Here is an odd one to pull out from the backlog. It is not a game I picked up so much as came in as part of a humble bundle, but I decided to keep it at the time. And as I finished up The 11th Hour, I decided it might be time to play with something known to be just pure chill. And while this is far from my normal fair of game, I'm glad I took the time with it.
Story: It all happened recently. One day after getting in trouble at school, you took the long way home only to find a badger hunting a bird. Saving the poor creature, you bring it home. And with this beginning, beautiful friendship begins. This is a relatively simple story about how a child can bond with an animal met by chance. I don't know how much more I can say, as there isn't a lot here, but what is here is beautifully told purely in the actions of everyone.
7/10
Graphics: When you first start this game up, you are going to immediately think of all those games made with RPG Maker. For those of you who do not know that system and what it entails, you can expect a top-down pixel-art game where you move a child around the various locations. It all looks pretty good as the artwork was clearly crafted with a loving hand and putting a lot of heart into what you will see. Everything flows together perfectly with the world itself telling the tale you are here to witness as effectively as the characters.
And those characters are interesting in their own right. Right front and center are the child and the bird he rescues. Both, despite (or maybe because) of the limits sprite art forces, are incredibly expressive, from the closed eye smile/laugh from the boy as his new friend does something adorable. And that bird has lots of character in his own right.
Everyone else, falls to the wayside for the most part, and the game acknowledges that by making them shadow-characters. While they may be important in the moment, or n friendot, they are designed to take second stage to the story of these two unlikely friends.
The total picture from all of this will leave you with everything feeling just right and a few straight up breathtaking scenes. Relax and enjoy.
8/10
Sound: While the music in this game is not unpleasant, it is also nothing particularly memorable. It will, however, never fail to go with the tone of the moment, adding to the story-telling of the game very well with a nice flair of tension and soothing as the moment calls for it.
But unfortunately that is just about all the sound you are going to get out of this game. Aside from bird chirps, puddle splashing, and ambiance in the background from time to time, this game is absolutely silent.
7/10
Gameplay: Sadly, this is the weakest part of this game, because there is very little actual gameplay to be had. You will move the boy in the story around maps designed to flow like a memory you might have of a week-long story several weeks later as you recall it for yourself, but for the most part, this is all you will do. And you will be given very little (if any) choice in what happens next. Yes, you are wandering the memories of the time this boy had with his new feathered friend, but they are memories after all.
5/10
Bugs: For what this game did, it did it flawlessly.
Overall: This is one of those rare titles where it's not about the gameplay at all, but the experience of reliving these events with the boy remembering them. To that end, despite it being so short and really so little of a game itself, I would recommend checking this out. If you enjoy it, you will walk away after experiencing an endearing tale of friendship. If you don't, you wasted $4 and a little over an hour of your life in total. Nothing much to lose, but potentially a great memory of your own to gain.
Score:
7/10
System Requirements:
- Pentium III running at 800 Mgz
- 2 GB RAM
- 1024x768 with high color display and DirectX 9 support
- Windows XP, Vista, 7, and 8
- 200 MB hard drive space
- AMD FX8350 (running at 4.0 Ghz)
- 16 GB RAM
- NVidia Geforce 960 with 4 GB VRAM
- Windows 10
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