Developed by the small Brazilian team at Potato Kid with Acclaim in the publisher role, Talaka is a new action roguelike inspired by Yoruba religion. Currently available in demo format on Steam, the title leads the eponymous protagonist down a path of reconnecting with her roots.
Talaka is a young woman who has loved myths and legends ever since she was a kid. Due to her big interest in the culture associated with various countries and people around the world, she grew up to one day become an artist. One day, however, her grandma disappeared, forcing her to go back home, where she ends up being taken to a different plane of existence.
A major part of Talaka is its influence from the Yoruba religion, which is a prominent part of Brazilian culture. In this plane, the girl meets the divine spirits known as Orishas, including Eshu, Oba, Ogum, Oshossi, and more.
Like the Greek deities in Hades, the Orishas here fulfill a similar goal, being powerful allies that provide boons to the girl. Each of them is tied to different concepts of rewards, improving aspects like strength, defense and speed specifically for that run. Eventually, the player will unlock permanent upgrades and have the chance to further customize their build before diving in again.
The first thing to make Talaka stand out is its art style, which is hand-drawn. It feels artisanal in a way that’s charismatic and unique. It also seems somewhat symbolic, as the player assumes the role of an artist who could very well be interpreting this other world from the perspective of a painting.
This unique style also contributes to the dynamic feeling of the game with very expressive animations. Fighting enemies depends on fast reflexes and the ability to chain attacks to kill enemies and proceed through each randomized room, so feeling fast enough to pull things off is important.
Dashing, jumping and using a variety of attacks are important elements of dealing with the challenges. It’s possible to find different weapons in each playthrough, with some offering much more reach or hitting harder, for instance.
In the early build of the game, a few aspects of the weapons seem like they still need some improvement. Basically, no matter the equipment, there are some specific actions that are universal, but this destabilizes the concept of some weapons like ranged ones. The specific reach of some weapons can also be somewhat complicated to use.
سەرچاوەی فەرمی بە زمانی ئینگلیزی: https://hardcoregamer.com/preview-talaka/
