When I first saw KAKU: Ancient Seal, I immediately got excited. The gameplay reminded me of some of my favorite games such as Breath of the Wild.

Although Kaku is an indie game with a smaller budget I didn't want to expect too much, but I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of this game, which you can purchase for as little as 25 euros. In this review, I'll explain why *KAKU: Ancient Seal* comes highly recommended.

You play as Kaku, a boy living in the wilderness. During his search for a flying piglet, he unexpectedly ends up in a prophecy. As the chosen one, he must restore the world by reuniting elemental souls to defeat an ancient calamity. The story is easy to follow and clearly states what is going on which makes the game more accessible than Breath of the Wild, for example. It is well constructed with strong cutscenes and characters that give depth to the story.

The story takes you to different elemental worlds where you can explore ruins and solve puzzles and collect treasures. Sometimes you find materials to improve your character and sometimes you discover equipment with unique perks. The puzzles are not particularly difficult but they are diverse enough to keep exploration interesting.

In terms of combat and character development, the game is well put together. Battles start off fairly standard but you soon gain access to extensive skill trees that allow you to customize your play style. Whether you want to work more with combos or elemental attacks the diversity of enemies makes you have to experiment because not every attack works against every enemy.

Throughout your adventure you will learn new skills through an extensive skill tree. Initially this can be overwhelming but as you continue to play you can adjust your play style. Defeating enemies whether they are small enemies or bosses is satisfying. You can expand standard combo attacks with additional attacks and experiment with elemental attacks depending on your opponents' weaknesses.

In addition, you learn many skills that help you navigate the environments with ease. Using your flying piglet to walk across water, for example, is particularly fun. The possibilities are vast and give you a sense of freedom similar to what you experience in Zelda.

Unfortunately, the game has performance issues. The cutscenes and transitions between scenes often have significant hiccups. Although the game was released in early access and most of the initial problems have been fixed these hiccups are still present. It does not make the game unplayable, but it does reduce the enjoyment of the game.