Gorogoa |OT| Moving Pictures

[More_Badass]

Special thanks to Wozman23 for collaborating, banners, and thread title

Site | $14.99 (Steam, GOG, Switch) | $4.99 (iPad, iPhone) | Launch Trailer
Jason Roberts | Annapurna Interactive
Releases December 14th

Eurogamer
Gorogoa is a masterpiece, I think - in its unusualness, its invention, in the way it boldly walks its own distinct path, this is the kind of game you set your watch by. But it's not just the mechanical cleverness that marks this thing out - not just the feat of cosmic paper-engineering that sees distant stars landing on living room tables or a crackling hearth fire engaging in all kinds of temporal shenanigans.
It's the art itself, of course, which is detailed but never fussy, intricate but always readable and strangely calm, taking players to some distant environment in which fantasy and reason do not seem to be at odds. And it is also the emotional landscape that the art slowly builds around you, a place where everyone is careworn but just about bearing up, where the huge forces that knock people about have not completely eroded these people's sense of curiosity.

RockPapershotgun
More than anything, the feeling that dominated throughout was one of magic. Its impossible logic made so much sense, its undimensional structure somehow coherent, so long as you allow yourself to float between the solving and the unsolving. It is that suspended place, between confusion and understanding, reality and impossibility, that makes Gorogoa so bewitching and enticing.

Ars Technica
Gorogoa is, quite frankly, short. At the end of six years of development, Roberts has produced a little over two hours of gameplay.
But that's like saying your favorite illustrated book is only 24 pages or your favorite children's movie is only 70 minutes. Like those kinds of art, Roberts' creation stands out because it absolutely works as a "play it again" dive into spirituality, loss, and rebirth. Gorogoa's clever gameplay tricks and gorgeous, hand-drawn art will stay with you for a long time.​

 

[Messofanego]

I'm glad there aren't any other notable games for me coming out this month so I can get to this and good to hear about the short length!

 

[Fuhgeddit]

This game looks good. I checked the publisher and wow, they really are publishing some good looking games.

 

[Deleted member 21709]

Really love the background artwork. I wouldn't really call it wholly original though (not that it matters), there was at least one game released a few years ago (and part of Apple's picks) that let you arrange comic panels as well to solve situational puzzles.

 

[More_Badass]

Really love the background artwork. I wouldn't really call it wholly original though (not that it matters), there was at least one game released a few years ago (and part of Apple's picks) that let you arrange comic panels as well to solve situational puzzles.

Click to shrink...

Framed has you moving panels to change the order of events. Gorogoa has you changing context and blending events and illustrations together. Based on the old demo, Gorogoa has a sense of whimsical charm, a kind of fairy tale logic and sense of a journey in how illustrations combine and allow the characters you guide to step into other worlds or how context changes as you zoom in and out and shift and combine. Interacting with an illustration and realizing that you can remove a layer and reveal something new beneath was a consistent "oh...wow" moment in the demo. It's way more elegant, nuanced, and complex than anything Framed ever attempted

 

[Deleted member 419]

More_Badass Thank you for bringing this game to my attention with that thread from a week or two ago. Can't wait to play it, it'll be my final gaming purchase of 2017 and I hope to end the year on a high note.

 

[GavinUK86]

I like that it's short. I don't think I could play this kinda game for more than a couple hours. I'm excited to get my hands on it.

 

[mindatlarge]

Will definitely be checking this out when it releases. Looks like one of those games that's perfect to play when it's cold and snowy outside with your hot beverage of choice.

 

[Aaron D.]

Heh. Love that thread title.

Great OT!

 

[Wok]

Gorgeous! Five years in the making:

 

[Deleted member 6235]

Definitely buying this day 1.

 

[Nzyme32]

I have been waiting for this for an absurd amount of time! Can't wait to get it and over Christmas!

 

[Barn]

I told myself I wasn't going to buy any more games until January, but this might just break me. Looks perfect for a day in over the holidays.

 

[More_Badass]

Gorgeous! Five years in the making:

Click to shrink...

