Line #25 VideoGame/AkujiTheHeartless


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/akuji_the_heartless.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:Voodoo have never been so much fun!]]
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4	->''"From my childhood, I'd been told that only the strong survive. That the strong will rule. That power is the reward of a virtuous life. I led a virtuous life. I'd mastered the art of life. My weapons were an extension of my will. For spiritual power, I studied the ways of voodoo. The rituals of blood sacrifice. To channel the gods and unleash their wrath upon my enemies. I was to wed Kesho, the eldest daughter of the Tanko tribe. The marriage of our tribes would have secured my family's control over the ruling class of Mamora. The wedding rites were interrupted by my sudden murder. Though my life was taken by bitter treachery, my struggles did not end. [[MyDeathIsJustTheBeginning Sometimes death is just the beginning...]]"''
5	-->-- '''Akuji''', in the game's opening
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7	''Akuji the Heartless'' is an action-adventure video game developed by Creator/CrystalDynamics and published by Creator/EidosInteractive.
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9	The voodoo priest and warrior, Akuji (voiced by Creator/RichardRoundtree) was murdered during his wedding. Having his heart forcefully ripped out by his brother, Akuji is doomed to wander the gates of hell, until an encounter with [[UsefulNotes/{{Voudoun}} Baron Samedi]] grants Akuji a chance to resurrect himself. By travelling the underworld, collecting the souls of his ancestors, Akuji can redeem a second life and return to the plane of living. And thus begins Akuji's mission of revenge, although things aren't what they seemed...
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11	Notably one of the last video game released by Creator/EidosInteractive at the tail-end of the 1990s. It was released for the Platform/PlayStation on December 31, 1998, in North America and February 1999 in Europe. The game received mixed reviews from critics upon its release.
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13	See also ''VideoGame/NinjaShadowOfDarkness'', released around the same time by the same creators.
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15	----
16	!!''Akuji the Heartless'' Contains Examples of:
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18	* AcidPool: Several of these shows up in hell as well, and will drain Akuji of his health of he doesn't get out in time. Woe betide if Akuji ends up dropping into one of these pools ''without'' a platform... and the players can only fling their controllers in frustration as they watch Akuji get his health chewed up without any way to get out (Or, you know, exit and respawn from the last checkpoint).
19	* AirborneMooks: Flying beetles, stingrays, and winged monsters are enemies that attacks Akuji regularly.
20	* AttackOfTheMonsterAppendage
21	** The most you'll see of the sandworms are their heads, sticking out of the soil and extending themselves to chew at Akuji. Once defeated, the head detaches, the bodies shrinks back to the soil, and the rest of the monster remains unseen.
22	** One of the earlier levels have Akuji travelling on the back of a giant snake, which is ''alive'' and can occasionally attack with its tail if provoked. Akuji does battle the snake's head later in a boss fight, but at no point does Akuji or the player see how the monster looks like completely.
23	* BigBadDuumvirate: Sure, Orad who is Akuji's brother is TheHeavy who arranged for Akuji's murder in order to initiate a clan war, but [[spoiler: Baron Samedi is the main villain who had ulterior motives using Akuji as an UnwittingPawn]].
24	* BigCreepyCrawlies: The shores of hell are filled with giant beetles, which are easy to defeat and serves as a warm-up for players in the earlier levels. And later in the jungle levels there are giant green beetles.
25	* {{Bizarrchitecture}}: One of the last levels, set on a floating ship sailing forever in the abyss, that is constantly tilting.
26	* BladeBelowTheShoulder: Akuji's main weapon is his bone shiv, attached to his wrist and can slice up enemies in hell.
27	* BorrowinSamedi: Baron Samedi ''himself'' is the overseer of hell and the reason why Akuji was able to continue his quest for revenge as a spirit.
28	* CainAndAbel: The main villain responsible for Akuji's predicament is Orad, his evil brother, who arranged for Akuji's murder and is instigating a clan war with Akuji's abscence. [[spoiler: Subverted with TheReveal that it was all arranged by Baron Samedi, and that Orad is just a worshipper and pawn]].
29	* FeatheredFiend: Giant ostriches are among the animal-based enemies showing up in the starting levels, and later on in the jungles.
30	* GiantMook: The half-Minotaur enemies and zombie rhinos, much larger than Akuji and absorb plenty of hits before dying.
31	* TheGrimReaper:
32	** Enemies called "Cultists" utilise this design.
33	** Baron Samedi fulfills this purpose in the game [[spoiler: until in the later levels he turns out to be the true villain]].
34	%%*GoldenEnding:
35	* GottaCatchThemAll: Even after completing a level, if Akuji failed to collect ''all'' the ancestral souls available, he will NOT be allowed to proceed, and must restart all over again.
