The watercolor asthetic of the 'Dordogne' environments is beautiful. And the time traveling narrative allows for some really powerful and emotional character connections in the final moments. I was moved by the game's comments on living (and dying) with regrets. A heady theme, to be sure, but 'Dordogne' is otherwise a great play for the summer. The scenes in the past depict a single summer visiting Grandma in Dordogne, a French department that (at least as depicted here) is summer incarnate.
While the simple summer story in the past goes down easy, there is a deeper narrative of family turmoil that reveals itself through the letters that serve as collectibles in 'Dordogne.' I used a guide to find every collectible and even still, aspects of this deep narrative eluded me. I felt as though my understanding of it depended on my familiarity with 1980s French social politics (of which I have none). Should you miss letters (and without a guide you will, and there is no way to collect those you missed without restarting the game), I suspect you'll finish even more confused than was I.
While the simple summer story in the past goes down easy, there is a deeper narrative of family turmoil that reveals itself through the letters that serve as collectibles in 'Dordogne.' I used a guide to find every collectible and even still, aspects of this deep narrative eluded me. I felt as though my understanding of it depended on my familiarity with 1980s French social politics (of which I have none). Should you miss letters (and without a guide you will, and there is no way to collect those you missed without restarting the game), I suspect you'll finish even more confused than was I.