Kamiko

Kamiko analysis for Nintendo Switch

We must recognize that the Nintendo Switch digital games catalog through the eShop has started strongly during this first month and a half. It has not been just the sales, but also some titles that have attracted special attention when played on the Nintendo hybrid platform. Without much noise and without too much pretension, Kamiko is one of them.

Before its launch, we knew almost nothing about it, but this Skipmore project has been shown to adapt perfectly to a console nature with physical controls, not only on iOS and Android , which is where this small independent studio has developed most. Japanese.

 

When Kamiko received a green light from Kimishima’s, the studies involved in its materialization ( Flyhigh Workd, Circle or Skipmore himself ) realized that it did not take millionaire budgets to surprise the players on that 6.2-inch HD screen , a panel that more resembles an artowork in movement where the color dazzles during every second .

KAMIKO (NSW) screenshot

It jumps at sight his artistic style , independently of the playable proposal that we are going to find ourselves. At a time when independent titles are increasingly taking advantage of the development based on 8 bits , Kamiko manages to stand out for having used this aesthetic so astute ,

 

because not only is a visual resource but also playable to have elements of the environment whose Position is measured through the pixels ,

 

which makes it easier for our movements to be as accurate as possible if we want to avoid being hit by shots or impacts. Everything is measured to the millimeter .

Passion for the pixel

But surely you are wondering what exactly Kamiko is about , because after having made it clear to us that their world, with an artistic section where color and music are a frenzy for the retro lover, it is time to leave the feeling aside and take the controls,

 

because an adventure of exploration, puzzles, action and dyes of platforms awaits us where the maximum point in favor is the replayability .

 

In little more than an hour we can finish the first round, but having several characters available the title lends itself to be played with all of them, the Kamiko priestesses who must fight against the demons while solving the puzzles proposed by this small world .

KAMIKO (NSW) screenshot

And yes, the world is small, closed, but when you finish it you realize that everything is a puzzle in itself, a small arcade race where Japanese Shinto beliefs flow through the will of these gifted girls every time they open one of the floodgates that give us access to the next level or phase, the Torii calls .

We can not move forward, however, without overcoming these little puzzles, a pattern that will be repeated constantly following a very clear order and not at all repetitive despite its recursion: search for the four Torii, unlocking each of them and confronting the final boss of zone .

KAMIKO (NSW) screenshot

The clear things: an unpretentious speedrun

This is how we will make our way in Kamiko , breaking the magnetic seals that prevent normality from reigning in this world. We want to insist on the sound section of the title, a constant of dynamism and variety ” chiptune ” that offers a very pronounced

variety of effects at all times, something unthinkable at the time but which is possible here. In addition, we have new melodies even when we advance to different sectors within the same level, always according to what we see on the screen at all times.