Played from – to: (2022-01-18 – 2022-02-07) – PC controller.
‣ 10/10 – It will all pan out in the end.
‣ Game Audio / Soundtrack - 10/10
‣ Graphics – 10/10
‣ Atmosphere – 10/10
‣ Main Story / Characters – 10/10
‣ Side Activities / Exploration – 10/10
‣ AI – 9/10
‣ Ragdolls / Physics – 10/10
‣ Movement – 8/10
‣ Combat – 8/10
‣ Final notes: It is rare for a game to have so many characters and make them feel unique and interesting. However, I am glad to announce that Eastward nailed it. Well maybe not the monkeys, but anyone else you meet will be great. They have their unique motivations, back stories, and fantastic visual design. Eastward shines in its artwork and carefully crafted facial animations and more. The journey I took with this game was long and very interesting. I won’t deny the story did leave me confused at times, especially when the time concept got introduced, but overall, it was great and really felt outstanding in the pile of 2021 games that I have played. Honestly, as you play the game you see how much love and care the developers put into this. I got nothing but praise for this apart from a few nitpicks here and there. The soundtrack is always fitting and memorable, beautiful even. Food cooking reminded me of Zelda but had its own use and we will leave it at that. My only complaint is the combat. Even if it is a big part of the game, something more puzzle like would’ve suited it more. The last few boss fights really showed how a more pattern-based combat could’ve been more enjoyable even if repetitive. I would have rather had pattern-based combat of some sorts than a one move-based combat. Yes, you have a nice arsenal of tools at your disposal, but in the end it all comes down to John swinging his pan in the same motion repeatedly. In any case, the nice balance between puzzle solving, fighting, and exploring made combat a nice change of pace and the boss fights were great that I am willing to accept the version we have even if I would have loved a dodge button. Overall Eastward is a very interesting game, at first, I had no idea what I had gotten myself into, but the more I played it the more invested I got. At times it felt like a children’s story and at times it rivaled the seriousness of games like God of War.
‣ 10/10 – It will all pan out in the end.
‣ Game Audio / Soundtrack - 10/10
‣ Graphics – 10/10
‣ Atmosphere – 10/10
‣ Main Story / Characters – 10/10
‣ Side Activities / Exploration – 10/10
‣ AI – 9/10
‣ Ragdolls / Physics – 10/10
‣ Movement – 8/10
‣ Combat – 8/10
‣ Final notes: It is rare for a game to have so many characters and make them feel unique and interesting. However, I am glad to announce that Eastward nailed it. Well maybe not the monkeys, but anyone else you meet will be great. They have their unique motivations, back stories, and fantastic visual design. Eastward shines in its artwork and carefully crafted facial animations and more. The journey I took with this game was long and very interesting. I won’t deny the story did leave me confused at times, especially when the time concept got introduced, but overall, it was great and really felt outstanding in the pile of 2021 games that I have played. Honestly, as you play the game you see how much love and care the developers put into this. I got nothing but praise for this apart from a few nitpicks here and there. The soundtrack is always fitting and memorable, beautiful even. Food cooking reminded me of Zelda but had its own use and we will leave it at that. My only complaint is the combat. Even if it is a big part of the game, something more puzzle like would’ve suited it more. The last few boss fights really showed how a more pattern-based combat could’ve been more enjoyable even if repetitive. I would have rather had pattern-based combat of some sorts than a one move-based combat. Yes, you have a nice arsenal of tools at your disposal, but in the end it all comes down to John swinging his pan in the same motion repeatedly. In any case, the nice balance between puzzle solving, fighting, and exploring made combat a nice change of pace and the boss fights were great that I am willing to accept the version we have even if I would have loved a dodge button. Overall Eastward is a very interesting game, at first, I had no idea what I had gotten myself into, but the more I played it the more invested I got. At times it felt like a children’s story and at times it rivaled the seriousness of games like God of War.