October 23rd, 2012 | By Alex Wilkinson
Tagged in: action rpg | Akaneiro Demon Hunters | dungeon crawler | free to play | PC Game | spicy horse
Just the other week we looked at the fantastic Akaneiro: Demon Hunters (Akaneiro) from Spicy Horse. They were good enough to furnish me with some extra information about this fantastic new Action RPG (dungeon crawler). Being instantly drawn in by the amazing visuals this game really jumped out at me and with Spicy Horse going down the free to play model I am sure the end result will be very interesting.
Spicy Horse have decided to make Akaneiro the japanese incarnation of the Red Riding Hood tale, a novel take on the story it seems and one in which the name is rooted. “Akane” refers to a specific plant, in which its roots can be used to create red dye with “Iro” meaning colour of. This together creates “roots of blood red” creating a title steeped in meaning. In the game context Akaneiro refers to the first demon hunter believed to be a young girl of the Red Riding Hood tale and who founded the order of Akane.
A deep and rich story Akaneiro seems to be a fantastic fusion of east meets west in the first Action RPG game I can think of that really pulls in the rich folklore of Japan. I am surprised it has taken this long to really tap into that seam of creativity that has been found in the east and I am really looking forward to seeing the end result in the game.
With regards to the gameplay Spicy Horse are trying to move away from the very traditional class system and really start to put in place something different altogether. At the start you will need to pick your path out of: Prowess, Fortitude or Cunning but after your initial path has been picked you are free to experiment as much as you like. I really like this idea as I hate picking one class to be locked in and see all the cool abilities I am missing out on when my friends play other awesome roles.
The whole class system being quite fluid is fantastic and as more and more games try to move this way I wait eagerly to see if it can be pulled off in Akaneiro. This will be helped with the inclusion of crafting. Crafting will allow you to change weapons to suit your role which will no doubt be a big boon to this fluid class mechanic.
Akaneiro will of course include Co-op and even PVP in the final build, although it is still uncertain as to when these multiplayer features will be introduced into the beta. The beta will begin at the end of the month (October 31st).
Akaneiro looks to be a fantastic new Action RPG approaching this genre from a different angle. With some amazing visuals and deep story this will be one to watch. Sign up for the beta on the official site here. Akaneiro will be released on the PC, Mac and web clients first with the idea of coming to Android tablets later.
Alex Wilkinson (543 posts)
Full time gamer part time writer and a Graduate of King College London I have been playing computer games ever since the days of the much loved Amiga. Playing a broad spectrum of games over as many platforms as possible with a distinct obsession with RTS games even though lacking in much of the micro ability. Tweet me @alexwilkinson