Six or more, actually. Full time development began in 2012, but he had worked on it part-time for much longer before that

https://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/211040/Road_to_the_IGF_Jason_Roberts_Gorogoa.php

 

[samred]

Thanks for linking my review. I feel like this OT has a few too many revealing panels/hints in the attached screens, however, but that's probably cuz the official screenshot galleries have those (which I think is a bit of a mistake). The Ars link has carefully selected images for those who want to understand how it all works in action while still having 100% discovery ahead of them. Also, we didn't get iOS code in advance, so it's unclear whether that version will be hampered at all, or if its lower price is solely an issue of iOS marketplace pricing shit.

 

[Wozman23]

Can't wait!

This game looks good. I checked the publisher and wow, they really are publishing some good looking games.

Click to shrink...

Annapurna has quickly become my favorite indie publisher. It helps that they're basically the remnants of Sony's incubated indie branch last generation, which I thought put out some amazing games (The Unfinished Swan, Sound Shapes, Journey, The Pixel Junk games, Hohokum). They hit the ground running with What Remains of Edith Finch, I'm really excited for Donut County and The Artful Escape of Francis Vendetti, and I'm still intrigued by Ashen.

Heh. Love that thread title.

Click to shrink...

I thought it did a good job conveying the underlying theme.

 

[More_Badass]

Thanks for linking my review. I feel like this OT has a few too many revealing panels/hints in the attached screens, however, but that's probably cuz the official screenshot galleries have those (which I think is a bit of a mistake). The Ars link has carefully selected images for those who want to understand how it all works in action while still having 100% discovery ahead of them. Also, we didn't get iOS code in advance, so it's unclear whether that version will be hampered at all, or if its lower price is solely an issue of iOS marketplace pricing shit.

Click to shrink...

To be fair, two of the panels are ones I captured directly from the old demo, so I assumed those were very early in the game

Ports are always priced lower on the App Store. Darkest Dungeon is $4.99, The Witness is $9.99, and so on

 

[Fuhgeddit]

Can't wait!



Annapurna has quickly become my favorite indie publisher. It helps that they're basically the remnants of Sony's incubated indie branch last generation, which I thought put out some amazing games (The Unfinished Swan, Sound Shapes, Journey, The Pixel Junk games, Hohokum). They hit the ground running with What Remains of Edith Finch, I'm really excited for Donut County and The Artful Escape of Francis Vendetti, and I'm still intrigued by Ashen.



I thought it did a good job conveying the underlying theme.

Click to shrink...

Same, I am interested in pretty much everything they have releasing. I definitely cannot wait to see more of Ashen.

 

[Deleted member 1781]

Subscribing to this thread to remember to buy It later.

 

[thelongestj]

Gaah, I was so ready to buy this on GOG tomorrow, but now I just learned that it's coming to Switch also. Hard choice.

 

[Primate Ryan]

I've been waiting for this game for years. It was such a great surprise yesterday to find out that this game releases this week and on Switch as well. It seems I missed the launch date announcement last week.

The positive review by John Walker has me even more excited for this.

 

[More_Badass]

Another review (4/5)
http://www.hardcoregamer.com/2017/12/13/review-gorogoa/283236/

It's disappointing that length always get brought up as a negative, or if not a negative, then as an "in spite of" kind of aspect. If a movie is 85 minutes long or a book is only a 190-page novella, but is excellently paced and excels at what it's trying to achieve, you don't see "it may be short but" or such emphasis on length as some kind of "it's good but..." concern. If anything, you'd probably see praise for being lean and efficient.

Not many reviews (this isn't just for Gorogoa now) tend to marry context with length. A perspective of "It's short because" and why the length may be a strength, rather than the typical "it's short but...". Part of why I like that Ars Technica statement

 

[More_Badass]

RPS put out an interview with the developer
https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/20...roberts-on-gorogoa-brevity-and-unknowability/

This should please people who have played the demo

RPS: Along with so much brand new stuff, there are a lot of moments that we saw in the earlier builds and demos that haven't made it into the final game. What was your process for deciding what you kept? And how many puzzles did you lose along the way?

