complicated to try to dissect within the context of a review, but I'll try to mention the key elements. Gameplay normally revolves around a character you pick, called a Tiny, who can draw Beasts to fight battles for them. These Beasts fall under a specific race, like rabbits, foxes, and dogs, and certain classes, like sword wielders, spear bearers, and archers. There are actually dozens of Beasts in the game, but you'll rarely use more than 10-12 over the course of a game. Each Beast has an ink cost in order to be brought into battle, and you can gain more ink by having a Beast end their turn on a puddle of ink. Beasts can perform various actions according to the character class, but they'll mostly be used to make offensive moves. Battles can be against a group of wild Beasts, an infinite number of Beasts spawning from a nest, or against another Tiny who is actively drawing Beasts of their own and scheming to take you down. The goal in all the battles is to defeat all the Beasts facing you, or to wipe out their nest. A Tiny Duel is a bit different though, as your goal is to simply have to kill the opposing Tiny. Besides drawing Beasts, you can perform various Hand Actions like pushing items and characters (including your Tiny) in either direction, squishing an opposing Beast, healing a friendly Beast or Tiny, and so on. Pushing is a main action for both Tinies and Beasts, and you can score an instant kill by pushing a unit over the edge of a platform.

Each Beast and Tiny move one at a time during a battle. I'm not actually sure what determines which side goes first, but you can use any active Beast you want, and then it goes back and forth until everyone has taken a turn. Each full grouping of turns is called a Chapter, and while battles can last for several of them, there's reasons why they rarely go beyond 5 or 6. where the field of battle takes place is important too, as many battlefields come complete with hazards as deadly as the enemies themselves. These can be exploding pots, fire raining from the sky, rising and falling water, and lots more. If a battle goes on for too many Chapters, an Apocalypse Event will take place. In Inkulinati, an Apocalypse Event means that fire will start to engulf one or both sides of the battlefield until a winner is crowned. This usually means that Beasts and Tinies on both sides will be forced to play far more aggressively against each other. If you're not able to end the battle by your own terms, the game will have no problem ending things for you. Besides battles that involve your Tiny, there is also a battle type where a set number of Beasts face off against each other. These are quick shows of power, and play out similar to a fighting game. Quick victories are all but needed as there is no Tiny to draw in other reinforcements. There's quite a bit more that can be discussed regarding gameplay, but seeing as it takes the game itself literal hours to explain everything, I guess this will have to do for the purposes of this article.

A Journey Mode map.

Organizing a good army is key.

While it's best to jump into the tutorials as soon as you start up the game, it's the Journey Mode that makes up the bulk of the gameplay experience. Journey Mode is separated into several maps that are made up of various Beast encounters and event spaces that culminate in a Tiny Duel. Each adventure into Journey Mode is different, and while you do unlock a lot of things within the game's bestiary as you play, there really isn't much that carries over when you complete it. It is the core game mode though, so it's worth explaining a bit. While you don't exactly create a unique character for Journey Mode, you do play as a peasant who is seeking to join the ranks of the Inkulinati. As mentioned earlier, your Master is killed and you set off to bring them back to life. Most of this is unimportant though, and story barely factors into any of the battles. What is important in Journey Mode is Beast and skill management. Your Tiny apparently gets bored drawing the same Beasts over and over again, so you'll have to change things up a bit. In Journey Mode all Beasts will slowly require more and more ink to draw as you use them, thus boredom. This boredom level only goes down if you go a few battles without using them. Thankfully you can recruit new Beasts following certain victories, or even purchase them from shops. Battles and Duels award you money and prestige in Journey Mode, as well as additions to your army. Money is pretty self-explanatory, but Prestige is mainly used to get more options within the event spaces. These event spaces usually involve some sort of NPC interaction at a place like an Inn or an Alehouse. Over the course of your Journey you can also raise your max health and starting ink if you play your cards right, but these options usually require you to farm a lot of prestige in other maps. While battles do get progressively harder, you are allowed to lose some of them at the cost of quills, which sort of act as lives in this scenario. You can then choose to redo the battle with the enemies being slightly weaker. This is important as you'd probably find yourself getting stuck a lot otherwise. While Journey Mode does make up the biggest chunk of the game by far, it really isn't much of a story mode. I'll discuss that more later on, but it almost feels like a more involved and connected tutorial. The only other mode worth talking about involves one-on-one duels with either a computer-controlled Tiny, or one controlled by a second player. This could provide a lot of fun too, but there unfortunately isn't any online connectivity within this mode.

Is this a kink?

I live for the text above Duels.

