Kotama and Academy Citadel FAQ Kotama and Academy Citadel Game Walkthrough Wiki

1 The premise

Carmel is an Academy Citadel known for cutting edge technology, where survival of the fittest is the only law. The Carmel Star is its highest honour, and as the Centennial Anniversary approaches a new Carmel Star Election is beginning.

You play a mysterious exchange student who appears suddenly and enters the competition. Beneath that contest sits a crisis, and the store says the secrets you uncover can save the Academy.

2 What kind of Metroidvania is it

A 2.5D side scroller, meaning three dimensional art on a two dimensional plane. The Academy Citadel is described as a sprawling labyrinth containing mind bending illusions, impossible machines and self contained biomes.

Traps are also called out separately from enemies, so expect movement challenges to sit alongside combat rather than being decoration between fights.

3 The combat systems

Four named systems stack on top of each other, and understanding how they fit together is most of the learning curve.

The presence of an energy meter that builds toward a screen clearing move means the moment to moment goal is not only survival, it is generating that resource.

4 Bosses and parrying

Sections of the Citadel are guarded by creatures or robots, each with unique attacks and mechanics, and the store states plainly that all of them are strong enough to destroy you in a heartbeat.

The intended answer is a defined sequence: master the pattern, parry at the critical moment to neutralise a lethal strike, break their stance, then enter bullet time and land a decisive blow.

That is a stance break system with a timed parry, which puts it closer to the modern action game tradition than to the classic Metroidvania one. Expect boss fights to be about timing rather than attrition.

5 Do the choices matter

Other students are scattered across the Academy Citadel, with their own stories. Helping them earns their loyalty as allies in your search for the Carmel Star.

The store goes further than most in describing the weight of this: a small choice in the moment may end up saving the Academy and deciding your fate. Take that as a signal that side content is connected to the ending rather than optional decoration.

6 Difficulty options

A range of difficulty settings is offered, and both ends are described rather than only the hard one.

For a game whose bosses are built around parry timing, having a lower setting available is a meaningful accessibility feature rather than a token one.

7 Controllers, Steam Deck and languages

Gamepad recommended is a stronger statement than full controller support on its own. In a game built on parry timing, that recommendation is worth following.

8 Price and requirements

The list price is USD 19.99. It was released on 14 January 2026 by Atomstring Games, published with 2P Games, and it is not in Early Access.

Two notes on the table as written. Both tiers spell the graphics vendor as NVDIA rather than NVIDIA, which is an obvious typing slip and changes nothing. More usefully, both tiers add a real instruction: ensure your NVIDIA driver is above version 472.12.