Just some thoughts.
There are some parallels, mechanically speaking, with the opening area of Breath of the Wild. Relatively small area, get new abilities, go to the top of a cold mountain (which will negatively affect your stamina), glide around. The smaller scope of this game, however, allows it to actually express anything meaningful with both these same base mechanics and the character interactions.
An indie game about personal struggle symbolized by a mountain trek? Where have I heard this one before? As much as I might find the general narrative concept a bit hokey and overdone at this point, the mechanical payoff here is excellent. It both allows for a more thorough engagement with gliding that any point in the game before, as well as allowing the player to get new views of the island and potentially see things they had missed. Plus, it delivers on a kind of personal childhood dream (what if at the end of Mario 64, instead of just flying away in a cutscene, the player actually controlled Mario as he flew back to the castle?).
As much as I find the character interactions charming for the mostpart, I do find it somewhat interesting how a game that some might describe as a "walking sim" (something I would only do begrudgingly) has such a wide range of ways to interact with the world. Digging, fishing, racing... Is there mining in this game? I found a pickaxe, though I never actually used it for anything. Weirdest of all is the amount of money in the game. It seems almost antithetical to the character of "walking sims" to have Numbers Go Up.
In general, despite its immediate presentation promising a quick, pleasant jaunt, the game has a surprising amount of stuff going on with it; this might lend it more replayability than others in its genre, but on a first playthrough it does seem almost overwhelming compared to the expectation it likely conjures up at a glance. More than a quarter of players have gotten the platinum trophy on the PS4 version. I don't think I have the platinum trophy for any game, and I certainly don't think this game's mood beckons me to treat it like a checklist.
A platformer that only gives you minimal control over the camera? Sign me up! This is completely serious. I am so tired of platformers expecting me to handle the camera myself. Lookin' at you, Mario Odyssey/Bowser's Fury. You should never have to break out the claw grip for a game that isn't Dark Souls.
I like birds. I like other animals too. There are some good animals in this game. This is a good game. I like bird.
There are some parallels, mechanically speaking, with the opening area of Breath of the Wild. Relatively small area, get new abilities, go to the top of a cold mountain (which will negatively affect your stamina), glide around. The smaller scope of this game, however, allows it to actually express anything meaningful with both these same base mechanics and the character interactions.
An indie game about personal struggle symbolized by a mountain trek? Where have I heard this one before? As much as I might find the general narrative concept a bit hokey and overdone at this point, the mechanical payoff here is excellent. It both allows for a more thorough engagement with gliding that any point in the game before, as well as allowing the player to get new views of the island and potentially see things they had missed. Plus, it delivers on a kind of personal childhood dream (what if at the end of Mario 64, instead of just flying away in a cutscene, the player actually controlled Mario as he flew back to the castle?).
As much as I find the character interactions charming for the mostpart, I do find it somewhat interesting how a game that some might describe as a "walking sim" (something I would only do begrudgingly) has such a wide range of ways to interact with the world. Digging, fishing, racing... Is there mining in this game? I found a pickaxe, though I never actually used it for anything. Weirdest of all is the amount of money in the game. It seems almost antithetical to the character of "walking sims" to have Numbers Go Up.
In general, despite its immediate presentation promising a quick, pleasant jaunt, the game has a surprising amount of stuff going on with it; this might lend it more replayability than others in its genre, but on a first playthrough it does seem almost overwhelming compared to the expectation it likely conjures up at a glance. More than a quarter of players have gotten the platinum trophy on the PS4 version. I don't think I have the platinum trophy for any game, and I certainly don't think this game's mood beckons me to treat it like a checklist.
A platformer that only gives you minimal control over the camera? Sign me up! This is completely serious. I am so tired of platformers expecting me to handle the camera myself. Lookin' at you, Mario Odyssey/Bowser's Fury. You should never have to break out the claw grip for a game that isn't Dark Souls.
I like birds. I like other animals too. There are some good animals in this game. This is a good game. I like bird.