I can't say I have a history with this little game. Rather it was something I picked up cheap during a Steam summer sale because "why not?" These kind of purchases can be a bit of a gamble as I have found. Some turn out awesome, while others leave me wondering what the hell I was thinking. In this case, though, I think we have something more in the middle of the road. I may have liked it, but there really wasn't a lot there to like... or dislike for that matter.
Story: You are a normal little girl name Roh, and you just woke up from a very weird dream. But did you? When leaving through the front door leads you to a foggy road and your house disappearing, I'm pretty sure the definitive answer to that question is "no."
You see, Roh is stuck in a dream loop. She dreams about some bizarre situation, does what she needs to do within it, only to wake up in yet another dream. The cycle repeats, and you have front row seats for a short sample of her personal hell. For through all of this, all Roh really wants is to wake up and finally in doing so, get home. Sadly there is little else to this since no two dreams are really connected. The closest you get to that is being judged in how you handled a few of these dreams in the last one to reach one of three possible endings. And also sadly, those endings have very little variance, using a single cue to tell you if it was a good ending or not.
5/10
Graphics: Red Bow was made to imitate what a horror game might look like in the old days of Gameboy Color, and you can expect the game to carry that look well. Chunky pixels will be used to display the worlds in top-down fashion, making the most of these limitations to actually look pretty good. The environments are colorful and varied with atmospheric animations that actually make it all fit brilliantly, which is a good thing since this is most of what you will see. The game has some absolutely gorgeous locations, but it has very few characters to populate it. But this is definitely a case of "less is more."
7/10
Sound: Unfortunately there is very little in the way of sound effects in this game. In fact, the only things I actually remember hearing are Roh's footsteps (depending on what she is plodding through) and the sound of the text as it types across your screen. There is just nothing else here to accompany the soundtrack itself.
However, the developer certainly knew how to use that music to it's best effect. Unlike the graphical choices, this game chose to use higher-end midi music and background ambiance then a Gameboy could every create, and it works amazingly well. True, there are no tunes that are going to stick with you long after you turn off the game, but it accompanies the graphics to create a world (or worlds as the case may be) that is surreal, a little but spooky, and make you wonder just how easy it would be to die here. Even when the background dies away, it does so usually with such a gut-punch in the story that you can help but feel it. Simply remarkable work here.
8/10
Gameplay: Red Bow is designed to be completed in one or two sittings with maybe an hour or two total play time, making for a very short experience. But don't expect that to mean it is mindless or simply another "walking simulator" game. While it takes on the ascetic of a Gameboy Color adventure game, it could be considered closer to a old school PC point&click game when you get right down to playing it. You will be handed a few situations in which you need to explore an area, collect items, and decide how you wish to proceed to reach a suitable ending to the puzzle. I have to put it this way, however, as the game, despite being short, is more then willing to give you several ways and several endings to each scenario you can reach. Some will prove incorrect and produce a game-over right then and there, while others (multiple in most cases) will let you proceed but effect the end of the entire game (there are 3 potential endings that I am aware of).
Yes, the controls are basic and the gameplay is simple, but at the same time, the game plays up to that. It also avoids the "pixel hunt" gameplay of this kind tends to have by being more direct too... if you can interact with it, it's name appears at the bottom of the screen. It also "sparkles" items you can see and need regardless of your choice actions, so you won't ever be stuck without a path of some kind.
7/10
Bugs: I didn't find many bugs in my time with this game, but what I did find was glaring.
- But I got the key.... In the third "dream" there is a small key you can get (and no I wont tell you where or how) which opens an alternate path of events. I was able to get it easily enough by use of an item I had collected, however, once I had it and the item was disgarded, the text interacting with it's location reset like it was still there. Not a huge issue, but I was afraid to pursue it in case I broke the game.
- IT WONT STOP!!!!! Far more disturbing was an issue I had at the end of the game. After the credits rolled I was stuck on a screen saying "Thank you for playing" which would not go away and none of the controls would effect it. Furthermore, the way it uses fullscreen (when setup to) made it a fight to take my screen back and force it to turn off. Maybe you will have this issue, maybe not. Maybe it's only because it was setup to full screen and not a window... but this was alarming to say the least on a PC game.
I would also like to make note that while this game is basically primed to use a controller, it has no controller support. You can get around this very easily (and I will explain my solution I used in the system requirements) but if you want to use a controller with this game, you will need to do a little extra work before you really get to play.
Overall: Short, simple, and actually pretty sweet, I have very little I can say against this title. If you like atmospheric adventures, it is definitely worth your time to sit down and enjoy this one. Just don't expect an epic storyline or anything of the sort. It's just not there. Instead, come in for the feelz and the world itself. Also if possible get it on sale. It's not an expensive game but it is short enough I would recommend a little frugality, even at a $5 asking price.
Score:
System Requirements:
- Pentium 4 @2.0 ghz
- 2 GB RAM
- Anything that suports DX 10
- Windows 10
- 200 MB hard drive space
NOTE: This game does not support a controller natively. However, it's control scheme is easily emulated to one, making it a game you can play with a controller! Personally I was able to get this working quickly with AntiMicro and would recommend it for such situations. (As always, scan anything you download.) For me, the following proved very comfortable with an Xbox One controller:
- Right Stick Movements and rocker switch to arrow keys (move in game)
- Enter to A (interact)
- Escape to X and B (menu)
- Ryzen 3 2200G running at 3.5 Ghz
- 16 GB RAM
- Windows 10
- PDP DX Wired Controller (Crimson)
No comments:
Post a Comment