Written on the pages of every book is a voice to be heard, a story to be told, and a message to be received. What happens when the voice becomes distorted? What happens when the stories lose their anchor? What happens when the message becomes corrupted? Shiny Shoe Games, the devs behind Monster Train, explore this very idea in Inkbound.
Inkbound is a roguelike game unlike any that I’ve played before. At the start of the game I found out that I am playing as a Needless. The Needless don’t speak, but play an important role in restoring the stories being threatened by villains in the books at The Atheneum Library. My guides to this unique library are a pair of Yin and Yang spirit-like characters named Bin and Nib. Bin and Nib are polar opposites of each other. While Nib is black and gray with a serious demeanor and has a very solemn voice, Bin by comparison is white and silver with a silly demeanor and an almost comical voice. They guide you along your journey and teach you about yourself and the Inkbound until you reach the gatekeeper at The Atheneum.
My only complaint is that after reaching The Atheneum, Bin and Nib are completely under-used. They are the charm this game has to offer and yet once I got to the Atheneum, I barely got any real interaction from them. I seriously would welcome a show or animated shorts to get more Bin and Nib. They are that good.
Each run begins by choosing a villian to hunt down. Quests associated with the run can keep things interesting as well, though despite this I never really finished a quest. This is because a successful run is simply down to beating the villain. On the other hand, Inkbound sets itself apart in how replayable it is because if gaming has taught me anything, every villain has a respawn timer. Even after beating a villain, I can always go back and challenge him again.
Thankfully quests in Inkbound aren’t always limited to a single run. There are some milestones and season quests for what appears to be a yet underdeveloped season leveling model. So far, though, I haven’t seen a practical reason for doing so. Inkbound doesn’t appear to get easier the higher your level is nor does completing milestones or leveling up appear to grant you access to more and better gear. While this model works well for games like Fortnite which ties progress to in-game swag, Inkbound has yet to give me a reason to care if I complete quests and milestones or if I level up. Hopefully, that will change.
Now, you may be thinking, why would a higher level make Inkbound easier? First off, in most roguelike games, as you progress in the game, it will unlock things to make future runs a little easier. Perhaps it will give you the ability to start with better power ups. Maybe you gain access to a point further in the run.
Regardless of how there are ways to make future runs easier. I was expecting this to be the case in Inkbound but alas, the progress I made in a single run was the only progress I made. After a run, I’d have to start all over again with no starting bonuses.
This is largely due to the fact that Inkbound wants players to create builds. Builds are how to upgrade and evolve attacks, also called bindings in Inkbound. The power ups come in the form of augmenting a binding. For Instance, if I have the bonk binding and then I select a power up that gives bonk +30 damage, I’ve augmented bonk to be whatever its starting damage is plus 30. Sometimes Inkbound allows a binding to ascend. Binding ascension is kind of like an evolution of the attack. If I have bonk which is purely a physical attack and then I allow it to ascend to spark, I’ve now got an attack that can be of better assistance. Spark after dealing damage also inflicts 4 stacks of burn to enemies that aren’t already burning and 2 stacks to those that are burning.
After completing a run, whether successful or not, all of those ascensions and augmentations go away. The next run will have to start from scratch. This was truly a double-edged sword. Sometimes, I knew what kind of attacks I wanted to make and then I’d get those augments and ascensions to allow me to do that. Those are some of my favorite builds because they work exactly as I want them to.
Unfortunately, I’ve also got countless stories of not being able to build the exact build I wanted. Because it’s a roguelike, There is always going to be a certain element of randomization so it’s really how can I strategize with what I was given to work with. At times, that means certain death during the run. Other times, I’ve been surprised with how far I could get.
Because each class has its own unique bindings, and different builds are specific to each class. For instance, Bonk is only available to use while playing as a Magma Miner. Magma Miner, Mosscloak, and Weaver are the three classes there are to choose from at the beginning of Inkbound, each of them bringing their own unique playstyles to the mix.
I play best with Magma Miner and I think Inkbound intended for that to be the easiest class to learn. Magma Miners have a heavier reliance on brute strength whereas Mosscloak focuses more on speed and ranged attacks and Weaver has a more intricate strategy-based magic attack system. Regardless, It’s fun to change it up every so often by visiting the aspect apparatus and picking a different class.
Combat is turn-based. While initially I thought this was going to be a problem - I love mindless hacking and slashing - I’m delighted to say it wasn’t. This felt like a very innovative way to include much more strategy into the mix during each run. Attacks consume a resource called Will that refills at the beginning of each turn. Some attacks also have a cooldown timer after being used. This means that every single aspect of Inkbound has an element of strategy that can be the difference between victory and defeat.
Keep in mind that the game as I’ve played it so far is in an early access preview build. There are some known bugs and errors in the game that the devs are aware of and working on correcting. Despite that, Inkbound’s problems have not taken away or diminished the enjoyment it has to offer. There is a lot more to explore in Inkbound and I can’t wait to share more of my thoughts after I’ve had more time to play. Until then, I’ve got a villain to chase down, a story to anchor, a book to explore…well, you get the idea.
