A story surprise stuffed with contemplative mountaineering.
Developer inkle has a monitor report for making experimental narrative-focused video games dripping with vibes, together with the sky-faring 80 Days, the reverse homicide thriller Overboard, and the language-translating Heaven’s Vault. Their newest sport is the enigmatic mountain-climbing narrative journey A Highland Track. Set within the Scottish Highlands, you management the younger lady Moira who runs away from residence in a mad sprint to achieve her uncle’s lighthouse and see the ocean. The essential plot is comparatively easy as your finish objective is laid out straight away, however by means of just a few dynamic replays, impactful revelations and a wealth of tantalizing narrative threads add a gripping emotional weight to the entire expertise.
A Highland Track tells a narrative that may solely be instructed in video games as a result of the way in which it unfolds is all associated to your play, constructing as you uncover new paths and determine totally different connections. Moira initially has two maps that showcase two totally different mountain peaks with hidden paths close by. Matching the map to the precise peak gives you the inclination of the place the hidden path is and as soon as you discover the trail, you may transfer to a brand new space, discover a new map, and search out extra peaks and paths. It’s troublesome to parse out the complete scale and scope of the world, however that’s a part of the general level. You and Moira are desperately piecing collectively the precise approach to the ocean and typically that may be disorienting.
Climbing and transferring across the hills and mountains is easy, that includes lots of context delicate inputs that enable Moira to ascend, descend, run, and bounce. Determining the precise approach to climb to a brand new peak or safely get right down to a brand new path in a valley requires planning and timing. Or you may simply say “eff it” and bounce down and incur some quantity of fall harm (or lose all of your well being and fail). A day/night time cycle and climate additionally components into your maneuvering, so it’s worthwhile to maintain an eye fixed out on shelters to attend out storms and relaxation.
The movement of the sport is superb, and as soon as I received a dangle of it I used to be mesmerized exploring the beautiful countryside, selecting up intriguing clues and studying bits of wider lore that, not less than in my time with the sport, led to some gratifying and heartbreaking payoffs. This can be a lovely sport with watercolor-esque backgrounds, spectacular lighting, and lovely animation. The music enhances the visuals with lovely Scottish people music (from acclaimed bands Talisk and Fourth Moon). I like the music, however I didn’t love the recurring rhythm sport segments that highlighted the music. Particularly in handheld mode, it was troublesome to learn the variations between buttons as you moved throughout the bottom, tapping the precise button as Moira ran over it. There are lots of choices to vary the issue of various elements of the sport, together with the rhythm sport components, however I usually like rhythm video games and I used to be disenchanted to have a difficulty with it.
Even with my comparatively minor points, A Highland Track is a robust sport stuffed with a definite mystique. The general objective requires taking part in by means of it just a few occasions, however with every playthrough, you may have extra peaks and paths accessible proper from the get-go. This can be a sport that’s about optimizing your means by means of the mountains but in addition grapples with the truth that that stage of optimization isn’t possible. That ethereal otherworldliness lingers all through each engrossing hour, beckoning you to search out essentially the most environment friendly path to the lighthouse whereas additionally tying up each free finish. This can be a lovely, beautiful sport that shouldn’t be missed.