Unakis

Unakis and Nala

In her wake, Nala prepares for what is to come, a disaster waiting and looming in the shadows, with everyone around her attempting to divert their attention the other way, each trying to come to terms with what seems to be an inevitable event that will totally submerge them, and leave no hope to be had.

As she listens to the humming that only the angels may hear, she was brought enough time to at least split the path of fate, praying for a helping hand to come, and guide them in the upcoming, restless dawn.

Gameplay Features

There are four main mechanics in Unakis:

• Point and click interactions - The game is played through the player's linear interactions with the environment, which either progress the story through dialogue, or activate combat sequences that the player must navigate through. Basically, an object can be clicked on the screen, which will lead you to the mechanics below.

• Surreal narrative and poems - A defining feature of the game are the poems scattered everywhere through the game, featuring 70+ for the player to find, and add to their library, each of varying length, tone, and style of rhyming. Alongside them, the usual visual-novel styled narrative will unfold the story for the player. Note that the game is text-heavy, though the text can be entirely skipped, should the player want it to be.

• 2D combat of all kinds - The game features many (10+) different combat sequences, that are displayed to the player, and they must learn the controls and a way to free themselves from each of them. As an example, Close Combat is fended off by moving towards an approaching attack, Headfirst attack needs proper timing in order for the player to successfully fend off the attack. Other kinds incrementally build off of one another, culminating in the player needing to understand multiple different sequences to win.

• Free Roam – This is the first mode of play the player will engage with. It’s the ‘calm’ part of the game, where the player will interact with objects, and move through the rooms, usually just progressing through the story, meeting characters, familiarizing themselves with the environments, and such. This mode of play usually lasts longer than Encounters.

And an optional mode of play:

• Minigames - The player will be able to engage with minigames that they unlock; these provide their own short stories, or narrative plots that give some insight into the minds of the characters. These aren't really necessary to progress at all, and serve to provide more story to the game.

What can be expected in terms of content beyond gameplay?

• Direct interaction with your opponent - The game is split into two different kinds of encounter scenarios: bosses, and mini-bosses. Mini-bosses lock the player inside a single room, from which the player will have quite a limited amount of time to heal, and engage with the next attack. For bosses, they last longer, and the player will be able to run from room to room, either needing to stop and heal, until the enemy approaches, or they need to use the previously mentioned point-and-click mechanic to do something in the room that would weaken a boss.

• Semi-Resource management - The player will, inevitably, get hurt as they engage in fast combat. This damage is healed by being somewhere safe from the opponent, turning to listen to one's heart, and let it heal, until enough stamina has been accumulated to continue.

• Characters - The player will meet a lot of characters, each with their own convictions, plots, and purpose in the grand scheme of things.

• Rich soundtrack - Loads of tracks and motifs for each character, to make the engagement more memorable, as well as telling the stories through sound, featuring around 77 distinct tracks.