Seven Years On, YIIK’s Combat Still Cuts Through Its Own Dull Story

YIIK: A Postmodern RPG is a strange, funny, and often confusing 3D role-playing game from Ackk Studios, now available on PS4, PC, Mac, and Switch. It asks players to follow a recent college graduate named Alex Eggleston as he investigates the disappearance of a woman named Sammy Pak in a small town in 1999. The game is built around turn-based battles, timed minigames, and a story that keeps moving through alternate dimensions, and it mostly earns its ambition.

Trailer, via Ackk Studios.

The Setup

Alex returns to Frankton, New Jersey, after graduating with his B.L.A., only to have Sammy Pak vanish from a surreal factory elevator. His investigation pulls in a cast of odd characters: Michael K., Vella Wilde, and Rory Mancer. Each brings their own puzzle, trap, or dungeon to solve. The story leans heavily on surrealism and fantasy, with creatures called Soul Survivors wandering through the Mind Dungeon.

The Fighting

Combat is the heart of YIIK, and it is where the game shows its strengths. Players move through turn-based battles using everyday objects as weapons, and each attack comes with a quick time event window that rewards careful timing. Landing a hit at the right moment increases damage; missing it cuts the blow. The system is simple to learn but hard to master, and it gives fights a sense of weight that the story often lacks.

The Dungeons

There are six dungeons to explore, each packed with enemies, simple puzzles, and traps. Some of these puzzles are clever, and solving them feels rewarding. Others feel like filler, and the game drags in places. A full playthrough takes about twenty-five hours, though completing everything can push past thirty-six and a half hours.

The Choices

YIIK offers a branching story shaped by player decisions, which influence dialogue and relationships with other characters. That is a good idea, but the game does not always make its choices feel meaningful. Alex’s journey through the Mind Dungeon, the sewers, and the radio tower is driven by curiosity and coincidence more than agency, and the choices available to players often feel thin next to the scale of the mystery.

The Verdict

YIIK is a game of highs and lows. Its combat is sharp, and its world is vivid. The game asks for patience, and it sometimes rewards it. It is a game worth playing for its best moments.

Key Facts:
– Developer: Ackk Studios
– Publisher: Ysbryd Games
– Platforms: PS4, PC (Microsoft Windows), Mac, Nintendo Switch
– Genres: RPG, TBS, Adventure, Indie
– Plot year: 1999
– Playthrough: ~25 hours
– Full completion: up to 36.5 hours

game review · Indie Games · PS4 · RPG · Switch · YIIK