The shooter genre is one of the oldest and most successful in the entire video game medium. There have been dozens of games released over the years that took the groundwork laid by games such as Doom and Wolfenstein and used it to create something completely new. Whether it’s a big-budget franchise like Halo or a smaller creation like ULTRAKILL, it is safe to say that at some point in your life, you’ve played a shooter for yourself. This, however, poses a question: how do you do anything new with a genre that has been done to death for decades?
Enter TAMASHIKA—an indie movement shooter with a psychedelic visual style. Here, you can only deflect with a knife and shoot with your gun. There’s no jump or unique gadgets: instead, all you need to do is get to the end of the level without dying. In theory, this seems like a premise that you have seen countless times over the years. However, there’s just one major catch: there is only one level. Every day, the level changes into a new form via procedural generation, but even still, you can beat it in around ten minutes.
How fun is TAMASHIKA, in spite of its limited levels and mechanics? Well, even if this concept may not be for everyone, I found myself utterly enamored by everything it has to offer, and after each run, I was immediately dying to play more.
The Stuff of Dreams and Nightmares
For the most part, TAMASHIKA doesn’t really have a story. There is no lore, cutscenes, dialogue, or any sort of indication of what’s truly happening behind the scenes. The Steam page doesn’t reveal anything either, only emphasizing how all that matters is the almost meditative state you’ll need to reach in order to fight through the constantly looping hallways and enemies. Yet, there are still some odd mysteries.
The game begins with six levels that serve as a small tutorial, where you get accustomed to the mechanics and visuals of TAMASHIKA. In terms of the visuals, it is overwhelming in the best possible way. The game literally opens with a warning saying, “Don’t play this game for long sessions and with the screen 2 feet in front of you,” and after a few seconds of playing, I immediately understood why.
The visuals are bright and abrasive, with colors often popping in ways that are sometimes borderline nauseating. The motion blur is cranked up to an 11, and overall, the art direction reminded me of a game like LSD Dream Emulator. If you have any sort of epilepsy or visual sensitivity, you should absolutely not play this game. There are very few settings to adjust visuals, so this absolutely won’t be for everyone. Personally, though, I liked that this is a game that knows what it wants to accomplish and sticks to it, even if it comes at the expense of the player experience.
That philosophy also applies to the soundtrack. It uses a lot of loud and discordant instruments, utilizing the breakcore/drum-and-bass genre perfectly. As someone who’s a fan of bands like Death Grips and other electronic groups that emphasize a harsh sound, I adored the OST of TAMASHIKA. It really helped me to reach the flow state that the game demanded of me, and I can’t wait to find all of the tracks and add them to my playlist.
Even though there’s no story, though, there are still some interesting elements that the game is clearly hiding. For example, despite the fact that I completed three versions of the same level and the Steam page claims there’s only one weapon (a simple pistol), some of the marketing reveals a throwing star and a Uzi as additional weapons. At the end of each level, you encounter a mysterious woman who appears to either wink at you or kiss you, without any further elaboration.
Further, there are achievements. In spite of my aforementioned completion of each level, there are still five achievements missing. There are no additional secrets or exploration elements that I could find; each level is extremely linear. So, what am I missing here? Even the achievements themselves seem to tell a story. All of their names are derived from Hindu mythology, with Samadhi, for one, representing the highest form of consciousness you can reach while meditating. The name TAMASHIKA itself seems to be derived from the word Tamas, which literally means to be in a state of scattered attention—the kind of state the game wants you to overcome.
I don’t think it’s possible to find every single thing that TAMASHIKA is hiding underneath its surface after one run, two runs, or even three runs. I have a sneaking suspicion that the game will throw a curveball in one of the new iterations of its main level on a random day in the year, and whether that adds a new weapon or reveals more information about the story, I couldn’t say. Yet, I am extremely compelled to find out more.
The visuals, soundtrack, and little nuggets of mystery on their own are enough to make me go back and try the new variations of TAMASHIKA‘s one level every day. But these aren’t sufficient on their own to get fans of other shooters to give the game a shot. What matters above all else is just how fun the gameplay feels. I’m happy to say that TAMASHIKA‘s combat and mechanics are enthralling, and had me constantly addicted.
A Flow State
TAMASHIKA‘s gameplay loop is deceptively simple. You can move around and use only two buttons, one for your knife and one for your gun. Your gun is how you attack opponents, while your knife allows you to deflect melee and ranged attacks. Each level is linear, with no collectibles or no unlockable weapons to find via exploring. Further, all enemies look exactly the same, though some variants of the weird frog creatures either attack using melee, a ranged ball attack, or a gun of their own that you need to parry.
