Deer Journey – Review
Deer Journey is an uncomplicated game in which you’ll explore life as a little fawn, growing up into a majestic stag. Of course, as you trot through the forests and the fields, you’ll quickly discover that the life of this fawn is not without danger! This short but charming game has been developed and published by Pablo Picazo.
Story
The story of this game is being told through environmental storytelling. There’s no introduction or narration, it’s just you, a little fawn with white patches in your fur, exploring the world around you.
As you explore, you’ll learn what’s safe and what’s dangerous, and you’ll quickly discover not everything is friendly to you. You’ll learn you’re not accepted into the herd of deer you’ll encounter, and as you run into some hardships, you’ll have a dream which reveals what happened to the parents of the little fawn. Eventually, you’ll grow into an adult stag which does get accepted by the other deer.
This simple yet effective way of storytelling is very fitting to this type of game, and it functions well to convey the story of the deer, even without any text or narration.
Graphics
The graphics of this game are very tranquil. You’ll explore nature; sometimes you’ll trot through a forest, sometimes you’ll graze near a mountain lake, and sometimes you’ll need to brave a thunderstorm or cross a treacherous river. The imagery is very calming overall, there’s no visible UI outside of the main menu, so you’ll just be focused on the environment around your fawn. The game is played in the third-person view, so you’ll see the fawn as you’ll lead him through the world. The animations are a bit simple and thus can seem a bit stiff, but this is just a minor issue.
Sound
Most of the sounds you’ll hear are environmental sounds, although at some times you’ll be able to enjoy beautiful piano music. The music plays at times when you’ll encounter magnificent views or when something dramatic will happen. Your fawn can bleat as well, which you can trigger yourself during one chapter that requires you to call out.
Gameplay
Deer Journey is an adventure game in which you’ll explore the world around you as a deer, growing up from a little fawn to an adult deer. The game is basically a walking simulator, where you’ll explore forests and fields without a clear goal or indication about what will come next.
In the beginning of the game, you’ll learn there are rotten berries and healthy berries to eat, but you don’t need to keep your fawn fed in order to survive. You do need to look out for dangers: in one level you’ll need to keep away from the adult stags who will attack you and chase you away, and in another level, you’ll need to cross a river and swim through the water while trying to avoid hitting any rocks. You can sustain a few hits, but if you die, you’ll respawn close to the area where you got into danger, so you can try again until you learn how to survive that challenge.
There are several chapters in this game, and generally, each chapter will present some sort of challenge, or a path for you to follow. It’s not always clear what you have to do, but if you keep exploring – follow a path or a swarm of fireflies, walk towards clearings or something else which seems to stand out – you’ll quickly discover that was the objective you needed to get to, and the game will continue into the next chapter.
You won’t be able to explore everything; if you wander too far into the forest you’ll find that you are being stopped, either by steep mountains or dense foliage you won’t be able to cross, so you’ll quickly know when you are going the wrong way. At times it may seem like you’re wandering around aimlessly, but as you explore it’s never too hard to figure out which direction you’ll need to go next. There will always be something that catches your eye and this is almost always the direction you’ll need to head towards.
The game is very short, playing through all chapters takes less than an hour, even if you take your time exploring and figuring out how to survive certain challenges. After you’ve completed the game, you’ll be able to select any of the chapters to play through it again.
Conclusion
Deer Journey is a very relaxing game, in which you’ll explore a beautiful environment as a deer. Not everything is friendly towards you and there are some hardships to survive, but overall it’s a nice journey full of beauty to behold. If you’d like to play through a beautiful-looking short but nice game that tells a simple though moving story (albeit a bit cliché), Deer Journey might be the perfect game for you!
Deer Journey - Review,
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