Everything about Karma - Chapter 1’s trailer pulled me in. No, the game clearly isn’t anywhere close to being the most epic adventure you’ve ever played. But for fans like me who enjoy retro-styꩲle games that look as though they belong in the late-90🥂s or early-2000s🔴, there’s a certain charm that Karma - Chapter ꦕ1 exudes.
For me, I think it’s that the game looks like a title that might have beenꦗ featured back in the day on G4’s Portal. I happened to stumble upon Portal one day while channel surfing, and I was absolutely hooked. Dave, his A.I. companion, Val, and the digital world that they inhabited was my first glimpse into the MMO genre, and, ultimately, became the reason why I started playing games like EverQuest, The Sims Online, and eventually World of Warcraft (and a plethora of other less successful titles). The bareboned virtual worlds, the clunky characters that were dev🌊oid of any sort of expression, the campy look of magical spells being cast… I couldn’t get enough.
That’s whꦗy I was so intrigued by Karma - 𒅌Chapter 1 (ignoring the fact that the game isn’t an MMO). I was pretty sure from the get-go that I wouldn’t be blown away by the game, and that’s proved to be true now that I’ve spent about an hour in the game.
Let’s start with the main character, the titular Karma. Orphaned as a young boy, he grew up learning how to fight and use magical abilities so that he could protect those in need. It’s a bit difficult to take him seriously, though, looking more like a frat housꦜe beer pong champion than that of a humble warrior. He also doesn’t appear to have a neck with the way his head is basically sitting directly on top of his shoulders. Looks aren’t everything, though - which is good,𒈔 considering you’ll be fighting against enemies who look and move exactly alike.
Combat is pretty tame in Karma - Chapter 1, with Karma only having two magical abilities - one offensive, one defensive - and his melee ability with a summoned battle axe. He also has a double-jump, as well as a roll ability that allows him to escape close encounters fairly effectively. It doesn’t take a lot of skill to take out enemies - my button-mashing skills are on full display in this game - but keeping large group of enemies at bay is important to keep them from swarming you. This is likely to happen, though, as enemies will just appear out of nowhere as you explore the semi-open worldౠ.
The world itself seems like it could be an interesting place to explore - again, as interesting as one might have expected to have seen in the early days of EverQuest or on Portal - with the first area featuring a pine-tree laden forest with various abandoned houses liꦅttered throughout. A large, magical door stands tall, locked by a swirling magical spell that requires a key to exit, as well as all enemies in the area to be defeated. I have yet to escape this area, as I have not found any sort of key after running all over the forest looking for it. I know that other areas exist, though, given the castle setting that shows up in the game’s trailer, along with a battle against a high-flying dragon. It may just take a little more patience than I’d like to make my way out of the starting area.
The game has everything I expect from a medieval fantasy retro-style adventure, but Karma - Chapter ♏1 certainly has a lot of work to do if it wants to be taken seriously. I couldn’t help but chuckle upon my first couple of deaths when a large black box with the words “You Lose” popped up, but Karma was still clearly standing and fighting off the enemies around him. I’ll be interested to see if Chapter 2 ever makes its way to Steam. I’d probably play it if so. That, of course, will also be dependent on whether or not I’m able to find my way out of the starting area to actually finish Chapter 1.