Hollow Knight meets Nine Sols in a stunning new 2.5D
Contrast Games today released a free playable demo and a new gameplay trailer for Akatori, a 2D metroidvania where players wield a mystical staff to fight, jump and explore diverse realms across different eras. Players take on the role of Mako, a young monk who embarks on a journey through interconnected worlds to save her homeland from the Amber Storms - a corrupting force distorting all living things - accompanied by a mysterious red bird sealed within her staff.
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Gameplay revolves around Mako’s staff, which serves as a weapon, a traversal tool and a key to the world’s secrets. The staff is central to every encounter - players chain combos on the ground and in mid-air, launch the staff as a projectile, and pull it back to continue attacking in a single fluid motion. Outside combat, the staff enables gliding, wall-hooking, sliding, and momentum-driven parkour across highly vertical environments. The universe spans over several different biomes - from a medieval Asian-inspired landscape and flooded underground mines to floating bamboo islands and a volatile otherworldly dimension. Enemies operate within a living ecosystem where they fight each other, trigger traps, and react to environmental hazards.
The free demo offers approximately 45 minutes of gameplay across three distinct locations: the Monk Forest, a lush canopy setting that introduces Mako’s core mechanics; a vertical Bamboo Location built around glider traversal and flexible bamboo stalks; and a tense Underwater Location featuring breath-limited navigation and environmental hazards. Players will face over ten enemy types, survive a Chaos Arena, outrun a massive Serpent in a high-stakes chase sequence and battle the demo’s climactic boss, the Bumblebee. A full tutorial and onboarding system introduces the game’s deep traversal toolkit - including gliding, air dashing, double jumping, wall clings, swimming and more - alongside a versatile combat system offering light attacks, charged strikes, aerial combos, staff throws, uppercuts and finishing moves.
The demo is fully playable with controller and keyboard and available in English, German, Russian, Japanese and Simplified Chinese. It will remain playable throughout Steam Next Fest: February 2026 Edition (February 23 - March 2, 2026).
Players follow Mako, a young monk raised in the Firebird Temple, as she embarks on a journey through diverse realms to save them from the Amber Storms, a corrupting force that is infecting and distorting all living things. Accompanied by a mysterious red bird sealed within her staff, Mako must travel between interconnected worlds, face formidable foes, and uncover the truth behind the corruption threatening to consume everything. The narrative blends environmental storytelling with direct character encounters and dialogue, weaving themes of growth, self-discovery, and resilience into both exploration and combat.
It was a real challenge to bring together such different worlds - in terms of atmosphere, mechanics, and gameplay dynamics. The goal was to create a distinctly unique experience for each location while still uniting them through a shared meaning. I hope we managed to achieve that.”- Serge, Game Director, Contrast Games
“If you think that creating a pixel-art metroidvania saves development time… think again. And when the visuals combine both 2D and 3D elements, enhanced by modern technologies, it becomes a challenge of its own. Still, it’s been exciting to explore and refine our approach to asset creation.”- Stanislav, Art Director, Contrast Games
Key Features Kung Fu Parkour: Expressive, momentum-driven traversal across highly vertical environments
Movement-Driven Combat: A highly mobile combat system where players chain staff combos on the ground and in mid-air while staying in constant motion
Striking 2.5D Visuals: Pixel art characters set against fully 3D environments
Staff-Centric Design: One tool connects parkour, combat and narrative
Various Myth-Inspired Biomes: Each with unique mechanics, species and pacing
Living Enemy Ecosystems: Enemies fight each other, trigger traps and react to hazards
Unconventional Boss Fights: From underwater escapes to rhythm-based challenges
Memorable Soundtrack: A rich and varied musical score with distinct themes for each location and boss encounter
Availability
The Akatori demo is available now as a free download on Steam. The game is in development for PC (Steam), PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and Nintendo Switch.