Keylocker is a rhythm turn-based, Action JRPG developed by Moonana, a studio whose team is well versed in making RPGs with games such as “Virgo Versus The Zodiac” and “Osteoblasts”. The style of Keylocker is virtual cyberpunk with some awesome music to match by Elektrobear. They also have Psamathes on the vocals and in the opening song when you start a new game, really sets the mood for what has been a great adventure. As you play Bobo, the singer, crank up the tunes and deliver the gift of music to a world where the Saturnian Satellites outlawed it. It’s time to jam, slam, and bring the house down in Keylocker.
As Bobo, you have four classes to choose from Juggernaut, Samurai, Hacker, and Sequencer. Each with its own style of play and different narrative options available throughout the game. For my first play-through of the demo I decided on Sequencer because in my head Bobo is a singer, so why not give her a guitar. As this is the demo, I haven’t dived into the other classes. It has led me to wonder if the guitar mini-game during the prologue to break out of prison was one of the narrative differences between the class. I will for sure find out during my second go.
Quickly, I learned by way of the red pillars not to expect a tutorial on how to battle. Also, these red pillars serve as the guide to how things work without directly telling running you through a tutorial. This is right in the prologue, so people know what to expect. The first battle was a learning experience. At first, I found myself frustrated, wondering how to counter, what are the pop-ups, and am I to be pressing a thing when they show? The answer is yes…yes, I am. Let me tell you I loved this learning experience. It took me back to days when you buy games, that come with a pamphlet, but who looks at those? You learn while you play. After figuring out I counter with the same button I confirm stuff with, Z, I was hooked. In case you were wondering, you don’t have to use a keyboard, Keylocker does have controller support as well for both Xbox and PlayStation controllers.
In battle, keyboard controls, if you hit Z at the right time you will do a perfect attack, a block if the enemy is attacking, or a counter if you used a skill that allows you to counter. I’d fail if I didn’t say in some battles I found myself having to strategize what is important. Whether it’s gaining EP (electric power) for yourself, or robbing an enemy of their EP. In some cases, just moving out of the way of an enemy attack, there is always a choice to make that can change the flow of battle. Battles don’t always have to be tough, if you are in it for the story, set your difficulty to “Soft Punk”. There are 4 levels of difficulty, Soft, Cyber. Hardcore, and Horror.
Want a pretty extensive way to build out your character? No problem, there is a Skeyll Tree. That’s how it’s spelled in this cyber world. After fighting an enemy you get keys that are used to upgrade skills and many of them have multiple levels to upgrade. So there is a way to build out your skills how you want. Though, that has me wondering now if it’s possible to grind for keys and level some skills earlier on.
Keylocker is what I would say is a present-day version of a cyberpunk world. Especially with a religion dedicated to the “Whales” in the game. The terminology used is a lot of the common use lingo on the net nowadays and used over recent years. With the amazing game design, great writing, smooth animations, killer vocals, and awesome tunes, the style of Keylocker immersed me. Right now the demo is out on Steam and as of this moment, I have not found a downside to this wonderful gaming experience. I could sit on the main menu and jam out to the music all day.
I recommend playing it and giving it a try if you are a fan of RPGs, JRPGs, and cyberpunk style. Furthermore, I would say I could not recommend it more, but that is all I’ve been doing to everyone who asks. So give it a try if it is something that sounds like it’d be in or not in your wheelhouse. It is a really enjoyable experience and I can say for me, it was refreshing and rejuvenated may want to really sink my teeth into a game.