If you don't read any other part of this review, just read this part: Instead of this game, play Seasons After Fall. I remember it much more fondly and less frustrating (it's a side-scroller, but it's not so clunky and lifeless, and it's based on the same folklore).
This game wanted to be great, I can tell. A lot of work went into the environment, but at the cost of filling those environments, setting a story, and basic mechanics. So many ruins with rooms, entrances, and crevices, and nothing inside them.
Right off the cuff, I'm trotting through a long, boring path of just snow and a few rock piles to indicate human activity. It took far too long, but eventually, I reach a place where I can actually do a thing, and that's pick up a fancy staff and bring it to a skeleton dressed as some kind of monk, prompting a spirit to release and a path to be cleared. Finally, something to do. So I spend a ridiculous amount of time looking around for more things to do instead of following the fox spirit who just showed up. After a while of finding nothing else, I figure I should just follow the path for now. This is another long and boring trudge through snow and ice, and what's worse is the snow dusts up right in the camera's view, obscuring my ability to look where I'm going (it's not smooth either, so it's just strobing a headache into me). Thankfully, the snow is not part of the game for long. I found a couple more staffs to give to dead monks, and none cleared any paths like the first one did (and none would again until the end).
If this wasn't long enough of an opener, the first big thing to do results in a cave-in and an extremely long trail to follow whilst very slowly limping through it. I mean LONG and SLOW. I found another monk, but no staff, and at that point, I couldn't be fucked to go on a hunt because I moved way too slowly. I reached a fox statue with a pool of serene water in front of it and I thought surely this will be magical and heal me and I can speed up so I can find that monk's staff. Nope. Pretty much a halfway mark of no importance. Eventually, I was healed and imbued with the fox spirit so I can perform a task (I assume, since there's no dialogue, narration, or direction on what to do or why I should even do it). But that task was not backtracking to find that one monk's staff, because I'm now blocked from backtracking that particular path. But hey, at least I have this brightly glowing sprite following me around and flying directly in the camera while I'm trying to look around for something.
Jumping was impressive, with great strides, until I needed to jump over a tiny rock or jump over a stream (or jump a short distance). No jumping or running in any depth of water, and sorry, you're too close to that pebble, you gotta back up and try jumping it again, but you can somehow speed-swim right through black sludge. You could walk/run up stairs, but god forbid you run into a ledge taller than an inch. The fox shakes off after getting out of the water at random, and it's annoying to have to wait for it to do that before you can move again. The structures and rocks you can/can't climb are very inconsistent through each segment of puzzles. It's like different people worked on each section and didn't bother to make sure they were consistent in their mechanics when putting it all together.
Getting spirit power from flowers was a pain, as they couldn't be collected, but only harvest one at a time (represented by the glowing marks in your fur). Whether you were able to harvest another yet or not, the annoying glowing sprite would bring your attention to the glaringly obvious flowers in the area, and you'd be prompted to hit the harvest button whenever you got near them. The controller buzzed every time you were near anything interactable and sometimes randomly where there was nothing - just a wall or a floor where developers forgot to remove that component (understandable if there's something on the other side or something, but it was never the case).
(ending spoilers here)
When I finally reached a place I thought was the end, I was so relieved, and then there was more. How the hell long is this game?? That happened twice. The second time, the little sprite turned red and I wasn't able to harvest any more flowers, so I had to recycle the powers I used (this was actually clever, puzzle-wise). But then I got to a point where I was lured into this area where this corrupt entity was weighing me down. Okay, I've dealt with this a few times at this point and it didn't seem too different. But then I just... died?? In (what I assume was) the middle of the damn game? Went into spirit mode to chase the sprite into the void, barked at it a few times, and then was transported to this spirit forest to wander aimlessly for who knows how long with no direction or any inkling of what the fuck to do at this point. This is the only almost-totally open world area to explore, but there is no way to know that if you get lost, you can just find one of the few fox statues to bark at and they'll northern-lights a path for you. I ran around for about 20 minutes before I got intensely bored and pissed that the fox's life just ENDED for no reason and now I'm stuck in this spirit forest. Apparently, you're supposed to find and greet all the monks you released, but fuck if I'm doing that. I'd wager I saved about half the monks, and I ran into exactly TWO of them (one 3 times while I ran around evidently in circles).
