Europa is set in an alternative future where humanity has founded a beautiful paradisiacal colony on one of Jupiter’s moons. However, not everything went as planned, as Europe is almost empty at the start of the game. Only an android named Zee wanders the moon, where instead of people there are a handful of animals and robots that take care of Europe’s environment. Zee tries to reach a base high in the sky with a rocket pack and some notes from his mentor. Through this trip we hope to uncover what happened in Europe.
Europe has the same spirit as the great little indie gems Journey (2012) and The Pathless (2020). The seemingly empty, but at the same time beautiful and varied game worlds offer the protagonists interesting opportunities to perform acrobatic movements, as in the games mentioned above. Zee’s jetpack is actually an air tank, and you can perform short bursts of air by pressing the ZR button. More air is collected due to the blue balls that are clearly visible in the environments.
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Over time, the amount of air in your backpack will increase, but at first there won’t be much. Once he runs out of air, Zee can glide forward by pressing the B button. In the hands of an experienced player, Zee can fly and glide like an eagle for a long time.
Europe has vast outdoor environments, but this is not an open-world adventure. If a player gets too close to the edge, a strong wind will blow them back to where the story goes. Europe lasts a few hours and offers increasingly larger environments to move through as you progress. Locations range from lush fields to frozen lakes to ruined interiors.
Unfortunately, the drop in frame rate makes the experience on the Switch a little less pleasant, and in particular the character models of the various animals and robots are sometimes quite rough to look at. Animals afraid of Zee often crash into a wall to escape him. On the other hand, it is interesting to watch the robots at work, and more information can be found in the drawings in Zee’s notebook. The protagonist looks straight out of an anime and has the forlorn look you’d expect from an android as he carries out his final task.
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Luckily, shortly before the game was released, there was an update 1.3.0 that made the frame rate significantly smoother. As of this writing, the latest update has significantly improved the experience on the Switch. The graphics look a bit old, but with really bright and clear colors and a visual narrative that allows you to enjoy the game even in portable mode. However, there are still some drops in frame rate. Every now and then the camera also causes problems, for example when it is aimed at a wall or a hill.
Europa is a relaxing game and there is no combat, but there are some more interesting encounters and puzzles here and there, which makes the overall experience more interesting. As with the guardians in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, security measures also apply in Europe. The player must follow the wires to a switch to deactivate the looming threat with a laser beam. Zee can use cover that is fairly easy to find, and with a backpack full of fuel he can easily avoid an explosion. After Zee gets hit, he sees stars for a while, but soon it’s time to try again. The difficulty level is mild. It’s not a stressful game, but it has some light emotions.
In some puzzle sections, Zee loses the ability to use her rocket pack due to air-sucking crystals nearby. Later, the player encounters flying robot birds that leave an electric cloud in their wake. If you touch these birds, you will instantly fall to the ground, so you should avoid them. These short puzzle sections force the player to use their brains, observe the environment, and utilize traditional platforming. These jumps have too much lag, but since Europe is so relaxing, they don’t detract from the overall experience.
On the other hand, these air-sucking crystals are not very well explained, which is an example of how sparse European history sometimes is. Zee’s mentor left notes here and there that provide a little more information and background about how great Europe was, but these notes also provide something about the relationship between Zee and his mentor. They are good at telling details about the character and delving into the mind of the mentor, but they don’t tell the story in a simpler way.
Still, adding a human element to a story so elegantly told is usually a success, and there are moments when it succeeds, such as when Zee nears the end while his mentor’s ambitious but hesitant words echo in his own head hears. Another major theme of the story is an evolving robotic AI, but this should have had more space in the story. Fortunately, the player has additional robots in Europe for this purpose. In short, there is a good balance between showing and telling and a few surprises every now and then.
Europa is a nice little indie gem that will hopefully get a few more updates on Nintendo Switch. Zee Adventure offers the player adventures and cool little puzzles. And considering the game only lasts a few hours, it’s also a surprisingly varied experience.
