I bought this game during its recent Switch eShop sale and decided to give it a shot as I was cooling down on Smash Ultimate. After playing it to completion in a few days, I have to say: I am very happy I bought this game.
This game made me smile. It made me laugh. It made me think. The moment-to-moment writing is stellar, and I think this is where the game shines most. Characters living in an apocalyptic setting express relatable experiences, questions, and concerns. The story takes you through increasingly dramatic scenarios but never loses sight of the people at the heart of it all.
The audio design is also wonderfully amusing, with many of the voice-recorded sounds being endlessly amusing (e.g., the bard's sleep murmurs).
The gameplay develops to give you new ways to use the musical and directional mechanics. The designers found creative ways to iterate on its primary control mechanism. The gameplay will not be what immediately comes to mind when I later reflect on this game, but it does have its share of "oh, cool!" moments as you see how the designers played with the concepts.
My only complaints were that one or two of the gameplay sequences were a little unclear to me, leading me to complete them without feeling that I'd fully understood the intentions of the designers; that you occasionally get gated off from areas as you're progressing (this is later mitigated, so if you're playing it and miss something, don't worry); and that the story's ultimate resolution didn't immediately click for me.
These negatives are just small blemishes on what was overall a delightful, optimistic experience. The game exudes an empathy and joy for people and humanity that I wholeheartedly appreciate.
The game is available on Nintendo Switch, Windows, and macOS. (EDIT: And now announced to be coming to PS4 on January 22!) If you have access to one of those platforms, I highly recommend checking it out!
This game made me smile. It made me laugh. It made me think. The moment-to-moment writing is stellar, and I think this is where the game shines most. Characters living in an apocalyptic setting express relatable experiences, questions, and concerns. The story takes you through increasingly dramatic scenarios but never loses sight of the people at the heart of it all.
The audio design is also wonderfully amusing, with many of the voice-recorded sounds being endlessly amusing (e.g., the bard's sleep murmurs).
The gameplay develops to give you new ways to use the musical and directional mechanics. The designers found creative ways to iterate on its primary control mechanism. The gameplay will not be what immediately comes to mind when I later reflect on this game, but it does have its share of "oh, cool!" moments as you see how the designers played with the concepts.
My only complaints were that one or two of the gameplay sequences were a little unclear to me, leading me to complete them without feeling that I'd fully understood the intentions of the designers; that you occasionally get gated off from areas as you're progressing (this is later mitigated, so if you're playing it and miss something, don't worry); and that the story's ultimate resolution didn't immediately click for me.
These negatives are just small blemishes on what was overall a delightful, optimistic experience. The game exudes an empathy and joy for people and humanity that I wholeheartedly appreciate.
The game is available on Nintendo Switch, Windows, and macOS. (EDIT: And now announced to be coming to PS4 on January 22!) If you have access to one of those platforms, I highly recommend checking it out!
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