Realm of Ink | PC Demo Review

March 2, 2024 Eric Sandler

Realm of Ink, by Leap Studio and Maple Leaf Studio, recently released a demo of their upcoming game, and the easiest way to describe it is “Hades-like.” It’s certainly a feather in the collective cap of Supergiant that they now have a flavor of roguelike that others attempt to emulate.

Revenge Tastes Sweet

Realm of Ink starts you off in the bamboo forest with a narrative voice telling you your village and family were killed by a fox demon, and you’re out for revenge. The game wastes no time in introducing you to the combat: the default sword provides flashy, colorful attacks, both light and heavy. You’ve got two dodges to avoid attacks from the various and stylish enemies, and you even get a few upgrades.

One notable difference from Hades is, rather than boons from different gods, you can pick up magical inks that give you special abilities and buffs. Once you pick up two inks, you’ll combine them to create a little pet that acts as a helper in combat. The two types of ink you get determine which pet is created. So if you have water and fire, you’ll have a different pet than fire and earth, for instance.

Other systems demonstrated include perks that provide passive upgrades to your abilities and elixirs that give temporary buffs for a certain number of rooms. The demo concludes with a boss fight and, assuming you win (it’s not a hard fight) you’ll reappear in the Fox Inn and be able to test out the other weapons or loop back to the beginning of the demo if you want.

The Final Verdict

The demo encompasses a pretty short bite of the game, perhaps 20 minutes total, but it does a good job showing off the systems in place. As it stands, it’s not going to knock Hades off the top spot for narrative-driven roguelikes, but it has promise. Certainly a game to keep an eye on as the developers flesh it out.