36	* HiddenVillain: [[spoiler: Baron Samedi, initially appearing to be Akuji's benefactor, turns out to be behind Akuji's murder and is manipulating Akuji into collecting his ancestor's souls for him so that he may escape the Underworld and enter the land of mortals]].
37	* HalfTheManHeUsedToBe:
38	** Tall zombies will split into half by the waist after they're killed.
39	** One of the numerous enemies Akuji will encounter are half-zombies, whose body ends at their lower torso. They move by crawling around with their hands, lashes out with their exposed spine functioning like a scorpion's tail, and are surprisingly agile despite their predicament.
40	** And much later into the game, Akuji can encounter half-Minotaurs, who floats with nothing underneath their waist while trying to rough up the hero with axes.
41	* HarpingOnAboutHarpies: Harpies, winged women capable of launching fireballs, shows up in later levels.
42	* HollywoodVoodoo: Just like so many misrepresentations, this game's representation of Voodoo incorporates elements of Obia.
43	* HomingProjectile: One of Akuji's starter weapons, the Soul Seeker spell, can fire blasts of blue energy that homes in on nearby enemies.
44	* InTheHood: The reoccuring cultist enemies armed with [[SinisterScythe scythes]] as weapons are dressed in brown, face-concealing robes.
45	* LivingGasbag: The final stage is set on a flying ship guarded by floating octopoid mmonsters, including jellyfishes whose stingers can sting Akuji and green, one-eyed tentacled monsters who shoots green energy balls.
46	* LoveMakesYouDumb: How Baron Samedi takes advantage of Akuji.
47	* MagicKnight: Akuji is both a warrior and a voodoo magician, being as good as kicking ass as he is in casting spells.
48	* MixAndMatchCritters: The second boss, Okal, is a giant spider with a dragon's head.
49	* MonstrousScenery: In one level, Akuji travels on the back of a giant snake and battles enemies, but the snake itself won't injure Akuji in any way.
50	* MookMaker: In the forest levels, one of the enemies are Queen gnats, who breeds flying insects to attack Akuji. The spawned insects can be killed in one hit, but most of the times their queens are located in hard-to-reach areas and can only be destroyed by projectile weapons.
51	* MyDeathIsJustTheBeginning: Akuji dies before the story even starts, with the rest of the game revolving around his attempts to return to the land of the living. Lampshaded by Akuji himself in the game's opening.
52	* PlayingWithFire: The Hellblast spell allows Akuji to release a powerful fireball, stronger and faster than the Soul-Seeker, although without homing abilities. Enemies killed by this spell would visibly burn up as they collapse and die.
53	* PowerFloats: Messengers of Hell are horned EliteMook enemies who tends to float around Akuji while throwing energy bolts at him. They're among the tougher enemies Akuji can encounter in the game.
54	* RevealingReflection: Every now and then, Akuji will need to jump from one area to another on ''invisible'' platforms. Luckily, these platforms are located near mirrored walls, which can reveal the floating platform's locations for Akuji.
55	* RhinoRampage: Among the animal-based enemies, Akuji will also face ''zombie'' rhinos, serving as GiantMook-varieties of foes.
56	* SacrificialLamb: Well, goat, but same rule applies. In the cinematic after defeating Purity, Akuji sacrifices a goat to replenish his strength, while insisting he is doing it for Kesho.
57	* SandWorm: Giant worms are reoccurring foes in the shores of hell, where they attack by sticking their heads out of the sand and lashing out at Akuji.
58	* SayMyName: Upon losing a life, Akuji will yell out Kesho's name as he dies... Again.
59	* SinisterScythe: The most basic humanoid mooks in hell, the hooded reapers, use scythes as their default weapon.
60	* SuperMode: One of the rarer power-ups, that transforms Akuji into a panther-like BeastMan. In this form, Akuji's weapons are his talons instead of shivs, and can even kill GiantMook enemies in just a handful of hits.
61	* TheUnreveal: Akuji's face is never clearly seen in the game, as he's always wearing his mask. Said mask finally comes off in the final cutscene... But we still don't get to see Akuji's face anyway.
62	* VengefulGhost: Akuji is a {{Revenant}} who is unfairly murdered by his own brother. Making a pact with Baron Samedi, Akuji spends the entire game travelling through the depths of hell to collect souls for the Baron so that he may return to the land off living and avenge his own demise.
63	* WaddlingHead: Late in the game's second half, another recurring enemy type comes in the form of giant skulls on spider-legs, and attacks by crawling towards Akuji and biting.
64	* WarriorMonk: Akuji is a priest and he can kick plenty of ass.
65	* WidowedAtTheWedding: Akuji's bride, Kesho, after Akuji is murdered by his own brother, Orad. But she is a voodoo sorceress herself, and can communicate with Akuji's soul during gameplay. Turns out, this was Baron Samedi speaking to Akuji through Kesho's voice.

Context VideoGame / AkujiTheHeartless