Publisher: Acclaim
Platform(s): PC (Steam), Xbox Series S/X & Xbox One, PlayStation 4/5, Nintendo Switch
Release Date: TBD
Talaka is, without exception, my favorite game I played at GDC Festival of Gaming. Talaka is a combat roguelike that takes place in a world where gods, ancient realms, and myths all coexist. While it does not have a release date set or any platforms beyond PC announced, it already is so much fun and it has an addictive gameplay loop I am still thinking about, even days later.
The first thing you’re going to notice about Talaka is the graphics. They are a beautiful watercolor-inspired design that makes the game stand out in such a unique way. The world has a wide pallet of colors that blend into each other in a lot of places and have almost no outlines on the map. A lot of the time when I was demoing Talaka, I kept having to remind myself that I cannot just gawk at the graphics and instead that I must keep playing the game. Unfortunately, while there is music that I am told is created with Afro-Brazilian musicians, I could not hear it as there were not headphones available for me to utilize.
The gameplay loop is where Talaka really shines. Talaka is a roguelike game that has you go through a series of small areas to get to a boss fight and then repeat over and over again. In the very first room of an attempt run, you get to pick between two wildly different weapons that each can control differently. There are some like a sword, some that fire energy blasts directly below you, and some like a bow and arrow. Each weapon requires a different skill set, but none are so difficult you won’t be able to figure it out quickly. Then, after you kill all the required enemies in that area, you get a choice of powerups that can help your character develop, and both are often really good choices. Do you want to recover HP every time you kill an enemy, or do you want to recover a large chunk instantly? Do you want to deal fire damage overtime when you hit an enemy, or do you want to have a damage increase when you do a downward attack? There are so many different perk options, and you can really build yourself up a powerhouse with these. What is even cooler about Talaka is that once you pick your power up for that room, you can then pick one of two paths that go into two different skill areas (such as movement, or attack, et cetera) that can develop your character for that run further with that room’s clear powerups. The idea is that by the time you run into a boss, you are a hulking, fighting, destroying machine that is specced out to slaughter and win.
The fighting and character ability designing in Talaka is amazing. But of course, this is a roguelike after all, and you’re expected to die a lot. When you go back to the overworld, you can spend the currency you’ve gained so far to unlock permanent upgrades like more health, more maximum HP, or even decrease the cost overall of other upgrades. It is a smart system to help ensure that, even when you’re dying, you’re constantly getting stronger.
If there is one thing that made me unhappy about this demo of Talaka, it is definitely that the checkpoints inside of the runs themselves felt too far spaced out as it only comes along after you clear the whole miniboss and final boss for the area. I cleared a miniboss and died a room or two later, and I felt frustrated that I had to go all the way back to the very beginning on the next run. It would be nice to have the option to checkpoint after the miniboss, for example. The other issue I had (which I was promised would be looked into) is that some of the ledge grappling controls don’t work as well as they should. I have no doubt that will be fixed before the game is fully released, though.
Talaka is a game that made me go “I want to get through one more room. One more run. One more try,” and that is a true success for a rougelike game. After all, if you know that you’re going to lose, but you’re excited to see what comes of it, then haven’t you done your job well? I cannot wait for Talaka to come out, and neither should you. If the full game is anything as fun as my GDC Festival of Gaming demo, then you’re going to be in for a real adventure.
What kind of powerups do you want to see in Talaka?
What weapons do you like to use the most in a roguelike game?
Let us know in the comments below!
