Rakugaki (RKGK) Review

A cyberpunk villainous setting of a world being rebelled by music and art? Oh, we’re all down to see how this plays out. RKGK which is short for Rakugaki is an action-adventure 3D Platformer game, which is now available on Steam and is verified playable on Steam Deck.

Shake your dormant spray cans because your art will solve a major crisis.

Sliding like Never Before

Rakugaki is roughly set in a dystopian society where people’s minds have been hijacked using visual imagery. To push back the villains known as the ‘B Corp’ who intend to control every human being and make them obey their commands, you need to heal people through the colours of life. And that’s pretty much what you’re facing with.

Your journey is figuring out how you can use your artistic skills to bring down a major corporation with almost unlimited wealth and technology. And that too all of it alone. Alone? Well, you do have a strong drone as your sidekick assisting all your activities.

Luckily, you’re not an average artist who needs a calm environment to construct their art. You hit the streets and hit it hard. Taking up the spray cans of all colours and merging your skills from all those hours at Splatoon, your protagonist finds herself sliding across the entire map, blasting and punching any robot menace that comes across.

Overdriving with Colors

Rakugaki has undoubtedly a well-constructed movement mechanics. You can double jump, slide, hover, punch, and shoot. Everything you need for a complete platforming experience. But apart from that, there isn’t much happening mechanically.

Your main objective in a level is to complete the platforming experience, taking down enemies and painting over panels which are again optional.

Rakugaki is very close to Ghostrunner, but minus the difficulty, gore and pace. Ghost Runner delivered an experience that was thrilling and kept you on your toes with each turn and jump, but Rakugaki on the other hand is a breeze to complete. The game asks players to complete levels as fast as possible for extra points, but that doesn’t sit well with the fact that you’re attempting to explore a certain area for coins and collectables.

Even for the music, you’re greeted with a text that the game is best enjoyed with a controller and headphones. While the controller recommendation is perfect, I have no clue why it asks for a headphone with flat background music. The hype made me feel as if I would be playing a game with the OST similiar to the BPM (Bullets Per Minute) game, but all I had was forgettable techno music.

The Combat of RKGK is straightforward and most enemies will take only a punch or few. The platformer developed only a little more, making things more flashy, but the core experience remains the same. Even for the arts, you’re not doing anything special, or using precise inputs or even QTE. All it takes is just a press of a button.

Overall, mechanically and as for the experience of just the gameplay experience, it failed to keep me hooked even after multiple attempts.

Defining Art style

Rakugaki is the most visually mind-blowing game that I’ve come across this year. From booming 3D art styles that literally ‘Pop’ out of space is breathtaking. The colours and design of the environment help the bland mechanics of the game at least look interesting. There is no denying that the overall flat gameplay style is saved by the brilliant art style.

The perfect design style of a cyberpunk-themed world shows that it has taken inspiration but the addition of its own colors and unique art. The giant graffiti-styled art on the LED screens is always breathtaking to behold.

While the performance with the graphics on the steam deck does well, the visual treat that you can find yourself in higher resolution monitors is insane. While it’s your choice to play the game wherever you wish, I would recommend playing it on your high-resolution monitors for a colourful experience.

Verdict

Rakugaki (RKGK) is a brilliantly crafted game that doesn’t hold back in showing its creativity through art. Although the game falls flat mechanically. The plot setting is engaging enough for you to give the game a shot fueled with really good storytelling. But the art style is guaranteed to blow your mind.