LOST EMBER

I did not enjoy this game. Repetitive music, clumsy controls, birds for some reason cannot fly up?! wolf cannot jump over obstacles that toddler would be able to overcome. Annoying camera movement. Some story about people I did not care about who cannot go to heaven for some reason. And yeah, quick time events ... because this game needs that I guess. 2 stars because game is not broken a graphics are not horrible.

This game is magical. And it is definitely more than a walking simulator, there are some intricacy to discover certain places and the main story is very compelling. Every bit motivates you to go to the next clue to understand what happened. It is all gently told, even all the wars and other trauma are only depicted with statues. Something I do like in indie games is that the music is very present and carries the overall exploration theme. Music is not just cues here and there.

Lost Ember presents a uniquely compelling narrative shown through simple yet stylish manifestations of the past alongside (mostly) stellar voice acting. I don't want to tackle the themes for fear of spoilers, but I will say as someone pretty numb to a lot of games' stories this caught my curiosity and kept pulling me further and further in until I was deeply emotionally invested. The game has a knack for bringing forward ideas that seem conventional only to reframe its narrative and change how you think about everything. Lost Ember has a sincerity that easily lets it rise above most of its contemporaries. In terms of gameplay, I think describing it as a walking sim undersells it. You venture between frankly stunning environments by jumping between multiple animal forms, each of which have their own movement styles and cute quirks. One moment you're rolling down a hill as a wombat, the next swooping down on mushrooms as a duck and then wrecking ruins as a mighty mole. Yes, there's a bit of jank involved in the mechanics, but it's well worth it given how ambitious and flexible the game is. Personally, I took great pride in climbing staircases and trying to escape sandstorms as a literal fish out of water. You'd think the strong narrative would sit weirdly against such goofy movement mechanics, but it strangely works. Rather than be annoyed by the strangeness of the gameplay, I found it whimsical and liberating, providing a sharp and poignant contrast against the otherwise heavy narrative. You owe it to yourself to try this game, even if you have to wait for a sale. (As a complete aside, I got this as an Xmas present and played it to completion in Xmas mode on Xmas day - I cannot explain the sheer amount of joy this brought me!)

Some things just stay with you forever. If you try it, if you finish it, this will be it.

The console-like gri-jumping camera is a HUGE SUCK! it cause delayed turning and over turn, makes people MAD!! F******! I HATE CONSOLE!! THIS IS PC SOFTWARE, WIPE OUT the SHITTY CONSOLE STYLE or any. The other controls are all working well, the remapping, operation experience all good, graphic is sharped, the 3d rendering won't dizzy, no motion blur, music is good,camera speed can be adjusted to correct value, everything's fine, just the CAMERA RUINED the WHOLE GAME. Graphic rendering is slow and stuck sometimes, idk if this is caused by camera, or it just can't drop some frames. I want to give 3 stars, but I saw the others are most 2 stars. but it's best fit. Wating for your update(s)!