Analysis: Röki. A fairytale adventure

Today we bring you Röki, a graphic adventure with a beautiful fairytale aesthetic. The game was developed by Polygon hut and published by United Label. Polygon Treehouse is a small English studio founded by two former artistic directors of PlayStation / Guerrilla Games, responsible for the saga Horizon or Sony’s response to Halo, the hapless Killzone saga. Now they are launching this indie-style title for almost any audience where aesthetics are their main course. Thanks to Wonacott we bring you the analysis on Xbox Series X from Röki. Let’s go for that:

A story with a mythological basis

Röki tells us the story of two little brothers playing in the snow in a Scandinavian country in northern Europe. They both return home where they live with their father. Yes, only her father, and it seems her mother died in a tragic accident and since then Tove, the older sister and protagonist of the story, has become the head of the family. Her father, after the drama, has never been the same again and still seems absent.

From there and in order not to spoil the story, we will only say that Tove will live a story of research and not only physical but also spiritual. We will discover that Scandinavian folklore and mythology are presented more than as a legend, as a reality. This will provide a rich story background structured like a children’s story

Röki: Simplifying the genre for even more gameplay

Röki is a graphic adventure in its own right. However, the adaptation of the controls was superb., which means that with only 2 buttons we can perform all the actions of the game. In this case, the objects that we collect are stored in a backpack and to use them with other objects in the game, it is enough opening the backpack menu, picking up the item and dragging it, it’s that easy. This simplification of controls may be due to the familiar cut of the title, and so players of not too old age can benefit from it. In addition, by pressing the button of the left analog stick, the objects with which we can interact will be highlighted. This makes the job even easier in case we get stuck.

All this should not lead us to a misconception about its installation. Although the first chapter is not difficult, things will get a bit more complicated and puzzle solving will no longer be so easy or obvious. This is why it is a game to play with the family with the little ones, but not for them to play permanently alone, as they may need help. Likewise, we cannot recommend the game for very young children, due to the appearance of some dark characters. But for 6-7 year olds it can be an experience close to an interactive story..

The game on the other hand is basically 2D development, but also uses depth in some scenarios. That’s why we put it between 2D and 3D and this variety is appreciated.

Nice graphics

Undoubtedly the most remarkable section of the game, Although the game runs under the Unity engine, which does not achieve hyper-realistic results, the game has a very significant value in this sense.. Röki has beautiful graphics that appear to be taken from illustrations from a story. In addition to displaying at 4k and 60fps in this version of Series X that we are testing, in-game settings seem to come to life of their own with small details in both foreground and background.

In this sense the game is dazzling and, sometimes, even if we do not advance in the plot, nYou will want to walk around these delicious imaginary places to feel like children again for a few moments. And the fact is that Röki is also a song to nature, its sounds and its beauty.

The animations are not at such a high level, despite this the game goes smoothly, although it is somewhat incomprehensible given the ridiculous weight of the game (barely 3GB) that transitions between screens have a few seconds to load. If we play little or don’t move from the stage it’s not appreciable, but after hours of playing this black screen between one scene and another makes us pretty boring to talk about, as we are, Xbox Series X It is not known if this only happens on Xbox Series X to have heavier textures. But if the issue was also on Xbox One, which doesn’t use an SSD, it could get really annoying if it has even longer load times.

Instrumental music but no voice

In this section there are two well differentiated parts. On the one hand the melodies, with a classic tone and instrumentation. In this sense, there is not much to say, except that they are pleasant and accompany the action well. FX, on the other hand, adds even more life to the scene.

The negative side is the complete absence of voices in the characters., limited to sounds, growls and character names. It’s true that there are times when the dialogues are long and would have required additional work, but there are parts that get a little heavy in which you keep reading.

Röki’s conclusions

Röki brings back to our days a genre as classic as adventure games. A genre revisited and adapted to simple controls accessible to all.

The story is typical of a classic tale, supported by the framework of Nordic folklore. This helps that the story has a sufficient entity to be interesting and at the same time, of a certain cultural aspect.

Röki can be a game to play with the family in the company of the little ones in the house. But also for adults who want to experience a light graphic adventure, but with a very important artistic value and a dramatic component that will make us shed a few tears.

The game offers a approximate duration of about 7-8h according to our capabilities. Besides we can use the Quick To resume, which will allow us to access where we left it in seconds.

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