I assume I technically did finish the game, but at that point, I was fucking done and just turned it off and deleted it. This was supposed to be one of those relaxing wind-down games, but it frustrated me relentlessly since it began.
This game wanted to be great, I can tell. A lot of work went into the environment, but at the cost of filling those environments, setting a story, and basic mechanics. So many ruins with rooms, entrances, and crevices, and nothing inside them.
Right off the cuff, I'm trotting through a long, boring path of just snow and a few rock piles to indicate human activity. It took far too long, but eventually, I reach a place where I can actually do a thing, and that's pick up a fancy staff and bring it to a skeleton dressed as some kind of monk, prompting a spirit to release and a path to be cleared. Finally, something to do. So I spend a ridiculous amount of time looking around for more things to do instead of following the fox spirit who just showed up. After a while of finding nothing else, I figure I should just follow the path for now. This is another long and boring trudge through snow and ice, and what's worse is the snow dusts up right in the camera's view, obscuring my ability to look where I'm going (it's not smooth either, so it's just strobing a headache into me). Thankfully, the snow is not part of the game for long. I found a couple more staffs to give to dead monks, and none cleared any paths like the first one did (and none would again until the end).
If this wasn't long enough of an opener, the first big thing to do results in a cave-in and an extremely long trail to follow whilst very slowly limping through it. I mean LONG and SLOW. I found another monk, but no staff, and at that point, I couldn't be fucked to go on a hunt because I moved way too slowly. I reached a fox statue with a pool of serene water in front of it and I thought surely this will be magical and heal me and I can speed up so I can find that monk's staff. Nope. Pretty much a halfway mark of no importance. Eventually, I was healed and imbued with the fox spirit so I can perform a task (I assume, since there's no dialogue, narration, or direction on what to do or why I should even do it). But that task was not backtracking to find that one monk's staff, because I'm now blocked from backtracking that particular path. But hey, at least I have this brightly glowing sprite following me around and flying directly in the camera while I'm trying to look around for something.
Jumping was impressive, with great strides, until I needed to jump over a tiny rock or jump over a stream (or jump a short distance). No jumping or running in any depth of water, and sorry, you're too close to that pebble, you gotta back up and try jumping it again, but you can somehow speed-swim right through black sludge. You could walk/run up stairs, but god forbid you run into a ledge taller than an inch. The fox shakes off after getting out of the water at random, and it's annoying to have to wait for it to do that before you can move again. The structures and rocks you can/can't climb are very inconsistent through each segment of puzzles. It's like different people worked on each section and didn't bother to make sure they were consistent in their mechanics when putting it all together.
Getting spirit power from flowers was a pain, as they couldn't be collected, but only harvest one at a time (represented by the glowing marks in your fur). Whether you were able to harvest another yet or not, the annoying glowing sprite would bring your attention to the glaringly obvious flowers in the area, and you'd be prompted to hit the harvest button whenever you got near them. The controller buzzed every time you were near anything interactable and sometimes randomly where there was nothing - just a wall or a floor where developers forgot to remove that component (understandable if there's something on the other side or something, but it was never the case).
(ending spoilers here)
When I finally reached a place I thought was the end, I was so relieved, and then there was more. How the hell long is this game?? That happened twice. The second time, the little sprite turned red and I wasn't able to harvest any more flowers, so I had to recycle the powers I used (this was actually clever, puzzle-wise). But then I got to a point where I was lured into this area where this corrupt entity was weighing me down. Okay, I've dealt with this a few times at this point and it didn't seem too different. But then I just... died?? In (what I assume was) the middle of the damn game? Went into spirit mode to chase the sprite into the void, barked at it a few times, and then was transported to this spirit forest to wander aimlessly for who knows how long with no direction or any inkling of what the fuck to do at this point. This is the only almost-totally open world area to explore, but there is no way to know that if you get lost, you can just find one of the few fox statues to bark at and they'll northern-lights a path for you. I ran around for about 20 minutes before I got intensely bored and pissed that the fox's life just ENDED for no reason and now I'm stuck in this spirit forest. Apparently, you're supposed to find and greet all the monks you released, but fuck if I'm doing that. I'd wager I saved about half the monks, and I ran into exactly TWO of them (one 3 times while I ran around evidently in circles).
I assume I technically did finish the game, but at that point, I was fucking done and just turned it off and deleted it. This was supposed to be one of those relaxing wind-down games, but it frustrated me relentlessly since it began.