I have a lot of small gripes with Inkulinati, but the biggest has to be its stated genre. Now, I don't want what I'm about to say next to come off as me disliking the game because it wasn't exactly what I expected it to be, I'm talking about something more specific. I followed this game since its Kickstarter back in 2020, but mostly in the background without really following its development. During that Kickstarter it was described as a "turn-based strategy" game, and that title has stuck with it right up to the most recently released press releases. I guess you can argue that it is those things, as its gameplay is turn-based and it does require strategy. The thing is that it has far more in common with a deckbuilding roguelike than anything else. I'll admit that the latter genre descriptor is a bit off, since a single "run" in Inkulinati will take you several hours to complete, but it's the random elements that don't fully carry over that I'm talking about when I call it a roguelike. No matter if roguelike may be the wrong term to use or not, this is definitely a deckbuilder at heart as far as the Journey Mode gameplay mechanics go. The way boredom makes units all but unusable, the way you take add, rotate, and let units go as needed, and even the entire Hand Actions and Talent systems seem hell-bent on making this into a deckbuilding game. You even have a set pool of energy (ink) that determines which cards from your deck (Beasts) can be used. The entire combat system is basically a different take on a Yu-Gi-Oh duel. Considering that I don't think this was the initial goal of that Kickstarter, it almost feels like the developers added in some elements to make the turn-based strategy gameplay unique, but then it all got away from them. I think the game would've turned out far better if it played like a full-on strategy game, sort of using tactics-style gameplay on a flat space, but that's not what we get here in the final product. I'm actually very confused why the game seems to hide its deckbuilding elements, but I truly feel like I was a bit catfished when I came into this game. I don't want to make it sound like these elements make Inkulinati a bad game, but they do seem to all clash together in way that feels like the developers should've gone with a far simpler gameplay loop.

Since I'm covering some negatives, let's talk about the other things about Inkulinati that I think don't really work. Probably owing to all the random gameplay elements that are thrown in here, Inkulinati's tutorial takes literal hours to complete. I actually gave up after a full two hours of tutorials as I was just worn down by them. There are even optional tutorials that are almost bonus stages, and I simply can't understand how anyone would think players will want to sit in tutorials for as long as this game expects you to. Following that long run of tutorials, I started Journey Mode and was greeted by MORE TUTORIALS! What's worse is that some of them were repeats from the actual tutorial section. It honestly feels like two different teams worked on the tutorials and the Journey Mode, and never told the other what needed to go into each. The tutorials are literally a full-fledged game mode onto themselves, and the Journey Mode could've easily been tweaked so that the tutorials came together naturally. It's like they're both fighting for the player's attention, but clearly overwrought tutorials should be the first thing to go. Add to this that Inkulinati doesn't really have anything resembling a solid Story Mode, and it just feels like two big tutorials that are trying to be the core game. Sure Journey Mode features characters and some funny scenes involving your Tiny and other NPCs, but it's a far cry from what a full story could've given us, in this case an actual full main game mode. While I just complained a lot about the gameplay taking me for a ride regarding its actual genre, I have to say that it's all made worse by the fact that the game feels incomplete as is. Tutorials, Journey Mode, and Duels are all you get here, and you'd think after four years in development someone would've considered giving the game something resembling a main mode. There's hints of one here and there, but nothing that feels like it was ever the full focus during the development cycle. I meant to talk more about the negative points I had with the game, such as the overly complicated console control scheme, but I guess I'll move on and discuss a few other points about the game.

I didn't even mention the Blessings system.

Ugh I hate the water!

The visuals are clearly where Inkulinati shine, and I don't think anyone can argue the fact that this is one of the most unique looking games that has come out in recent memory. The entire medieval text aesthetic bleeds through everything, and it's made all the better when you see the animation that goes along with it. Then there's the live action elements. I think some people may be put off by the rather casual use of FMV cutscenes, or IRL backgrounds and hands, but I for one really dig their addition. Then there's the Beasts themselves, which are all a joy to behold. Even though there seem to be a bit too many of them at times, they all come to life in a humorous way I would've never thought possible before playing the game. I mean who would've thought that a game like this would feature rabbits stunning enemies with their butts? There's even an ongoing live text feature that happens during Tiny Duels that can barely even be read during gameplay, it's literally just added flavor that some players might never even notice is tied to what's actually happening in the Duel. I also found it pretty impressive that everything runs perfectly no matter what nonsense is happening on screen. I played this on the Nintendo Switch and assumed that I'd have some issues with the graphics, animation, or framerate considering how the game looks in screenshots and trailers. I'm pleased to note that none of that was ever happened, and I experienced absolutely no performance issues during my time with the game. My only big gripe with the graphics circles back to the big issue I had with the game in general, the fact that backgrounds and settings have to be rather plain so they can be randomized in each subsequent Journey Mode playthrough. I would've loved to see more detailed backgrounds or stage layouts that were locked to particular, story-centric battles. I know you sort of get this with some Tiny Duels and Tutorials, but it's not the quite at the level where things feel like permanent additions to the game. A more hellish level, a large church, a dark and mysterious forest, and other battlefields like that would've really made the visuals even more unique. As it stands now, everything takes place on the same level playing fields, with the only true variant coming in the form of a not-very-in-focus background. What we get works for the game, but it could've been so much better.

