Developer: Die Gute Fabrik
Publisher: Die Gute Fabrik, Akupara Games
Platform: PC, PS4
Tested on: PC
Mutazione – Review
Throughout the years the development of heavy narrative games has come a long way. Mutazione is a pretty good example of this genre. The game calls itself a mutant soap opera where relationships are key as you learn a lot about the characters which you interact with throughout the game and they will frequently have something new to say. Prepare yourself for a lot of gossip, secrets and even some supernatural elements that will be thrown your way. This, you will all experience throughout the eyes of a young girl whose name is Kai. Are you ready to dive into an adventure with her that she wasn’t prepared for?
Story
You start out in front of the boat with your character Kai and her mother Gaia. Gaia starts talking about that she is kind of worried about you and that she wants to know when you arrive on the island. You feel a bit flustered and tell your mom not to worry so much that it isn’t necessary. She continues by telling you that she is so proud of you and that she loves you. After you remind her to stay away from the kitchen; because you don’t want to come home to a house that’s burnt down. Your mother is a horrible cook.
After your goodbyes, you enter the boat to the island. On the boat you take out the letter from Mori addressed to you and your mom. In this letter, she tells you about your grandfather and that he is dying. She doesn’t want him to die alone because of some unresolved rift. So she begs you to come over before it’s too late.
The only other person on the boat is captain Graubert who is making an absurd joke about the letter you are reading. He also tells you that the sea is a place for adventures full of mutants, monsters, and terrible things. You tell him he doesn’t scare you, knowing that the comet Moon Dragon was years ago and that the island has been safe for ages. He tries to scare you by saying that you are the only person that visited in the last twenty years. You can choose how to react to him but whatever you choose it ends up with him giving you a nickname so the island inhabitants would think you are nice and friendly. He decided on Sea Crumb. After a while, the conversation stops and the night falls. While Graubert sleeps you decide to take a walk and get a terrifying encounter and all this just before you arrive at the beautiful island Mutazione.
The flow of the game is at a decent pace, throughout all the conversations and gossip you encounter you get piece by piece of the story that you can explore. A lot of those conversations don’t add value to the story but are fun to listen to. Also, you can roam around the world without engaging in any of these conversations, if you so desire.
Graphics
Mutazione is visually stunning in an artsy kind of way. The whole game is in 2D and can be seen as a captivating still-life painting. The island of Mutazione is also divided into a lot of different small sections but throughout clever usage of animation, the game comes to life in the mind of the player and is so much more than just a 2D image. The images can be colorful but joyless, this goes hand in hand with some of the more serious matters that are displayed in the game.
Sounds
This game managed to nail the background sounds. Narrative heavy games should definitely get you some ‘feels’ when you are playing it to make it a game worth your time in our opinion. Particularly in situations where the main character is sad, scared or passionate about something. The music is well-adjusted and fits the theme of the game. Besides that, subtle noises the characters make add to the immersion. Sadly, they didn’t add voice-acting which would bring Mutazione to a whole other level.
Gameplay
Mutazione is a story-driven adventure game that revolves around building relationships with the people of the island. The gameplay is fairly easy but still creates a lot of depth in terms of the story you take part in.
When you start off the game, it is immediately clear that you will spend most of your time engaging in conversations with the people around you. Those are shown to you throughout text bubbles. There are some parts of the conversation where you can choose your answer to make the story a bit more fitting to how you want to play it. The game lets you play the in-game week of Kai on the island with the story that follows up day by day. You can interact with your surroundings by engaging in conversations, listening to conversations, looking at certain objects and gathering seeds throughout the island.
After a little while, you will get to know a bit more about your grandfather. After the meteor strike on the island Mutazione, a lot of people died and the rest began to form strange mutations, hence the name mutants. After the event, your grandfather came to the island as a scientist and became a little bit more than just their healer, he was the Shaman of Mutazione.
After your first conversation with him, he sends you to the archive of the island to meet with Yoke. Yoke has an encyclopedia of the plants of Mutazione for you so you better head out to get it. When talking to him at the archive he spills the beans and tells you that your grandfather would love to pass on his skills. In particular, the skills to grow harmonious gardens at his rooftop. This can be achieved by gathering seeds when you roam the island and plant them. But there is something special about these plants. If you sing to them and play the right song on the right instrument the plants will grow faster.
Conclusion
All in all, Mutazione is a decent story-driven game with adventure elements. It throws you in the rich storyline of the island Mutazione and the family of Kai which makes you want to play and know more. The art style is bold and brings the game to life in a lot of ways. Without making it boring, the game manages to maintain relaxing gameplay. If we have to be nitpicky there are still some elements that they can be improved like the lack of voice-acting the game currently has.
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