KALIMBA

Kalimba is december released retro, XboX360 only, video game that puts challenges in form of riddles, for player to solve them.

gameplay

Formerly called Project Tottem, this game is some kind of geometric Tottem puzzle platformer.But it’s very,very challenging,because it is co-operative game, so you lead two pieces of tottem,as you can see in this video, plus, add to that your playing partner,so you have to adjust movements,jumps and everything else.It can be pretty much fun, but also frustrating at the same time.

One of the most fun-time levels is the one where you have to do cooperative jump.And we are not talking about double jump, you have to do quadruple jump ,with your partner in play from you couch. Be cooperative,it is written all over this game.

The game has an incredibly unique art direction though that can only be compared to the Metroid-vania style Guacemelee. And yes, a recurring theme does seem to be how many other games Kalimba borrows from, but everything that it does copy is good. Colors pop and the visual effects are beautiful on a high definition display while listening to a decent enough musical score full of flutes and deep drums. All the art is based on shapes and mostly octagonal and is especially exquisite during the color coded areas of the game where only one of your colored totems can enter into a sea of particles, matching their color, and can barely be seen by the gushing of visuals around them. These types of puzzles are most common in the co-op mode of the game, which adds new content instead of re-hashing the single player levels. Both players control different pairs of colored totems and work together to solve more complex puzzles with the layout similar to the single player experience. Interestingly enough, it is more enjoyable than the single player mode as the level of challenge is increased and it’s paired with immaculate level design that never burdens the players while still being tough enough to get stumped at. The other modes are the metaspace, and old skool mode. The metaspace is a collection of doors found in the single player levels that lead into mini-games which are connected to achievements. Hoebear teaches the player how to play and adds some story exposition while constantly breaking the fourth wall. Players are tasked with collecting a minimum of 15 orbs to succeed but can stick around to beat friends high scores in an added layer of competition. Old skool mode is the classic Kalimba experience with 3 lives for masters of the speedwalk and achievement hunters alike.

The game is split up into 3 sections: the Underworld, the Middleworld, and the Upperworld. Each are separated by 7 levels culminating in an epic boss encounter. This is where the game throws all previous mechanics at you to beat the boss and his minions.The story wraps up predictably and seemed tacked on while it had potential as your friend Hoebear narrates out the end sequence.

Danish developers Press Play did a very good job on this.