I really enjoyed this game. I’m quite partial to dark fantasy aesthetics, and Bramble does it particularly well. Rooted in Swedish cautionary tales for children, this puzzle platformer boasts a very engaging narrator and a compelling narrative hook that persists from start to finish, all engulfed in a dark, gloomy, at times macabre tone. The Scandinavian folk roots are extremely obvious here, much more so than they are in games like Unravel for example.

Bramble’s sound design is impeccable - from both a music and an effects perspective -, the telegraphing is pretty competent, the boss fights are original (if at times poorly executed), the UI is super elegant and clean, and I love the idea of having dark stories in a narration and hand-drawn book format to foreshadow what’s to come. At its core, Bramble is a heartwarming journey, a mystical tale of a bond between siblings that, at times, offers some real beauty where you get to experience pockets of peaceful bliss amidst the fear and terror that punctuate Olle’s journey.

But there are problems with this game. It clearly needed a bit more mechanical polish, since it suffers from a lack of optimisation that is visible even in the menu (options don’t get highlighted), at least on Xbox. Camera angles were also a bit of an issue at times. But the main offender is Bramble’s poor visual quality. There’s a lot of noise in the picture, which makes it look blurry and fuzzy, sometimes almost resembling a rough-looking PS3 game. If they could refine the visual formula, they’d truly have something viscerally special here, since the art direction is impressive.

Don’t let that discourage you, though. At the end of the day, these faux pas aren’t enough to overshadow the goodness that Bramble brings to the table. As a package, this is a very enjoyable experience, one that is sure to play to your dark fantasy sensibilities if you have them. 7.5/10

a bit of a spoiler but they are covered

The pros it's a gorgeous game I mean absolutely beautiful I love the narrative voice. I love how the bosses look! the background. the scenery. the music. Enjoyed how they had the battles set up with the bosses.

my cons: I get that they didn't want to spoil any surprises so it not an open world to explore. Your are stuck following a linear and so it makes for some clunky controls at times. When Olle in danger or there trouble ,these times are never experienced with your controller. It was also slow moving sometimes. I had many pissy moments when trying to "see" certain angles but couldn't because it not allowed. I did feel that game was a bit off balance at times in it game play. And yes DIMFROST this is a horror game even though they don't want anyone to lable it as such.

• There zombies trying to eat you. stabbing a forest goddess in her face over and over. and a butcher troll?? Gory everywhere. Hanging women from trees ohhh and a dead baby to bury

Ok DIMFROST it not horror at all.wink

The ending is where it just fell flat. I mean reallllly flat. I get that Scandinavian fairy tales are usually more loosely done than other folklore but eh. too much are they dead? or is the sister just alive. Is this real..is the kid dying from the plague? Is this really going in their lands?Shit am I REALLY alive or real?

But besides all that you should play this absolutely beautiful games. It will keep you entertained if nothing else. And who doesn't like interacting with folklore gods and demons.

3.75/5 ⭐

The first time I saw a trailer for Bramble: The Mountain King my heart skipped a beat. A puzzle platformer set in John Bauer-like environments inspired by Swedish folklore? Sign me up! The only thing I was worried about was that it seemed somewhat unpolished.

Unfortunately, the game really lacks in terms of control and gameplay. Our protagonist Olle feels taken right out of a PS2-game. And the gameplay sometimes feels underdeveloped and confusing. “What am I supposed to do?” or “Where am I able to walk?” was questions I asked myself multiple times. And the UI is ugly and immersion breaking to be honest. So, why do I rate this game so high? Well, it’s because everything else is amazing.

Maybe I as a Swede am biased, but the setting is right up my alley. The horror, the Swedish references and the art direction are all fantastic. Bosses are generally interesting and just enough challenging. But the best part of the game is hands down the audio. It’s so good, I contacted the sound designer Dan Wakefield to thank him for his awesome work. The music is fitting in every moment and everything from the sound of wind to subtle voices and screams is perfect.

Every time a unique game like this comes along I genuinely get so happy I could cry. There are so many uninspiring gigantic open world games out there. We need games made with love, instead of money, in mind. I am so thankful to Dimfrost for creating this beautiful piece of art.

Played on xsx game pass.

Pros:

• Gorgeous environment. Most of the world is intended photo-realism; it is well done within the constraints of modern consoles. Forgiveable shortcomings include foliage detail and moving water.
• No section of the game felt too long or too short and the escalating difficulty in battles, platforming, and puzzles was calibrated just right. No single area or boss fight took more than 15 minutes to figure out and complete.

Cons:

• The main characters' designs don't fit with the game's visuals. They look like dolls, with huge glassy blue eyes, broad cheekbones, a facial structure reminiscint of a ventriloquist dummy with a nutcracker style jaw. Luckily, most of the game is spent in 3rd person seeing only the main character's backside, which far less distracting than his face.
• Wading through ponds of blood and guts is not scary, it's just gross. And still, the lack of realistic liquid and semi-liquid rendering means even the attempt at gross-horror doesn't land, and the body fluid sludge becomes a tool for tedium rather than tension.
• Extremely limited camera control is frustrating, panning only ~5% in any given direction. Exploration and combat would greatly benefit from more camera range.
• Aim is squishy. Intentional? Yes. Challenging? No. This added difficulty is pure annoyance and zero satisfaction. Mitigation attempts via joystick curve options yielded little to no improvement.

Takeaway: Fans of a little bit of horror and gore, of myths and lore, of fairy tales and whimsical environments, of linear progression stories, and fans of glassy-eyed ventriloquist dummies should surely check this one out.