In theory, this may not be enough to compel anyone into engaging with its mechanics, especially if you’re experienced with other similar shooters. That said, the core selling point and most interesting part of TAMASHIKA is definitely the fact that it only features one level. Every day, you’ll play a new variant of the same level, with each change being procedurally generated by the game itself. When I first heard about the premise, I wondered whether or not the game would commit to this style. After two days, though, I quickly realized that this was no bluff.
I first played TAMASHIKA on April 4, and the level had several sprawling hallways, enemies at certain corners, and, towards the end, a final encounter that forces you to react very quickly to an onslaught of enemies. There are also a few balloons you can shoot that teleport you across platforms instead of there being a dedicated jump button. When I played on April 5, the same components of the level were present, such as the enemy types, teleporting balloons, and the final encounter. Yet, the orientation and look of these components were completely different compared to the previous day.
I’ve now played three versions of the same level, and while they may look the same at certain points, they certainly don’t feel the same. I found myself almost having to reset my brain with each level, as I learned and re-learned the ins and outs of this new loop. If you find yourself a little too accustomed to each variation, you can play the level without checkpoints. The length of time you need to complete the level is catalogued and put onto a global leaderboard, which is a great touch for those who really like speedrunning.
In practice, TAMASHIKA is an incredibly fun time, and its mechanics are thrilling enough to make going back every day for a new variation of the same level seem enticing. That said, I still feel like something was missing. The lack of a story or unlockables you can find via exploring is one thing, but I wish there were more incentive to play different level versions. You collect points as you defeat enemies and shoot balloons, but these don’t really go anywhere or serve any purpose, other than existing on a leaderboard.
Every game ever created has something you are working towards. It could be something as simple as a key item you’re trying to unlock or a satisfying ending that bookends your experience. TAMASHIKA seems to want you to achieve a specific state of mind, rather than a new weapon or character arc conclusion. At times, that experimental nature works phenomenally to create a game unlike anything I’ve ever played. However, when you consider the $20 price point, this may not be enough of a propulsive mechanism to justify the purchase.
TAMASHIKA isn’t a game for everyone, and it celebrates and flaunts that fact. There are aspects of its design that will undoubtedly alienate even the most devoted first-person shooter fans, and you may not want to put up with a game with only one level, no story, and no progression to speak of. Personally, though, in spite of the strange choices made in its creations, I would be lying if I said I didn’t deeply enjoy my time with TAMASHIKA.
Attention is All You Need
When is something too experimental? Time and again, developers try to reinvent the core concept of a genre by adding a gimmick that separates the resulting game from anything else. Sometimes, you get a game that revitalizes the genre and even the medium itself, or you may get something that tries too hard to do something new at the expense of making a game that’s actually fun. So, where does TAMASHIKA fit into this scale? In my experience, I thought it was genuinely fun in spite of its odd design choices.
The fact that there is no narrative to speak of or any items that you’re trying to unlock means that there is nothing to push you to complete each level variation. The visuals are extremely off-putting and occasionally had me pausing to give my eyes a break. While the promise of major changes hiding just beneath the surface is intriguing, I don’t believe these elements are enough to justify purchasing the game. Yet, even in spite of all of these issues, I had a blast with everything that TAMASHIKA had to offer.
The visuals are a treat to behold, in spite of their abrasive quality. The soundtrack is fantastic, and had me reaching the exact fugue state that the game expected me to reach. The elements signaling a connection to Hindu mythology genuinely had me fascinated. Most of all, the gameplay mechanics were such a treat to understand and master, to such an extent that I would not be against booting the game up every day to see what new changes it throws my way.
At the end of the day, TAMASHIKA is not designed for general audiences. Most will probably scoff at the prospect of paying $20 for a game with no story, no exploration, and no unlocks. Furthermore, it’s possible that subsequent replays will not offer any meaningful additions, and all that will be there are minor revisions of the same level over and over again. However, if you’re a fan of movement shooters and like the concept that TAMASHIKA offers, then this game is definitely worth your time. I may be waiting a while to see if the game has any secrets hiding beneath the surface, but considering just how fun it is, I am more than happy to patiently wait and find out for myself.
Disclaimer: EDGLRD provided a Steam copy of TAMASHIKA for review purposes.
