Hailing
from
China,
indie
developer
Bingobell
is
a
small
company
with
only
one
other
credit
to
its
name,
a
tiny
VR
title
from
2017.
But
in
2020,
they
released
a
demo
for
their
new
project;

Kaku:
Ancient
Seal,
a
far
grander
videogame
than
what
came
before.
A
few
demos,
some
big
changes
and
an
Early
Access
period
later,

Kaku:
Ancient
Seal
is
a
welcome
surprise.

Kaku:
Ancient
Seal
invokes
a
lot
of
other
games
in
its
visual
style
and
gameplay,
from

Tak
and
the
power
of
JuJu
and

Kena:
Bridge
of
Spirits
all
the
way
to
a
dash
of

Pokemon
in
the
form
of
Piggy,
a
cutesy
flying
companion
who
likes
to
exclaim
his
own
name
like
a
question,
a
statement
and
a
swear
word.
In
some
ways
the
mix
of
fighting,
platforming
and
puzzle
solving
reminds
me
of
classic
PS2
platformers,
but
with
a
modern
lick
of
paint
and
a
much
larger
scale.

The
story
of
Kaku
and
the
people
he
meets
on
his
adventure
is
one
of
the
weaker
aspects
of
the
game,
although
it
isn’t
terrible.
Kaku
himself
is
likeable
enough
and
Piggy
is
just
pure
cuteness
in
a
pair
of
overgrown
ears,
but
everyone
else
is
rendered
down
to
one
personality
trait
and
nothing
of
substance.
The
lack
of
voice
acting
plays
a
large
part
in
how
forgettable
everyone
is
too.
Perhaps
because
English
isn’t
their
native
language,
Bingobell’s
writing
style
gives
everyone
the
same
voice,
making
them
all
a
forgettable
blur
of
cartoony
faces.

There
are
four
worlds
Kaku
will
explore,
from
a
lush
jungle
to
a
frozen
wasteland,
and
each
of
those
are
split
into
smaller
zones
traversed
by
magical
portals.
They
are
gorgeous
areas
to
explore,
at
times
looking
far
better
looking
than
the
game’s
presumably
modest
budget
would
suggest.
It’s
actually
a
slightly
odd
mish-mash
of
graphical
quality,
because
while
the
environments
and
vistas
are
terrific,
the
animations
are
janky.
For
every
cool
enemy
design,
there’s
a
texture
that
looks
out
of
place.

These
graphical
inconsistencies
are
signs
of
the
game’s
small
team
and
small
budget.
Another
sign
is
how
there
isn’t
a
whole
lot
to
do
in
the
spaces
given
to
us,
either.
Enemies
are
strewn
across
the
landscape
like
candy
from
a
hastily
opened
bag
of
Skittles,
there
are
some
treasure
chests
to
find
and
a
handful
of
basic
side-quests,
none
of
which
really
fill
the
space.
It
gives
the
impression
of
big
levels
designed
for
the
sake
of
having
big
levels
rather
than
because
the
game
actually
needs
them.

Another
area
in
which
the
game
is
held
back
by
its
independent
nature
is
the
repetitive
mission
design.
Whenever
you
head
to
one
of
the
four
continents
(you
can
jump
freely
between
them,
which
I
love)
you’ll
meet
a
new
pal,
get
introduced
to
the
local
bad
guy
or
bad
gal
and
then
head
off
on
a
series
of
quests,
usually
involving
talking
to
someone,
jogging
across
the
landscape,
beating
some
stuff
up
and
then
doing
it
all
again.

The
good
news
is
that
the
gameplay
involved
in
doing
all
of
that
is
usually
rather
fun,
provided
you
can
accept
its
limitations.
Kaku
is
quite
handy
with
his
club,
as
well
as
a
catapult
for
dealing
with
the
game’s
slim
selection
of
enemy
types
from
afar.
There’s
a
special
attack
that
damages
an
enemy’s
Poise
meter
too,
which
once
drained
leaves
them
stunned.
By
combining
the
two
attack
types
there
are
special
moves
Kaku
can
unleash,
many
of
which
are
dictated
by
his
stamina
bar.

I
did
find
the
difficulty
balancing
to
be
a
tad
off.
A
lot
of
enemies
are
very
easy
to
take
down
through
button
mashing,
but
mixed
amongst
them
are
random
enemies
that
seem
to
absorb
damage
like
a
goddamn
sponge.
These
foes
look
just
like
their
comrades
but
will
have
a
much
higher
damage
tolerance,
meaning
they
aren’t
more
challenging
to
fight,
just
more
annoying.

The
Poise
mechanic
is
a
nifty
idea,
but
it
doesn’t
have
as
much
impact
on
the
combat
as
I’d
like.
It
seemed
more
effective
early
on,
but
as
I
levelled
up
the
damage
my
regular
attacks
did
far
outstripped
the
usefulness
of
Poise.

