Playing as an un-named old man sees you meet your neighbours in the local village, and venture into the wilderness on, for what feels almost like a pilgrimage to learn a little bit more about this world and its inhabitants. From early on in the game you are given the ability to see into an alternative reality of the screen you are visiting, there isn’t one on every screen but some of them are very curious and are well thought out when combined into the foreground of the scene. The pixelated art style seems to push and pull a bit. At times it’s absolutely stunning and at others seems to be used to remove your focus from what’s going on around you and to focus on the narrative, both spoken and unspoken.
The story itself isn’t a full A-Z event. Often you will be treated to some vision or memory of what happened in a certain area. A snapshot of its history or future. There’s a character you’ll meet along the way who almost speaks in riddles and never explains his purpose. It left me with more questions than answers, but with enough insight to make my own decision on what it represented. In my opinion, a very powerful demonstration of when good design makes great experiences.
Musically, this game is pretty solid. The world of Qora seems to come alive with its soundtrack. It’s a surreal trip through a surreal world, and only begins to become repetitive if you stay on one screen for far too long.
For all of the compliments and intrigue I was pleasantly surprised to find, I find it hard to agree outright that this is a game. It’s an interactive story, there’s no fail state which means you can’t lose. You can’t miss a jump over a gap or be attacked by marauding bandits. In what is depicted as being a harsh, unusual land, there is no element of danger. I realised, very early on, that this was all about the story. This is not a bad thing, but sucks the life out of any possibility of replayability. It’s a once and done title, not to be sniffed at, but after completing it, you won’t go back in a hurry.
I felt let down by the ending I was given (1 of 2), there’s no nicer way to say that. I was oh so very intrigued and keen to find out what happens to the old man, and well, let’s just say that without spoilers I sat there shaking my head thinking “What is this?” If I’m being harsh, which I am, until the ending it felt like sitting in a grandiose museum listening to a string quarter play some Mozart. Chilled, relaxed and alone with my thoughts. All of a sudden I’m whisked away to some basement pub in a seedy neighbourhood with Cheryl Cole whining out of a speaker that hardly works and some old guy pissing himself in the corner. It was going so well then I lost interest. A pungent ending to a solid story was all I was looking for. Now I assume that the other ending is exactly that, but I do not have the patience to go back through the game to experience this, not for a while anyways. It has its failings and I find it hard to recommend at full price when looking at the meat and bones of what you’re getting for your buck. Pick it up on an offer, set aside a few hours, and I reckon you’ll be pretty pleased. Just try get the right ending!
