Kotama And Academy Citadel Review

Cs Get Degrees

HIGH Tight controls. Interesting blend of mechanics.

LOW Can be obscure at times. Dopey story. Lack of spark.

WTF Central mechanic of covering enemies in “fluid”

The metroidvania genre is in an odd place. The floodgates opened with the release of Hollow Knight, and indie devs have dropped enough titles to keep even the most disciplined and obsessive genre fan busy until the release of Hollow Knight III. But this horn of plenty is also kind of hermetic, sealed away from the rest of the industry and evolving in accordance only with other metroidvania titles – a kind of genre-based inbreeding.

It’s not a bad thing per se, but it does make this niche content even more niche — and, because trendy metroivania mechanics are assimilated quickly into new titles — things start to feel samey at an exacerbated rate. Who amongst us has not played a hand-drawn metroidvania with punishing combat, tight platforming, and an estus flask-style health system? The average quality of a modern metroidvania is relatively high, but the average level of innovation, creativity, spark, is low.

As a longstanding Metroidvania Enjoyer, I’m always on the lookout for titles that break through this amiable malaise, and there was something about Kotama and Academy Citadel that made me think it might be one such title. As it turns out, it isn’t quite there — but it is an entertaining and solid experience.

Narratively, I can not tell you what Kotama is about. Put generously, it’s the expression of a very… specific vision. Kotama, the main character, is some kind of magic anime girl in a high-tech school for magic anime girls, and she’s trying to get enough votes to become the Carmel Star, which is… good? There’s also something wrong in the Academy, with the students divided into different gangs and generally running amok.

I’m not averse to arcane anime nonsense, but I just wasn’t vibing with Kotama’s particular strain. The dialogue is cumbersome, the flat, dopey characters are all too happy to interrupt gameplay with their babble. On a good day I’m interested in approximately 5% of metroidvania stories, but I think even those more generously disposed than I am won’t be terribly entranced by the travails Kotama and her retinue of fellow shiny-eyed waifus (– or is the plural waifii?).

Mechanically, Kotama is a buffet, borrowing liberally from its many genre siblings. Most disappointingly to me, it leans into parrying – a mechanic pillaged from the FromSoft Collection.

Kotama’s first weapon is an umbrella and, by flicking it open at the right time during an enemy attack, she negates the damage and covers the enemy in, um, fluid. When an enemy is sufficiently…wet…it is open to a powerful attack that not only hits hard, but reduces its poise. And of course, when the enemy runs out of poise it goes into a stunned state. We’ve done this before, probably more than once.

Parrying does weird things to the combat rhythm of a metroidvania. It generally means waiting for those attacks, and waiting makes every encounter with every enemy longer than it needs to be. The incidental combat in a metroidvania – chopping through the low-stakes chaff between boss encounters – should be quick, crunchy, and almost (but not quite) thoughtless. In a parry-dependent experience, that semi-thoughtless ease goes out the window.

Now, Kotama is aware of this issue. The hallways and chambers of the Academy are generally less enemy-dense than the average ‘vania room, so it could be argued that, even though the player spends more time with each enemy because there are less enemies overall, the time-investment issue comes out in the chronological wash. On the other hand, if I’m looking for parry windows, I’m still paying more attention, even if I’m not spending more time – and, right or wrong, I simply don’t want to have to pay that much attention to the low-level goons in this kind of game.

I want to be clear — the combat in Kotama is good. Controls are crisp and satisfying and, when the parries are on point and the fluid is flowing, it’s almost captivating. Bosses are a highlight for sure. But the whole system, as well-made as it is, undermines the core metroidvania verb of exploration.

Another, rarer metroidvania trend that Kotama taps into is time loops. This is a mechanic that’s gaining some traction thanks to titles like Ultros and Dragon Loop. In Kotama it feels… fine, if underbaked.

Each time a room is entered, a clock ticks down, and the lower it goes the more dangerous every enemy becomes. There are also some elements, characters, and events that only occur at specific time intervals, and a mild puzzle-solving element comes into play when figuring out how to get to a specific point on the map at a specific time to trigger specific things.

It feels, like, 30% ancillary to the overall experience. There doesn’t seem to be much flexibility or play in the time looping, so I spent a lot of my time with my time allowance depleted and enemies at max danger. It wasn’t as noticeable or central as I thought it would be.

For all its interest in these trendy mechanics, the things that Kotama does best are tried-and-true Metroidvania elements — the platforming is solid, the power-ups and additional weapons reward exploration handsomely, and, even though this isn’t the most expansive or freeform Metroidvania map, it’s well-designed. Also, the plot itself aside, the concept of a weird high-tech school and gathering student votes is cool.

I spent a lot of time complaining in this review because it chafed against my particular tastes for these kinds of experiences, but there’s little here that’s bad on an objective level. As such, Kotama and Academy Citadel wouldn’t be at the top of my metroidvania recommendation list, but that’s due more to the amount of stellar competition in the genre than any particular flaw of its own.

Score: 6.5 out of 10

Disclosures: This game is developed by Atomstring Games and published by 2p Games. It is currently available on PC. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher. Approximately 13 hours of play were devoted to the game, and it was not completed. There are no multiplayer modes.

Parents: This game is not rated by the ESRB. The main issue here for younger audiences will be the sexual content. Nothing that I saw was explicit, but the characters are indisputably designed to titillate, with outfits that are… not practical, to say the least. Kotama’s clothes get torn up as she takes damage, made very clear by the large character sprite in the middle of the inventory screen. Outside of this stuff, all of the violence is cartoony and there is a generally goofy, lighthearted vibe throughout.

Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind modes present.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: All dialogue is conveyed through text alone (see examples above) but the font cannot be resized. In terms of gameplay, all important information and cues are conveyed visually (enemies flash before attacking, they turn purple when they’re able to be hit with a critical strike, etc.). The HUD is also locked to its default size, and on bigger screens some elements may feel a little small. But all in all I’d say Kotama is fully accessible.

Remappable Controls: The game supports keyboard + mouse and controller– and both are fully remappable.

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