Kraken Academyis an off-the-wall, time-bending adventure game with the central goal being to stop the end of the world by freeing various Academy spirits. As the game’s title implies, players are guided by a massive pink Kraken, a character who may not always have the best of intentions. Spoilers aside,Kraken Academyis a downright bonkers game, providing players with plenty of quirky narrative beats, silly characters, and plenty of fun gameplay moments.
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While not an altogether tricky game to get into, there are still some things for new players to consider when hopping into this time-centric adventure game. The majority of this game takes place as the Academy with players needing to explore, speak to other students, and manipulate time in order to save the day, or at least that’s the hope. The following beginner tips should help new Academy students.
7Talk To Everyone
Taking place in and around the titular Academy, players are going to spend a lot of time exploring and wandering, oftentimes coming across areas that can’t yet be accessed. For example, certain gates can only be accessed by purchasing a special card from a strange, shady student.
One of the best things to keep in mind all throughout this journey is that talking to everyone in the game is an absolute must. Given that this is an adventure game that relies heavily on story beats and character interactions, players should speak to each student, teacher, or Kraken they encounter. Doing so will lead to quest updates, fresh items, and even some extra rewards.
6Managing The Plethora Of Quests And Missions
Spending time talking to the diverse cast of major characters and background characters inKraken Academygenerally means the quest log will quickly become filled. This game is brimming with quests both in the form of main quests that guide the player to free the main animal spirits from the school housesto lesser quests that simply help flesh out the lore.
Fortunately,Kraken Academygives players a handy notebook to keep track of everything.Quests are broken up into main, side, and completed quests. While that may sound relatively simple, these quest tabs can quickly fill up. The current quest is typically shown on screen so players are guided as to what to do next. If at any point confusion sets it, simply refer to the notebook.
5Recycle Those Plastic Bottles
Nothing quite beats destroying tons of environmental objects just to get some money, rewards, or other macguffins. InKraken Academy’scase, currency comes in the form of plastic bottles. Plastic bottles can be found in trash cans, lockers, leaf piles, and other such locations, with the main character being able to break them open with a baseball bat.
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Not only is breaking these environmental objects a fun part of the exploration in this game but it also leads to collecting hundreds, if not thousands, of plastic bottles. Simply take the collected plastic bottles to the sentient recycler to have them magically converted into in-game currency which can be spent at a few various shops at the Academy.
4Time For A Costume Party
Both the main character and the main character’s sisterare brand new toKraken Academyand must now learn to make friends, take on classwork, and generally do all of that new school stuff. Part of the gameplay inKraken Academycomes down to befriending certain cliques and friend groups. These groups are generally broken up into various school houses such as the music students, the athletes, and the like.
Quite early on in the game players will need to don a costume in order to proceed with the story. Again, the titular Kraken comes into play here and helps guide eager students to this costume. This first costume is one of several in the game. Players can freely swap between costumes from the backpack screen. Learning when and where to use these costumes is all part of the narrative flow of making friends in this game.
3Quick Time Events Galore
Love them or hate them, quick time events are a major gameplay component ofKraken Academy. Players can choose from easy or normal quick time events prior to starting the game. Quick time events generally pop up duringcertain narrative beats or character interactions, where the player would be taking part in a game or in-world interaction of sorts.
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The quick time events inKraken Academyare made up of pressing a button in line with multiple areas on the screen. A prompt moves rapidly from left to right and the icon needs to be as close to the center area as possible in order to have the best outcome. It’s an altogether simple quick time event but can be easily messed up. attempt to time the button press a bit earlier than seems necessary in order to line it up just right.
2Deck Out Your Dorm Room
One of the more superfluous yet endearing parts of this game is thatthe player’s dorm room can be customizedwith a host of various items. From beds to wallpaper to posters, this simple dorm room can be modified in a number of ways to make it truly unique.
Given thatKraken Academyruns on a sort of time-based mechanic, it would make sense that players need to sleep at some point. Sleeping isn’t necessary for healing but is instead needed to speed up time to move to another day. Due to this, making this dorm room as cozy and quirky as possible is a fun side gameplay component. Playerscan use their collected currencyto purchase items from a vendor south of the main campus on the game’s map.
1Rewinding Time As Needed
Much likeThe Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask,Kraken Academyruns on a time-based mechanic, whereby certain story events unfold as the hours roll by. While a mechanic like this can be quite stressful, there are ample opportunities to both rewind time, slow down time, or speed up time as needed.
One of the major gameplay components in this game is that of the Kraken device. The device is given to players at the start of the game and allows for time to be manipulated. If a mistake is made or if too much time was taken collecting plastic bottles and customizing the dorm room, then simply hold down a button to rewind time to the previous part of a day to start anew.
