When I first sat down to play Kromaia, I thought to myself, “Oh, hey, another Ikaruga-style shoot ’em up. Ok, why not.” Once the game actually started, however, I was quickly disavowed of that notion. The interesting story premise, the unique mechanics, and the puzzles made me rethink my pre-judgment and I started to get pretty excited.
Kromaia is the story of revenge, lost souls, and gods…in the context of a 3D shmup. The story doesn’t enter into the game much during actual gameplay, but it’s still an interesting concept, and one that gave the game an interesting flavor (like Pepto-Bismol [I like the taste of Pepto-Bismol, so that’s a good comparison]). The environments are populated with temples and arcane architecture with a strange language of symbols spread throughout. It’s a highly destructible environment, with items and secrets often hidden within.
Gameplay is 3D, with complete directional control in a large environment. A ring around your ship points you in the direction you need to go, and gyroscopically stays locked on to your next destination. You navigate through the environment with one primary goal: finding the elements necessary to unlock the level gate. Along the way, you can pick up booster packs and bonuses while fighting various enemy types. Unlike some other games, however, enemies in Kromaia will always reorient to your front. The battle is always ahead, no matter what direction you go in. It plays better with a controller than with a mouse and keyboard, but I suppose that’s a matter of preference.
There are four ship types available and four major levels (with multiple stages). Each ship has a different type of weapon (with a different area of effect or range), and each major level is designed for that ship type (in terms of enemies). Once you’ve beaten all four, you can choose to use any ship in any level, which can provide new challenges.
Did I mention that the enemy AI is adaptive? The game is as difficult as you are good at playing it. The better you are, the better the AI plays against you. This can sometimes feel a little frustrating, but you’re always being challenged according to the skill you’re displaying, so any failure on your part is exactly that.
The game isn’t graphically advanced, by any means. It’s mostly blocks and angles in a Tron-esque color palette. The environment has a Matrix-like tint depending on which environment you’re in (orange, blue, red, green, grey), and that can make it difficult at times to see enemies or objects.
Kromaia is available now for $19.99, and if you want a refreshing, intricate shmup, there are worse things to spend your money on.