Roberts: I've never been shy about cutting stuff from the design, even things I've put a lot of work into. Every part has to serve the whole, the pacing has to feel right, the puzzles have to feel good and be varied and interweave with the story. Balancing these constraints forced a lot of cuts over the years. Over and over, I'd make one design change, and that change would have ripples that would force other changes throughout the game. Puzzles in the demo were dropped from the design not because I didn't like them, but because there was no longer a place for them.

At this point, to me, the original demo is almost separate work. Some day I hope to remaster that original version and get it working in the new engine, and make it available if I get the sense people are interested. We'll see.

Click to shrink...

 

[More_Badass]

Game is out on iOS now

 

[More_Badass]

I'll say this, having playing the demo only makes the full game that much better because your expectations keep getting subverted and you get to see all the smart design choices Jason made since then

 

[23qwerty]

is that Rush reference I see

 

[Deleted member 3017]

Was surprised to see this on the Switch eShop today. Picking it up as as it's released in NA (should be available at 12PM ET).

 

[More_Badass]

Okay, this game does stuff with perspective that is just amazing in a "let me take a minute and appreciate how cool this is" way

 

[More_Badass]

20-25~ minutes played, more tomorrow

1) The story/narrative/visual journey has been notably effective. Removing a layer or zooming out to reveal a scene can be quite affecting

2) Much like Inside, you play this and you completely understand why and how it took six years to make. Every ounce of meticulously-crafted polish is on display on here

3) Given the first few puzzles, this might end up being one of my favorite adventure games ever. Simple execution and simpler puzzles can feel magically thrilling when the means of execution are so fresh and clever. I've had quite a few "oh...OH...that was so smart" moments so far.

4) The way this game play with perspective and context, how its game design works, is going to get be studied and analyzed and praised among puzzlers alongside Fez and Monument Valley and The Witness and Stephen's Sausage Roll and Toki Tori, I've never played anything like this

 

[Tizoc]

I just beat the game in one sitting.
I really enjoyed it and while I don't mind its length, it's gonna be a VERY hard sell on PC with that price point.
If you can get it on iPad def. grab it if you don't mind the USD 5 price as it is a short but satisfying little puzzler.

 

[More_Badass]

I just beat the game in one sitting.
I really enjoyed it and while I don't mind its length, it's gonna be a VERY hard sell on PC with that price point.
If you can get it on iPad def. grab it if you don't mind the USD 5 price as it is a short but satisfying little puzzler.

Click to shrink...

Inside is more expensive and similarly short (3-4 hours), Gone Home is the same price and also around 2ish hours long

 

[Tizoc]

Inside is more expensive and similarly short (3-4 hours), Gone Home is the same price and also around 2ish hours long

Click to shrink...

Fair enough, but I got Inside as part of a bundle IIRC, and with so many good titles on PC/Steam (esp. with the Winter Seal close by), the game is gonna struggle with that $15 price point, when one could get any other good puzzle game for cheaper regardless of length.
Still if it manages to sell well on Steam, that'd be great too. It does lend to replayability for one thing.

 

[GoodMorninPluto]

Will there be an Android version later? Will buy on steam if not. I was looking to scratch that Rusty Lake itch and this seems to fit.

 

[More_Badass]

Fair enough, but I got Inside as part of a bundle IIRC, and with so many good titles on PC/Steam (esp. with the Winter Seal close by), the game is gonna struggle with that $15 price point, when one could get any other good puzzle game for cheaper regardless of length.
Still if it manages to sell well on Steam, that'd be great too. It does lend to replayability for one thing.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, but this isn't any other good puzzle game. There's nothing else like this, at least among the puzzle games I've played.

 

[Messofanego]

C'mon, let me throw money!

 

[Waddles the Piggu]

Buying this and Gungeon later!

 

[Tickling]

If it was the iOS price on the Switch I would get it. At that price it's gonna be a skip for me. Hopefully I won't forget about it

 

[Nintendojitsu]

Annapurna starting their Switch support strong.

