In an age where unfinished games are commonplace, money grabbing practices are expected from the big players, and creativity is continually being shunned in place of what has already proven to work time and time again. Gorogoa remains in the back catalogs collecting dust and forgotten as a shinning example of how games can truly become art. With a beautifully unique hand crafted, yet ornate art style and perspective puzzles only rivaled by Superliminal, Gorogoa presents itself as a short, captivating game with a sort of nostalgic flavoring at its essence on a remarkable visual canvas that can be enjoyed on any platform.

However, the highest praise of it that I have to give has to be its story. Not a single word is on screen for any portion of the game besides the title and in the options menu, yet of any story I have seen in a game, this has to be the one my mind wanders back to the most. Time and world bending puzzles are played out over a foundation of symbolism of the innocence of the past and the misfortune of the future. It is a story about faith and devotion and the journey more than anything else. It could mean a hundred different things to a hundred different people, yet is still concrete enough that the story isn't lost in a sea of "what does it mean."

The masses of people are still giving money hand over fist for half finished titles and annual releases that are shells of their former self's. Then there is an outcry, then the developers try to fix it, but by the time it is fixed everyone has already moved on to the next big thing. While there is some good coming out as of late, nothing truly encapsulates the magic of the late 2000s early 2010s app store games that didn't choose the path of """free""" to play. Now there is no more Machinarium. There is no more Florance. There is no more Gorogoa. There are only billion dollar husks with expiration dates and artifacts of times when there was more. Much more.

I was so exited for this game. I thought that I found a diamond in the rough. The opening cinematic was incredible, the art style looked painstakingly hand crafted, and the characters were all visually distinct from one another. But as I poured hour after hour in this game, my cheery optimism gave way to confusion which gave way to pure hatred. I will try to keep this spoiler free.

Starting with what many seem to think is the biggest flaw of the game: the characters will not stop talking. While I don't think this is what outright killed the game for me, it does contribute to the issue that did. If you are planning to play this, the first thing you should absolutely do is turn dialog speed to high. Even the most mundane events will have entire Greek novels of text to wade through before you are able to play again. There is no skip cut scene button so get ready to click X for 30 minutes while the NPC you decided to talk to runs their mouth off about nothing of interest.

The game play itself is also nothing to write home about. Combat boils down to swinging your frying pan at the foe until it dies or, if it has quite a bit of health, stun it and then hit it to death. Better equipment and abilities don't change up play style at all either. They just have better range or do more damage. Puzzles are also bland and uninspired that just consist of splitting up John and Sam or hitting a bomb across a gap. I never felt challenged by many of the bosses either because whatever damage they did to me I just ate a meal and was back to full health. Some of the later bosses do get a bit harder, but it feels too little too late.

Many little gripes pile up as well. When you try to dodge an attack, Sam who is trailing behind you always takes damage. The Earth Born mini-game that is constantly mentioned to be one of the best video games in the world of Eastward is some of the worst turn based combat I've ever played. You get a bunch of salt (Eastward's currency) whenever you kill enemies but never have a reason to spend it on anything other than more inventory so it just piles up once you have maxed it. The music is alright, but the same songs get played over and over (this one song that plays at heartfelt moments was played something around 30 times in total).

All of these are bad, but what killed the game for me was the story. I wouldn't mind if characters talked nonstop if the entire story between the beginning and end wasn't filler. Entire plot lines and chapters are focused on people who do nothing once they are off screen. It feels like the story is a continual stream of consciousness on what a story should be. This happens and THEN this happens and THEN this happens without building on any characters. What the story should be is this happens THEREFORE this happens THEREFORE this happens. The entire meat of the story is just filler. You can take the first chapter and the last chapter of the game, cut everything else out, and plug in anything else and it would be exactly as cohesive as before.

So if I had to say anything to you if your browsing the reviews to see if you should get this game, I have one word to say to you. Don't.

Update: They added a skip dialog button and a fast travel along with a bootleg Stardew Valley dlc. Unfortunately, they can't fix a fundamentally broken story.