If you are a millennial, you probably remember the good old days of action platformers. In the late 90s and early 2000s, games like Jak and Daxter, Ratchet and Clank, Crash Bandicoot, God of War, Sly Cooper, and Psychonauts dominated the marketplace and were some of the most popular titles in the PlayStation 2 era. Over the last decade, platformers have become less popular but still have remained prevalent. In recent years, games such as Ori and the Blind Forest, Pizza Tower, Cuphead, Celeste, Hollow Knight, and God of War have reinvigorated gamers interests. At Summer Game Fest, we got to preview Evil Raptor’s upcoming game Akimbot.
For those who have never heard of Akimbot, it is an action platformer similar to Jak and Daxter. The game is being developed by Evil Raptor and will be published by Plaion. For those who have never heard of Evil Raptor, it is a new studio founded by the creator of Pumpkin Jack, Nicolas Meyssonnier. Pumpkin Jack was previously published by Headup Games that is now owned by Plaion. After Pumpkin Jack was positively received, Nicolas and the team members went to work on their new game, Akimbot.
At Summer Game Fest, we had the chance to sit down with Evil Raptor to preview their upcoming game Akimbot. If you were a fan of the sarcastic sidekick in High on Life and remember how snarky Daxter could be in Jak and Daxter, then you will instantly fall in love with the game’s two protagonists.
Captured outlaws on a prison ship, Shipset and Exe find themselves unlikely allies when the ship they were in crashes on a robot-filed planet. The two must work together in order to survive and escape the planet. In order to do this, the duo must slay a ton and I mean a ton of robots. The demo showcases an early level in the game and shows off the platforming and how robots will explode, even if they are just trying to rave on the beach.
Takeaways.
Seeing how much Nicholas and the team have improved since Pumpkin Jack made me excited to play their new game. For those who aren’t aware, we were big fans of Pumpkin Jack and tried to share our love of the game with everyone else. In regards to Akimbot, we were hooked from the onset. The characters’ banter with one another was comical without being raunchy The idea of an unlikely duo having to work together in order to survive and get off the planet could set up some interesting moments and even a potential double cross.
The Akimbot gameplay featured what we loved about Pumpkin Jack but was fine-tuned and more polished. Slamming through boxes, bashing robots, and exploring an unknown island left us wondering what could be. What does the team have in mind for the game’s upcoming release?
Based on what we saw at Summer Game Fest, it looks like the game is done and in the final polishing stage. At the end of night two, Jeff Keighley stated that Akimbot was one of his favorite demos at SGF. By the end of the Summer Game Fest Fest Play Days, Keighley would state that Stellar Blade 0 was his favorite game at the showcase.
Still to be considered one of the best titles at Summer Game Fest is definitely an honor. In fact, it was definitely in my top five games from the Summer Game Fest Play Days. If you like action-adventure platformers, then it would be worth your time to add Akimbot to your wishlist on Steam, Xbox Series X|S, or PlayStation 5.
Will you join in on the robot mania? Akimbot is scheduled to be released on August 29th, 2024.
