Song of Nunu

[Maryokutai]

Backlog time! This is one of those projects that came out of Riot Forge, the unfortunately now defunct initiative from Riot to establish the LoL universe beyond the base Moba. In this case, we're looking at a relatively classic, linear action-adventure title, made by Tequila Works (Deadlight, Rime, Gylt). 

 

On surface level it looks a bit like a companion game à la Last Guardian or Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom, but it works a bit differently in the sense that you control both Nunu (the kid) and Willump (the blue Magic Yeti) in predetermined sections. So there's no manual switching or anything like that, which makes the entire thing relatively streamlined, but also rather simplistic. Nunu can play the flute which allows him to manipulate certain objects to solve puzzles, whereas Willump comes into action for, well, the action when you have to fight. There's also a bit of platforming which both can take part in and a multitude of other little gameplay gimmicks to mix things up, some of which born out of the most unexpected inspirations (Katamari). They can also both throw snowballs, either at each other for fun or to interact with distant objects.

 

Overall its systems, mechanics and difficulty level suggest this is very much a game aimed at kids, with the writing also mimicking your usual tales of family and friendship you'd see in an animated movie. For me I looked at is as a light palette cleanser type game and for that it worked really well. There is a certain amount of ambiguity about the antagonist, resulting in a conflict based around perspective rather than just being black & white, which is a neat touch that goes a bit beyond what you'd expect.

 

It's a cute game overall, 7-8 hours long so doesn't overstay its welcome and even has a few cool surprises up its sleeve. The beginning is a bit bland, both visually and in terms of gameplay, but the latter half really picks up in both of these areas. Not a must play or anything but if you like some simple, well-made classic videogame stuff, this is a nice little project. And also probably a good pick for the intended audience, because it has so many different gameplay elements (platforming, puzzles, combat) that it's a good appetizer for what videogames are about. Forgot to upload some screenshots, I might edit them in later if I don't forget.

 

 

 

 

[Maf]

I played some of this on Switch around Christmas time. I liked the bit where you had to play songs on the shoulder buttons. Those were neat puzzles. 
 

But didn’t finish it because it just a felt a bit boring. It’s a nice idea, and not a bad game. But like you said the game is definitely aimed at kids, and I found it a bit simple and not enough going on for me

[Maryokutai]

Not sure if it's worth going back to it after such a long pause, but as mentioned I think the second half is quite a lot better than the first. There's one area,

Spoiler

the abandoned Yeti Village,

where the art direction really shines and everything from gameplay elements to narrative just comes together really nicely.

 

Unless of course you already got to that point, in which case you'd probably never warm up to it.

[Maf]

I can’t remember. The furthest I got was a new human character turns up and I think there was a boss fight with wolves just before