2 
0 REKA is a witchy, open world, exploration focused crafting game developed by Emberstorm Entertainment, and published by Fireshine Games. The game offers an enchanting take on the open world crafting genre by putting you in the shoes a young woman that will work as an apprentice of Baba Jaga. Players can build their own house with legs, decorate and curse the local townsfolk with potions or other concoctions. As you can imagine, it is heavily inspired by Slavic Folklore. Truly a world that is both mysterious and enticing; full of magic and wonder!
REKA is now available on PC in early access on Steam for £15.99!
Oh I know what’s coming here! Side quest time!
Gameplay
The gameplay in REKA is fairly simple: be a witch, curse townsfolk and gather ingredients. However the best part of the game is being to build your own little witch hut on legs. Chicken legs to be exact. REKA does a fantastic job at making sure you get lost in the game and the world it wants to create. The game starts with a simple tutorial and gives you a snippet into the character creator. This lets you choose the look of your witch, hair, tattoos and the sorts! The options are currently very limited however hoping with future updates this changes.
REKA then throws you straight into the game with little tutorials in intervals to make sure you can keep up with the mechanics. Later down the line they also introduce the building and decorating of your little witch home on legs! This is the most fun part in my humble witchy opinion! Decorate your house with very adorable but setting friendly furniture, paintings and table décor. The home creator is very extensive and very fun to play around with.
REKA also gives you control over a flock of crows which will gather ingredients for you in case you didn’t want to climb up that 30 foot tree. Thus providing you with a less tedious way of gathering items you need for you adventure! The game has plenty more mechanics along the way with plenty of friendly characters/animals to keep you company.
Graphics & Audio
I have to give a huge shout out to Emberstorm Entertainment for the soundtrack as it really embodies the Slavic culture. The mystic undertone of the music is impeccable and something I will find myself listening to very often with the release of the soundtrack! Being from a Slavic country myself it really awoke a yearn for home and the countryside. The music in REKA has an unusual, “spoken” quality to melodies and rhythms which comes across as eerie and reminds me of the most pure form of nature.
The graphics also have a bewitching charm. When the graphics are turned to high and the sun is beaming through the trees? That’s beyond captivating! However, I will say that they do tend to be let down by the fact the game is poorly optimised in the state that it is in. My PC has a little over the recommended specifications, and I struggled to even get a steady 30 FPS on the lowest possible settings with a capped frame rate. This is a small negative as I would imagine the game looks absolutely spectacular on the higher settings. The game was still playable but just on the cusp of it not being so.
I do have to mention that Emberstorm Entertainment have been extremely transparent about this and are looking at optimisation for the next patch to make sure this is tended to! Always great to see developers that note down the issues in the game and continue to work on making this a better experience for everyone!
Longevity
REKA is currently in early access so this means the content is limited, but it did manage to keep me playing for a good few hours with plenty of house customisation. There is plenty of possibilities and room for you to explore your own creativity. The freedom for you to adventure and decorate your home is where the game shines. It seems the developers have plenty of ideas when it comes to expanding the game. I really cannot wait to find out what they put in next!
Final Thoughts
Overall the game is an absolute joy to play. The music and setting really brought my childhood memories of home to the surface. The joy of picking up a chicken and taking it all over the forest on adventures with me brought me more joy than I care to admit. I hope the chicken felt the same! I’d say most people dream of having a little respite in the centre of nature. Being able to decorate your own little home how you like and cause some havoc in the neighbouring village, no? Just me then! Whoops!
The only thing I’d say lets down REKA at the moment is the optimisation. However with the developers looking to fix these issues, I’m excited to cover this again once the frame rate issues have been looked over! Until then, you can find me carrying different animals across the forest, whether they like it or not!
Disclaimer: A code was received to write this preview.
If you enjoyed this preview, check out my previous one here!
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