The first noticeable difference is because the PS3 doesn't have avatars, aside from creepy lifeless models in Home, NinjaBee provides us two characters to play as. Both have become trapped on the floating rock and are tasked with removing the darkness from it to go home. The boy also has a case of being the long lost son of the Slim Jim Man from 1990s advertisements.
The gameplay is all about completing a long chain of buildings to reach the end goal. The path of what you can build splits but not building everything by the end of the game is a fantasy. You'll need to build everything to succeed. To make these buildings come to life you'll need to construct each individual piece of a structure and place it on your map. The only way to do this is to harvest the natural resources around you.
So what is the quickest way to harvesting materials? Making the native Akimis work themselves nonstop. Much like the Keflings, the Akimis can harvest a resource and then take that to a storage building. Also much like the Kefling hitting the Square button will have your player kick the Akimi around for your amusement. This is where it becomes noticable that Akimi Village is based more around the first title with lacking the ability to upgrade your workers.
The real seperation from Keflings and Akimi is the way you get new workers. The game revolves around restoring light to the floating rock your stuck on. Instead of building houses with love you put acorns of life into wells to restore life and gain new workers. This concept works but it's very hard to tell where the wells are even after the game nudges you in the direction. Smashing the X button until something happened in the dark sections seemed to be the best solution.
The music was a real miss for me. The music sounded tinny and incorrectly chosen to fit this peaceful island in the sky. A Kingdom for Keflings song was repititve and forever looping, as is Akimi Village's song, but it was a song you'd find yourself humming along too. Catchiness is everything if the game is going to be a single track spinner.
If you do not own an Xbox 360, Akimi Village is a great title to pick up and play. There is a certain whimsical feeling that comes with playing this type of game. Akimi Village is a game with a structured path set out for you, but holds a minor level of addiction you'd aquire in Minecraft or Harvest Moon. Much like Keflings, Akimi Village is hard to place in a category but strategy simulation may fit it best.
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Graphics |
8.5 |
The character models are goofy and out of place with the rest of the game |
|
Audio |
5.0 |
The soundtrack is not a winner. |
|
Single Player |
8.0 |
While good it feels out dated compared to it's 360 cousins. |
|
Multiplayer |
6.0 |
The ability to see friends worlds is a neat addition. |
|
Replay |
7.0 |
A game that is returnable to in the future. |
|
Overall |
7.5 |
A good time sinker that is hard to put down |
