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Expansion Pass 2 Game #10/Blog a Day #18

Hello everyone, how are you?

The long-awaited second Expansion Pass posts are finally here. It's not a lot of games this year, just 10 of them but I hope you are looking forward to the last batch of games. Anyway smaller games or "Indie Games" as people call them have been among some of if not the best games out there. These games sometimes touch upon themes that biggest companies wouldn't and often are definitely better than what those big companies release. There's a ton of indie games now but sometimes some hidden gems that get lost among them and today we are going to talk about one of the first indie games that released on the Switch. We are going to save the world in KAMIKO...

 

                                                   Well doesn't this look familiar...

I remember seeing the game often during the first year the Switch launched. I wanted to get it but I never got around to buying it. I mean this was 2017 when the Switch had a lot of great games every month so I eventually forgot about it. It wasn't till 2021 that I saw it on sale for $2.50 and I decided to finally get it. Don't know why I never did buy it before, since its regular price is $5. Well now that I finally got it I had a chance to play it and here is what the game is about and my thoughts about it.

Before the game starts you can select to play as 1 of the 3 playable characters. The characters are Yamato, Uzume, and Hinome and each of them play differently. Yamato uses a longsword, Uzume uses a bow and arrow, and Hinome uses a knife and a shield like Captain America. It's really up to you who you wanna play as and whoever you think suits your playstyle. I personally played as Yamato first and she is my preferred character, but I also played as the other two characters as well.

 

       This is pretty much the same as selecting a starter Pokemon if you think about it

The story starts off with the character that you chose. Your character is a Shrine Maiden and you are summoned by a wise old man that informs you that there's some evil brewing. He informs you that demons have sealed the gates that connect both the transient world and the realm of the dea. Should this be left unchecked, demons will take over the transient world and in turn destroy humankind because they will be lead down the wrong path. In order to stop this, you must become the Kamiko and cleanse 4 gates in order to prevent all of this from happening. Kamiko means Little Goddess in Japanese, which given the context of what's going on makes sense.  

The gameplay is pretty straightforward, you go through the levels fighting enemies till you reach the shrine gate you are supposed to cleanse. After that you fight a boss. But beforeall of that you do have some obstacles and puzzles to go though. The look of the game is really charming with this retro style and I also love the music which adds to the overall experience.

"But Captain N, where can I play this game?" You can play it on Switch, Xbox One, PS4, and Steam. I played it on the Switch and I think it is best played there since it looks like it was made for the system, but it's really up to you in what platform you want to play it on.

 

                                      Boss battles remind me of Zelda quite a bit

Final Thoughts: There are games that sometimes stick around with you for a long time and to me KAMIKO is that game. The game is quite short, you can finish it in under an hour, or you can also play it in short sessions if you want. It has relay value in using the other 2 characters and it also encourages you to speedrun through the levels as well.

You can play it however you choose to do so, and I think this is why it was on the Switch or made with it in mind, because you can play games on the Switch however you want, be it for a long or short play session. KAMIKO perfectly captures that philosophy behind the console since you can play it in two different ways and the game never overstays its welcome.

I've heard about this game for quite some time and I wanted to try it, but I just never got around to it. It's definitely money well spent and the only real regret I have is that I didn't play it sooner. If you are looking for a great game that doesn't require hours of commitment that you can finish in an afternoon, then KAMIKO is the game for you. It's charming, the music is great, the characters all play different, and the game is just the right length. Definitely try it out if you haven't.

 

 

                             It's surreal seeing a bus in this game but still really cool

Whether it's the will of the gods or your own, if there is something that you can only do then do it. You can do whatever it is you are trying to accomplish no matter how big or small it is.

So that was it for game #10 of the second Expansion Pass. Game #9 will be coming soon. Thanks for reading and...

 

 

*All images were taken by my Switch and my copy of the game*