Developer: Atelier Minima
Publisher: PLAYISM
Platform: PC
Tested on: PC
Giraffe and Annika – Review
Cute cat-eared girls; if you are an anime fan you’ve for sure seen them around. There have been multiple series, comics and even a few games released with catgirls, however, there aren’t that many catgirls’ games out there that are of the adventure genre. Well, recently a new one has been released, an adventure game called Giraffe and Annika with as main character: a catgirl! Annika is a felycan which is a human with cat ears and tail, and she has to go on a quest to find magical star fragments. The game Giraffe and Annika was developed by Atelier Minima and published by PLAYISM and we got a chance to test it out.
Story
Giraffe and Annika starts with Annika being left behind by someone but as she tries to catch up, Annika trips. We then see Annika wake up, not knowing where she is. As Annika gets up, she starts exploring the island that she is on. After exploring for a while, she meets Giraffe. He knows her by name, even though she has never met this person in her life. He seems to find it funny that she doesn’t remember him and re-introduces himself. Giraffe apparently needed Annika’s help as there are little star fragments located on the island and he needs Annika to collect them for him.
At first, Annika is quite hesitant since she just finds Giraffe to be a weirdo and thinks he should get them himself. However, it seems that because of a special barrier, there is nobody besides Annika that can enter the dungeons containing the fragments. So, she reluctantly agrees to help him out. He then helps her get into the first dungeon. This is where she will meet the “villain” of the story, the witch Lily, for the first time.
As the game continues, Annika meets more and more people that she befriends. The game is mostly focused on the story, however, at the start, it feels like the story is all over the place. Even though Annika helping Giraffe stays consistent, more details get added that don’t make that much sense. There are a few silly things present but at the end of the game, a lot of things are cleared up. The flashbacks that Annika experiences, give hints to the ending but it’s only truly at the end that everything clicks in place.
Graphics
The graphics of Giraffe and Annika are very cute and nice to look at. They aren’t the most spectacular graphics and might even be a little bit outdated in some places. Some textures and backgrounds start glitching a little bit, like the ocean that comes through a boat, or you seemingly floating in the air instead of in the water. There is also some slight clothing glitching, with Annika’s bag going through her dress at certain times.
In Giraffe and Annika, the story parts are shown in a comic/manga style. These drawings are even more adorable and pretty. The drawings look like they could have jumped right out of a children’s book with the soft colors being a pleasure to look at. Characters in the game itself have 3D models but when you talk to them you do see the 2D model that gets used in the story parts. All over the island, there are spectacular views you can behold. At some points, the design of the islands and dungeons could be even reminiscent of games like the Legend of Zelda.
Sound
The music in Giraffe and Annika is upbeat and has those typical adventure game quirks to it. On the main island, the track will switch when it becomes day or night. Each dungeon has its track that is related to the theme of the dungeon itself. Story parts also have their own music attached to them, together with sound effects as you scroll between the different comic parts. There is some voice acting present but only for Annika at certain times. A few examples of this are when she hums a song, when she screams as she falls and so on. There is no voiced conversation in the game present. Certain sound effects get edited for different environments, for example when you ride a cart out in the open and then go into a tunnel, the sound changes as it would in real life too.
Gameplay
Giraffe and Annika is an action-adventure rhythm game where you take on the role of Annika. She is a cat-eared girl which is called a Felycan in this world. Nearly all the characters in this world are humanoid animals. As said above, Annika is tasked with helping Giraffe find all three star fragments. These star fragments are located in dungeons spread over the island(s). The first dungeon you get to enter, almost immediately after agreeing to help Giraffe, makes it clear that Annika doesn’t actually have a weapon or anything to defend herself with. She does receive a necklace from Giraffe that is said to protect her when it matters most. However, for most of the dungeon, she is defenseless. You’ll have to avoid the evil ghosts and obstacles by running around them and hoping they lose sight of you when they do detect you.
Ghosts are the only enemy in Giraffe and Annika, excluding the bosses. They do however get upgrades every dungeon. They shoot water balls at you in the water dungeon and even breathe fire in the fire dungeon. Once you reach the star fragment in a dungeon, a boss fight will ensue. These boss fights are a rhythm game where you must hit the balls in time with the music. You do this with a staff that comes out of the before mentioned necklace Giraffe gave you. At first, it can be a little bit confusing, but you just must move side to side to hit the note on time as it bounces on one of two circles. There is a circle on the right and one on the left, you must obviously stand on the correct side to be able to hit an incoming ball.
As you progress through the game, the later dungeons will have harder boss fights, with some bosses even throwing ball-like obstacles to you, which you will have to avoid. After you’ve hit enough damage, Annika will do one final blow. Sadly, this is automatic, and you can’t actually do it yourself. Once you clear a boss, you’ll get the star fragment. These fragments give you abilities such as a jump and diving. For some reason, when you dive, instead of the typical oxygen meter, Annika’s health just drains. So, if you are in the water for too long, you just die. Once you get the dive ability, you just die slower. This might have been in reference to her being a cat, but still seems a bit weird to not first have an oxygen meter and only after that is depleted, make her health drain.
In one of the dungeons, you must guide a cat through obstacles and escort them to safety. However, for some reason on one of the obstacles, the cat glitches out. It either jumps off the obstacle or just gets stuck on the obstacle itself. This can be quite annoying since you can’t progress without that cat. The only way out is dying and restarting from the last checkpoint, which is quite a lot of obstacles away. When not in a dungeon, Annika will have to do side quests in order to get to the next dungeon. Sometimes you’ll have to wait for either day or night, to be able to do your side quest or get access to certain places. Luckily you can always just sleep till morning or night instead of waiting. Later quests get a little bit more annoying in waiting times, since they have you wait a day or more. You are usually just waiting until this quest is finished, and even though there are a few side quests, there aren’t that many to keep you fully busy or entertained to wait out that amount of time. So, it is a good thing that you can let Annika be lazy and just let her sleep again and again until you’ve waited long enough.
Conclusion
Giraffe and Annika is an enjoyable and entertaining game. Even though some of the dungeons can get a little challenging, it stays fun to try and get past them. The game is suitable for all ages and its story would certainly appeal to kids as well. Giraffe and Annika isn’t super long but it for sure is worth the time that you spend playing it. If you like adventure games such as The Legend of Zelda and don’t mind some cute anime-like visuals, then you’ll certainly enjoy Giraffe and Annika.
Giraffe and Annika - Review,
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