Wild in the heart, disorderly in execution
Regarding influence, few video game manufacturers compete with Nintendo’s power and magic. The giant of the game contributed to almost all genres under the sun – and even gave birth to many of himself. From Metroidvanias For the fighters of the platform, Nintendo continuously proves its ability to go where few games have been going on before.
The wildernessA 2D adventure developed by Moonlight Kids and published by Humble Games, carries his zeal for Nintendo with pride. Take Pikmingameplay, Zeldathe structure and a pinch of Mansion of Luigi Weapons and the game make an unusual concocction of the greatest successes in Nintendo.
Yet The wilderness Bring many ingredients to the table, he never manages to add his own spice. It provides pages of construction of the world and traditions, but failed to capture the imagination. He builds a network of systems – from the collection of crafts to resources – but has trouble finding chemistry between them. And it offers an important world of play, but which suffers from bloating and rehearsal.
The result is a usable tribute for some of the best gaming, but a title that does not become of its own ambition.
An improbable scholarship
The wilderness Stars Wake and Kirby, a pair of childhood friends who each come from a broken house. One day, with his father, Wake brings together his belongings and fled into the surrounding forest, looking for his friend.
Unfortunately for Wake, he gets lost by wandering in the depths of the woods. Before a long time, he met a mysterious man, Gray Coat, who presides over the forest. As wake learns, this land – has prohibited deep woods – shelters an order of magic beings known as Greenshields. Woods also house various flora and fauna – in particular, useful creatures called Spriselings and dangerous creatures called never tracking the night.
Greenshields losing their grip on deep woods, never threaten them to engulf the world. The gray coat tasks wake up by exploring the various ends of deep woods, finding various members of Greenshields and, however finally, restoring peace in the forest.
While an intriguing configuration, The wildernessThe story of never taking any dynamism. The NPCs of the game, although original, appear more as secondary attractions than convincing characters. Central history is doing a little better, while Wake and Kirby argue with painful memories about their parents. But their tests are retained by a forgettable dialogue and a sporadic rhythm.
On his credit, The wildernessThe misfortunes of history are not due to the lack of effort. The game takes care to explore the history, the inhabitants and the places of the deep woods, with a detailed book. But all the traditions of the world cannot compensate for weak characters and an inspiration without inspiration.
You say Spritteling, I say pikmin
Fortunately, most of your time in The wilderness is devoted to exploring it from its important world. The game strongly borrows the Zelda Framework, sending wake to various biomes – Dark caves, frozen mountains, etc. – In search of articles that grant access to the new areas of the card.
The real influence, however, is Pikmin. During a campaign of 12 to 3 p.m., you will meet five different types of Spritles, each you can recruit in number to help you progress. The embers, for example, are inflamed creatures that burn patch of bramble and pack a Wallop in combat. On the other hand, the chills display ice bridges and are relatively brittle in the fights.
Checking these Spriselings is quite simple. You can exchange between different types with a selection wheel and start the selected choice with a button. With the help of your faithful emptiness, the gustbuster, you can suck up the spritylings on the ground (the equivalent of the whistle of Captain Olimar). Your vacuum cleaner also allows you to run pine wheels, open locked doors and lots of erased waste worldwide.
The latter is particularly important, because unwanted objects play a key role in The wilderness. Not only will you meet nuts and bolts that serve as money – TRIP AND CHACKETTE—But you will discover materials that you can sell to the sellers or to the transmission in articles and tonic. Next to the sprietlings, money is your most important resource; You can spend it to improve the central base of Greenshields and unlock new upgrades for Wake and Kirby.
Systems overload
If it looks a lot like to manage, it is because it is the case. The wilderness requires many players, especially during opening hours. Between spritlelings, resources, crafts, fighting, upgrades and a day / night survival cycle, there are many disparate mechanisms to follow.
Unfortunately, no longer is necessarily equivalent to better. While Pikmin lived and died by its simplicity, The wilderness is quickly overloaded by its unnecessary components. None of these features add a lot to the overall game loop: the game is too easy for upgrades. The fight is too simple for crafts. And the collection of resources kills the pace of an otherwise pleasant experience.
This only abandons the addition of the character of Kirby a few hours in the story. Once the two are gathered, you can switch between Wake and Kirby with the button tap. At the beginning, this mechanic adds a welcome variety to the game through fresh puzzles. But these challenges quickly become the same thing and end up being more a problem than anything else.
Bedbugs
Experience is also embittered by a litany of bugs who, although not revolutionary, do not distract and harm. The spritylings remain stuck on the cliffs. Wake and Kirby freeze. At the output of the main menu, the selection of the menu does not answer.
Insolement, these problems are easy to ignore, because the game as a whole is relatively polite. The title has an elegant 2D artistic style, recalling the foam sword games’ Knights and bikes. The conceptions of characters are charming, the sets are detailed and the game controls well. The soundtrack is also doing its job, even if it is not particularly remarkable.
But this is where the friction resides for The wilderness: It is simply not memorable. Despite its harmless history and its well -intentioned gameplay, the title never finds its groove. There is no smoking pistol that I can point, because nothing here is intrinsically “bad”. This is a rare case where a gaming experience is simply lower than the sum of its parts.
Final reflections
Under all bloating and size, The wilderness Based on a pleasant game. It’s charming, with an attractive visual style. It is well designed, with tight controls and smart puzzles. And it is polished, shy from certain bugs that can and must be corrected.
I had fun for stretching at the same time, and from time to time the disparate systems met to give an overview of what could have been. Unfortunately, these moments were the exception rather than the standard.
If you are an unconditional Pikmin fan, you can enjoy this The wilderness has to offer. But those looking for new ideas or impeccable execution, temperate your expectations. The wilderness Can carry his heart on his sleeve, but he loses part of his soul along the way.
Score: 6.8 / 10
*The wilderness Revision code provided by the publisher.
To find out more about humble game titles, read why At a step of Eden is a tall Mega Man: Battle Network game. Also discover why Ikenfell is a great indie game that you probably did not play, and why Carto is one of the best games of the 2020s.