This is truly a deckbuilder.

An Alewife belongs in an Alehouse

I'm not exactly sure what to say about the music in Inkulinati besides the fact that it suits the setting of the game. All the tracks feel like they come from a CD that one plays in the background of a ticket booth at the local Renaissance Faire. I don't necessarily mean this in a bad way per se, but there's a generic-ness to it that I wasn't exactly expecting considering the game's development cycle. I'm not sure what else the developers could've gone for, but I'm actually surprised they didn't use many public domain tracks that one would associate with the time period. If there were any included, they faded so far into the background that I never heard them. I'd have loved to have heard "Pastime With Good Company" as I'm clearing my fiftieth tutorial, or have rocked out to "Greensleeves" as I faced off with Death himself, but we don't have that here. Once again, none of the music is bad, it's just also not all that good. Like a lot of aspects of the game, it seems as if so much focus was put onto the graphics and animation that things like music and gameplay fell by the wayside. There's also no voice acting at all in the game, and I honestly feel that some of the game's humor falls flat since it's pretty much text only. Seeing as there is literal blocks of text sometimes, I'd have loved to have heard some of it spoken aloud in a manner befitting the tone of the game. By that I of course mean that everyone would be doing their best impressions from Monty Python and The Holy Grail. Thankfully we do have a few random sounds here and there to break up the silence, but a few grunts and ahs from the animal units and Tinies can only go so far.

While I wasn't exactly the biggest fan of the gameplay within Inkulinati, I'll admit that it was mostly due to personal tastes and broken expectations. There's a decent deckbuilding roguelike here for those looking for one, and it is pretty much infinitely replayable thanks to the randomization of the Journey Mode. There's also the one-on-one duels that I honestly was surprised to see. While it may take a while getting a friend caught up on how to play the game, I do think that there's a lot of room for casual tournaments between friends through Tiny Duels. While not exactly the game I was hoping for when seeing it previewed, its $24.99 price tag feels almost like a steal for what you get. Considering that it seems to go on sale rather frequently on Steam, there's even a way to get it cheaper than its current console release. That said I do think picking it up on consoles might be the best choice, especially the Nintendo Switch version. This game works very well as a casual game where you play a match or two during a lunch break or on a long train ride, perfect for the Switch's portability. I don't want to sound like a 2016 Nintendo commercial, but the Tabletop Mode is perfect for those Duels with friends that I mentioned earlier. (Note: I don't think the game fully support Tabletop multiplayer, but that can hopefully be fixed in an update!) The sheer fun and silliness of the game is sure to make up for its (rather low) price tag in no time.

Dante really doesn't mess around!

Why Godfrey, I don't think I know that!

While I don't think I can give Inkulinati a blanket recommendation, I can definitely say that it's a must have for fans of deckbuilding roguelike games. While it doesn't really fit those genres in the traditional sense, there's enough elements here that are sure to keep fans occupied for dozens of hours on end. If you're simply a fan of the visual style though, you may be put off by all the gameplay quirks I've mentioned over the course of this review. There's definitely a good game beneath the odd mess of overly long tutorials, and gameplay elements that don't really work well together, but I'm not sure if enough of that shines through to keep more casual players invested. I guess fans of strategy games, or maybe just medieval humor in general, will find enjoyment here, but I do hope that they come in with the right set of expectations. Me on the other hand, I hope that the developers follow up this game up with a sequel that falls more in line with the strategy elements. There's definitely more inky nonsense to be wrung out of this concept, and I look forward to one day seeing the Inkulinati come together again!

For More Information on Inkulinati:
https://www.yazagames.com/

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Story: B-
Gameplay: B-
Graphics: A
Music/Sound: B
Value: A-

Overall: B

Pros:
+ Really cool concept that brings together elements from several different genres.
+ The art style, animations, and unit designs make the world of a medieval text really come to life.
+ There's a humor to everything that makes the otherwise repetitive gameplay loop very enjoyable.
+ A great soundtrack helps bring the entire package together.
+ While it may be an acquired taste, I am a fan of the use of FMV and live action graphics.
+ The extensive tutorials, and the randomized Journey Mode, make this highly replayable for those who like the gameplay loop.

Cons:
- The deckbuilding and randomized mechanics seem very out of place with the rest of the game.
- The tutorials take literal hours to complete, and then get repeated in the core Journey. Perhaps they should've been reduced and fully integrated in the main mode.
- Could've benefitted from a strong story mode as opposed to the loosely connected Journey Mode.
- With the exception of some rather cheap mechanics, Inkulinati is a fairly easy game even on the harder difficulty settings.
- Seems like a really cool idea, but doesn't feel fully executed even in this final version.

A copy of this game was provided to us free-of-charge by the publisher for the purpose of this review. This did not affect our review in any way.

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I leave you with a rabbit's butt!