Overall,
the
combat
is
fine
and
can
be
quite
fun
in
small
doses.
Over
the
course
of
the
game
though,
its
simplicity
became
more
and
more
obvious
and
repetitive.
There’s
only
a
few
enemies
types
and
they
only
use
a
few
moves,
so
after
a
couple
of
hours
you’ve
seen
everything
the
game
is
going
to
throw
at
you
outside
of
its
boss
fights,
which
are
also
quite
basic.
After
a
while,
I
began
to
ignore
the
pockets
of
enemies
on
the
map
because
stopping
to
fight
them
all
was
tedious.
By
bypassing
fights,
I
could
keep
the
combat
feeling
fresher.

You
get
some
light
puzzle-solving
and
platforming
to
help
mix
up
the
gameplay.
This
is
classic
stuff:
a
double
jump
and
a
mid-air
dash,
along
with
the
occasional
fetching
of
an
elemental
stone.
There’s
a
weird
burst
of
acceleration
when
you
press
the
jump
button
which
caught
me
off-guard
the
first
few
times
and
Kaku
isn’t
as
nimble
as
I’d
like
in
the
air,
but
once
I
got
the
hang
of
I
had
a
great
time.

The
elemental
temples
are
where
the
game
really
hones
in
on
the
jumping
and
puzzling.
It’s
like
a
collection
of
the
classics,
from
rotating
cylinders
and
walls
of
spikes
to
rising
water,
deadly
mazes
and
levers.
These
sections
are
occasionally
frustrating
thanks
to
some
clumsy
design
but
are
otherwise
a
lot
of
fun.
Again,
it
has
a
kind
of
old-school
vibe
that
I
can
get
with.

Levelling
up
Kaku
to
tackle
stronger
enemies
isn’t
handled
through
menus
but
rather
venturing
into
a
strange
set
of
underground
runes
via
a
portal
you
can
open
up
at
any
time.
From
there
you
can
spend
special
crystals
and
resources
to
level
up
your
basic
defence
and
damage,
as
well
as
unlock
new
special
moves.
Improving
health
and
stamina
is
slightly
odder
though,
as
you
have
to
use
special
Ruin
Keys
to
open
up
small
platforming
and
combat
challenges.
As
you
complete
challenges
you’ll
move
up
to
the
next
floor
where
the
doors
cost
more
keys
to
open
and
so
on.

We
can’t
forget
the
adorable
Piggy,
either.
Putting
aside
the
importance
to
the
plot,
Piggy
also
gives
Kaku
a
few
cool
skills,
like
being
able
to
walk
on
water
(is
Kaku
Jesus?)
or
leap
a
vast
distance.
I
think
a
bit
more
could
have
been
done
with
Piggy’s
powers,
kind
of
like
Nintendo
did
with
Link’s
powers
in

Tears
of
the
Kingdom,
but
they
are
still
fun
to
use.

The
game
even
finds
time
to
throw
in
a
gear
system.
There’s
quite
a
lot
of
different
armour,
clubs,
slingshots
and
runestones
to
find
and
collection,
all
offering
special
perks.
Some
can
only
be
earned
by
beating
bosses
multiple
times,
too.

Kaku:
The
Ancient
Seal’s
biggest
problem
is
that
it’s
a
tad
larger
than
it
really
needs
to
be.
The
claim
of
over
30
hours
of
content
makes
a
good
selling
point
for
anyone
who
cares
about
the
ratio
of
money
to
time,
but
the
gameplay
doesn’t
quite
support
it.
The
environments
are
expansive
but
are
mostly
empty
aside
from
the
occasional
treasure
chest
or
rote
quest,
the
combat
doesn’t
evolve
as
the
game
goes
on
and
the
basic
mission
structure
repeats
itself.

None
of
this
stops
me
from
being
impressed
by

Kaku:
The
Ancient
Seal.
Despite
its
obvious
shortcomings,
it’s
a
fun
time
that
would
best
be
played
by
someone
who
jumps
on
for
a
few
hours
a
week
so
that
the
game’s
simplicity
can
remain
charming
rather
than
repetitive.
I
certainly
can’t
fault
the
developer’s
ambition
–
there’s
a
lot
of
stuff
packed
into

Kaku:
The
Ancient
Seal,
including
some
very
cool
ideas.
I
just
think
if
the
developers
had
taken
a
few
things
out
and
focused
on
a
couple
of
their
key
ideas,
Kaku
could
have
been
even
better.
Taken
for
what
it
is
though,

Kaku:
The
Ancient
Seal
is
a
charming
ARPG
with
a
strong

Zelda
vibe
and
a
lot
of
heart.