Northern Journey (2021)

Very unique and special game. So unique, in fact, that I have a hard time describing certain parts of it, since I don’t have a point of comparison.

Like the soundtrack, that I can only refer as whimsical or mystical. The NPCs, with their weird movements and strange design. The art style, that I’m just going to call “death stranding-like”. Apparently, there is an entire country that looks like this, but who really knows.

Presentation-wise, I think the game is great, but, on the gameplay side, I can see folks having some complaints about it.

This is basically a retro shooter. You only have ranged weapons, and most of them are old-timey ones. For me, this is where the game’s difficulty lies, since your faster guns are weak, and your stronger ones are slow to fire and reload. Adding to that, you cannot just reload anytime, you need to empty the magazine first. This makes it that, by the time you get to fire again, you already lost a big chunk of your HP. Not really a problem with most enemies, but large swarms of smaller ones or spongy bosses do make that problem very visible.

Another issue I have is with the rocky terrain, which is obviously intentional, but it can get you briefly stuck during a fight or make you fall to your death. Most of my deaths were by falling.

But what really makes this game great is the atmosphere, which can be as cozy as threatening.

Maybe too threatening in certain sections, especially if you have arachnophobia or entomophobia, because there are just so, so many spiders. Jesus, so many bugs too. It’s insane.

I really liked this one, it feels like a proper adventure, with every step of the way feeling unique. The combat can be the weakest part of the experience, but you usually have healing potions or ammo close by to help you out.