Akhena: Age of Evil

About this game

Akhena: Age of Evil is a large open-world JRPG with a western "CRPG" atmosphere and story. The primary gameplay loop being the exploration of a vast and dangerous world with a relatively rich history, and a light to moderate dose of "magik", yet rooted in gritty plausible realism. The story and characters are inspired by classic books like A Song of Ice and Fire and The First Law series, where morality is nuanced and defined by cultural bias. And "evil" is merely a manifestation of duty, entitlement, or wayward good intentions.

Akhena's brutal history is filled with cultural distrust and vicious racism the Free War put a sharp end to the ancient kingdoms of Akhena. For over 1000 years the mighty Kitmera (anthropomorphic felines) have been the indisputable rulers of the continent. The Word of God, the sacred religious texts, declares that the Kitmera and their loyal nobility are the anointed guardians over the continent and all it's harmera (human-like) inhabitants. The Kitmera rule with a firm but compassionate hand, yet they grapple with the decision of whether or not to outlaw the seditious religions that bring their legitimacy into question.

36 primary playable characters

Six classes for each of the three harmera races, and two genders for each.
The story will also include over 70 recruitable characters as part of the four main quest lines. In early access there are only a handful of recruitable characters but all the main characters are ready to play.

7 factions

Four main Kitmera kingdoms ruled by the nobility, each kingdom having it's own independent crime/reputation system. Plus three underground factions operating within those kingdoms and beyond. Note: during early access only the Aeland Kingdom is available.

Over 400 base gear items

160+ weapons, 140+ armours, and 100+ jewellery items.
Weapons, armour, and jewellery effects are randomly generated.
Item rarity scales with the player's level.

Over 80 unique enemies

60 of them can be tamed/controlled with the appropriate magik.
16 of the enemies are rare and illusive.
Enemy levels scale with the player's level.

46 Consumable items

Various consumables can be found scattered around the world, and food and potions can also be crafted at kitchens and apothecary cauldrons respectively.

Thievery mechanics

Lockpicking, pickpocketing, and sneaking.

Environmental effects

Day/Night system with gameplay implications.
Biome-affected weather effects.

Latest news

• Patch Notes·19 May 2026Official

  Desert Update

  Change LogAdded domestic animals (cats, dogs, goats, camels, etc.)Completed map: Aht-Kuri, the Sankhar starting town on the North coast of the Sankesroh Kingdom.Completed map: Aht-Magata, the capitol city of the Sankesroh Kingdom.Started work on the Sankesroh Kingdom main quest line.Inns now charge for each party member.Guards now come in troops, not just individuals.Added more thief types.Bushes no longer completely disappear when you pick the fruit.Added dragon fruit plants to the world.Stealing from barrels no longer triggers a theft response.Added more bandit enemies and more undead enemies.Fixed a bug where Censored Mode was not being correctly applied for some spawned enemies.Fixed a bug that caused enemies to miss every attack.Rebound the start button to open the main menu instead of just the inventory menu.Fixed a bug in Sebastien’s quest line where the quest pointer didn’t point to the Irmer Jungle.
  Read full article on Community Announcements (OpenTangent)

• Patch Notes·1 Oct 2025Official

  Achipelago Update

  https://i.imgur.com/by1dzE8.jpeg Completed map: Nelvanna, a tropical island retreat for Aeland royalty. Completed map: Cape Malby, a town on the Gallimun Peninsula to the West of the Aeland mainland. Completed map: Old Cobb, a larger mostly uninhabited island filled with monsters to hunt and loot to plunder. Completed map: Maybank, a pirate loot cache Island and more recently home to a massive, majestic, and deadly beast. Added a chance for the player to find a loot stash after random enemy encounters on the world map. Most non-dialogue messages now appear instantly instead of using the visual typing effect. Added a subtle glint to establishment signs to indicate which buildings can be entered (and have a completed interior). Added a game option to reduce the number of civilians to boost performance. Fixed a number of bugs causing framerate stuttering (still working to squash more).
  Read full article on Community Announcements (OpenTangent)

• Patch Notes·4 Jul 2025Official

  Aeland Nobility Update

  https://i.imgur.com/r8DH0Mh.jpeg Added a quest tracker arrow to point you in the right direction (a highly requested feature). Nellen Fortress interior now completed. Implemented a workaround for Steam Input gamepads not being detected (please use the official Akhena gamepad configuration in Steam) Added gamepad control legend to the bottom right corner of the screen (can be hidden). Improved the jump mechanic to be able to effectively “climb” up 1 block high ledges. Added the ability to skip dialogue by holding the cancel button. Significantly decreased chance of detection when stealing, making casual thievery more viable. Minor performance improvements. Fixed a number of small bugs. Known pending issues: Game still freezes after battle on Windows 10 machines (cause unknown). Performance is still poor on low powered devices like the Steam Deck.
  Read full article on Community Announcements (OpenTangent)

• Patch Notes·6 Mar 2025Official

  Pixie Update

  https://i.imgur.com/LX8ZdXS.jpeg Completed Caylen Grove map Added pikmera (pixie) map sprites and story characters Added the start quests for all four primary factions in Aeland Increased the quality of items in chests and barrels while trespassing Increased the quality of items in locked chests (compounds with above) Added an inn, a tavern, and a purchasable house to Iverville Minor redesign of the character portrait HUD items Fixed a bug where the saved game character portraits don’t fully load Fixed a number of minor bugs Known persistent bug: display occasionally freezes after battle
  Read full article on Community Announcements (OpenTangent)

• Patch Notes·14 Jan 2025Official

  Red Letterhouse Update

  My apologies for taking so long to push an update. Life outside of Akhena has been very busy lately. Hopefully I can spend more time on game dev in 2025. -Andrew Multiple small bug fixes and improvements. Some work on maps like Caylen Grove and Fort Gamber. Added the Red Letterhouse interior in Upper Cliffdon.
  Read full article on Community Announcements (OpenTangent)