 

[Dogtato-kun]

Another review (4/5)
http://www.hardcoregamer.com/2017/12/13/review-gorogoa/283236/

It's disappointing that length always get brought up as a negative, or if not a negative, then as an "in spite of" kind of aspect. If a movie is 85 minutes long or a book is only a 190-page novella, but is excellently paced and excels at what it's trying to achieve, you don't see "it may be short but" or such emphasis on length as some kind of "it's good but..." concern. If anything, you'd probably see praise for being lean and efficient.

Not many reviews (this isn't just for Gorogoa now) tend to marry context with length. A perspective of "It's short because" and why the length may be a strength, rather than the typical "it's short but...". Part of why I like that Ars Technica statement

Click to shrink...

This game looks super interesting and I am looking forward to playing it at some point, but as someone who plays a lot of games, primarily RPGs, the cost/time ratio is completely understandable. Coming off a game like Xenoblade 2, in which I am approaching the 100 hour mark, saying this game only lasts 1-2 hours makes $15 a hard sell. Yes, it is a totally different type of experience, but is it an experience worth the relatively higher per-hour price?

 

[Cymbal Head]

Annnapurna Interactive is doing fantastic work.

Will this run on my ancient iPad 2 or should I look at getting it on Switch?

 

[Laserbeam]

Is the music in the game as beautiful as the music in the trailer?

Seems like it would be a nice little game to play in between Xenoblade sessions.

 

[TehOh]

I really want to try this. It looks fascinating. Honestly, the length is actually a plus in my book. It's nice to have these cool experiences that don't overstay their welcome.

 

[More_Badass]

This game looks super interesting and I am looking forward to playing it at some point, but as someone who plays a lot of games, primarily RPGs, the cost/time ratio is completely understandable. Coming off a game like Xenoblade 2, in which I am approaching the 100 hour mark, saying this game only lasts 1-2 hours makes $15 a hard sell. Yes, it is a totally different type of experience, but is it an experience worth the relatively higher per-hour price?

Click to shrink...

If you play a lot of games, shouldn't a lean meticulously-paced one be an easier sell that another 20, 50, 100 hour game? Length has nothing to do with quality. I love huge CRPGs and open worlds, which is why I love short lean games even more, because I can actually finish them and get a complete experience, without having to sink dozens of hours in

Plus, I actually replay short games, so they essentially have more replay value than longer games

 

[Dogtato-kun]

If you play a lot of games, shouldn't a lean meticulously-paced one be an easier sell that another 20, 50, 100 hour game? Length has nothing to do with quality. I love huge CRPGs and open worlds, which is why I love short lean games even more, because I can actually finish them and get a complete experience, without having to sink a dozen hours in

Click to shrink...

Yes, absolutely. I didn't mean to imply that length is the only metric to judge a game by. Shorter, complete experiences are nice too.

But at some point practical considerations come into play, and sometimes there is only so much money to spend on video games, so value decisions have to be made. I think most people have a sense of how long they think a game "should" be, and if it falls notably below that amount, it's fair for reviews to comment on it.

 

[Weltall Zero]

Really love the background artwork. I wouldn't really call it wholly original though (not that it matters), there was at least one game released a few years ago (and part of Apple's picks) that let you arrange comic panels as well to solve situational puzzles.

Click to shrink...

What Gorogoa does is extremelly hard to explain and not at all about rearranging (in fact, panel order / position most of the time doesn't matter), more about sliding, zooming and combining. The best way to understand it is seeing it in motion: for example:

These are all from the demo (early in the demo at that); it was all like that and had quite a ton of stuff. This should probably also illustrate why even two gameplay hours of this took six years of work. :)

 

[More_Badass]

I'll say this, those interactions in the GIFs are only the tip of the iceberg

 

[Wozman23]

Steam is live with a 20% discount.

 

[Aostia82]

I'll say this, those interactions in the GIFs are only the tip of the iceberg

Click to shrink...

Lovely

 

[Aeferis]

Nice, didn't expect the 20% discount. Is it going to show up on the Humble Store in an hour?

 

[dkeane]

Have it downloading on Switch. Can't wait.
Love puzzle games like this.