Alone, next to a tree with many eyes, we’re introduced to Tove, a young girl searching for her family. Passing the Tree of Many, I navigated Tove through a snowy passageway towards a stone bridge with a large troll underneath it. Trollhilde, had a dagger stuck in their shoulder and was unable to reach it. “Oh that’s terrible, I’ll try to help.” Venturing further into the snowy passageway I found carved raven statues, a home that had been almost completely snowed in, hiding and hungry monsters, and an old church with scattered tombstones outside. While my objective was clear, help Trollhilde, exploration seemed to be key in figuring out how to help.
Röki has an emphasis on exploration but pairs it with point & click adventure elements. I played through Röki with an Xbox One controller and despite the game’s roots being point & click, the controller felt very natural. It didn’t take very long to find a stretch of rope and a bear trap. Fashioning both of those together, I managed to create a device that was perfect for grabbing out-of-reach daggers from troll shoulders. Trollhilde was very thankful and allows Tove a single request before the demo ended.
I was a little disappointed the demo ended when it did. The art style is absolutely stunning and, while the animations left me a little wanting, the overall product is a very good looking one. Something else that struck me was the journal Tove uses to keep track of monsters she meets, collectible items she finds, and locations she’s been. I cannot express the joy I felt combining items in my inventory to make gadgets and the puzzle-solving wasn’t as absurd as point & click adventure games of the distant past. No, Röki seemed sensible and fun. I am very much looking forward to the release of Röki on July 23rd.
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