A beautiful lyrical game, but unfortunately an all too simple and rudimentary one.

I enjoyed my time trotting around the valley playing instruments to the flora and fauna of an evening. It was relaxing, wholesome, and calming. If you find pleasure in such games this will be perfect for you. If you equally are familiar with the characters of this land - even better. The art style is faithful to Jansson’s work and the occasional musical interlude from Sigur Rós is always welcome to my ears. I only wish there was more of it.

The passing stealth levels are as basic as possible. There is no real challenge or alternative way of approaching the task. That is not uncommon for adventure games yet they do tend to have a steeper puzzle element to allow for it. Melody of Moominvalley has none. You are tasked with collecting the odd item here or there but it’s nothing more complex than go to point B and back to point A. I recognise the game is largely for kids however and in that sense it offers a quaint and pleasant experience for the short time it maintains, but there could have been a lot more here. For example, let us read Moominpappa’s manuscript or compose the odd tune ourselves on the harmonica? It’s not a great deal to ask.

Oddly for such a simple game there are framerate issues on the Switch even when docked. This is now so common with every new release I barely raise an eyebrow these days, alas it’s worth noting. Equally I can’t really comprehend why there are so many loading screens - it is far from an expansive map or highly detailed visual experience. Couldn’t you have masked these loading points behind something? It all feels quite unthinking.

If you enjoy the sublime atmosphere of Moomins then you will undoubtedly enjoy your time in Moominvalley, as I did. It’s only somewhat disappointing there really was so little to do. You can finish the entire adventure in 3-4 hours I would imagine.

It’s wonderful to be back, welcome aboard.

I do not hold Monkey Island up as one of the greatest adventure games but it is certainly close, sadly this is perhaps one of its weakest iterations. Despite that it’s a good adventure with all of the wry wit and whimsy you know and love from this series.

All of your favourite characters return and offer layered and humorous interest throughout the well paced plot. You will enjoy this whether you have played previous games in the series or not, but it certainly helps if you have. I imagine in particular some of the puzzles might be oddly impenetrable if you are not accustomed to Herbert’s way of thinking. I admit I did have to delve into the hints section a few times.

The art style is beautiful and unique, it moves with such fluid colour. I never tired of looking at it. The voice cast are just as good as in past games and the music is suitably joyous.

Alas, a narrative game has to cohere to excel and I cannot get on board with the tone or purpose of the ending. I won’t discuss the detail here but meta narratives always strike me as cheap storytelling. I understand what they are trying to get across to the player but it left me cold, which is a disappointing end to a series I have great fondness for.