Wage war by drawing on the margins of medieval manuscripts. Make your ink creations carry out your battle orders, advance across the page, and shoot down… whatever that weird catfish hybrid might be. Doodle like an illustrator, doodle like a scribe; they say “the devil works for the idle hand.” Prove them right now.
If you think you already know this game inspired by medieval manuscripts Xbox Game Passyou might be imagining the critically acclaimed Pentiment, developed by Obsidian Entertainment and released in November 2022. this is peanut is different. It’s a turn-based strategy game from Yaza Games that will launch in early access on Xbox Game Pass on January 31. Inkulinati and Pentiment have a lot in common, especially in terms of art style, but the similarities between the two games are only superficial.
In case you missed one of the best games of 2022, Pentiment is a narrative adventure game in which you play as Andreas Maler, a skilled artist from the 16th century. While the game initially seems to be about completing your apprenticeship at a monastery in a small Bavarian town, the plot quickly turns into a tricky murder mystery. From there, Pentiment is all about investigation, choices that define your characters, and a race against time to find the truth—or at least the version of truth that best suits your goals.
Inkulinati is more tactical and strategic than Pentiment. In order to understand and overcome the test of the living manuscript, you’ll have to fight to the death against various opponents — including Reaper himself — in the single-player campaign. Living Ink is what makes all the magic happen. It brings the beast to life at your command and is the reward for clever tactics and overwhelming victories. Your bestiary grows over time, allowing you to acquire more strategy and playstyles that keep your hands dancing across the page with more enthusiasm than before.
Inkulinati really leans towards its turn-based combat system. Each turn, you command one of your beasts — each with different abilities, strengths, and weaknesses — to move, attack, heal, or take other types of actions. Afterwards, your opponent can do the same with one of their units. Rounds are organized into chapters, and each chapter ends when every beast in the field has made its move. Players can intervene in other ways besides using their army of beasts. After all, you are much larger than the pages you control. You can smash or disrupt the opposing team with your fists, pick up units with your fingers, or draw other elements – such as obstacles and obstacles – on the playing field. The battle ends when a player’s Tiny Inkulinati or Avatar is destroyed.
So, both the Pentiment and the Inkulinati do use medieval marginalia, these odd vignettes that can be found in many medieval manuscripts. But Pentiment also uses an earlier print and woodcut style, as the game’s timeline spans 25 years. Inkulinati’s gameplay will take place more strictly within the pages of the manuscript, and will be more faithful to the art style of a certain period. Well, there is no Gutenberg printing press or typesetting here.
Inkulinati’s release date comes on the heels of Pentiment’s release date, which may spark a correction to “no, another medieval manuscript game” in the next few years, but I think there’s enough in the hearts and minds of history nerds everywhere space. For Pentiment fans looking for a more medieval vibe, they can play Inkulinati at the end of the month. If you just can’t wait for Inkulniati to be released to fix your medieval marginalia, then Pentiment is right there waiting for you.
Perhaps the best thing these two games have in common is that they’re both on Xbox Game Pass, which has proven to be an excellent home for experimental indies and early access titles. Use Game Pass to make games from smaller teams visible (for example, Pentiment wouldn’t exist without the service). Game Pass holders may come to buy the latest high-profile triple-A titles — when they arrive — but stay to pick out delightful indie titles. After all, once you pay for your monthly subscription, you can play anything on Game Pass for free.
But, more relevant to Inkulinati, Game Pass is particularly lenient with early access titles. Every gamer has probably at least once been stuck with a game they bought in Early Access. Yes, while it can be frustrating to pay for something that ends up being nothing like your expectations, early access is a very important tool for many developers to bring their ideas to life – check it out What did Hades do.
Game Pass allows early access games to be played by a large audience who can provide feedback to developers without disappointing or cheating viewers. When you didn’t actually pay for something, you’re less likely to feel like you didn’t get what you paid for. If a game in Early Access doesn’t feel like it’s deep enough in the development cycle when you start playing it, there are plenty of other Game Pass titles out there to ease the pain. With this setup, everyone wins.
Yaza Games plans to keep Inkulinati in Early Access for up to a year, and gather feedback from players who are enticed enough to go into Early Access. Testers who braved uncertain waters in the early days of the Xbox will have the final product available to Nintendo Switch owners, who will get the game after Early Access ends. Throughout the Early Access period, the team will be adding additional Beasts, Masters, and Battlegrounds. Online multiplayer will not be part of Inkulinati’s early access release, but may be added to the game.
Inkulinati looks like an exciting newcomer to the tactical strategy genre, full of fresh ideas, all realized with an incredible art style. who knows? Maybe Inkulinati and Pentiment are just the beginning of a long line of upcoming medieval manuscript games. Niche subgenres seem to be off to a good start.
Inkulinati is coming to Xbox Game Pass January 31, 2023And it will be available in early access on console and PC.
