Bon voyage
VOYAGE
PS4, PS5, XBOX ONE, XBOX X/S, Switch, PC (PEGI 3)
★★★✩✩
IN A world that feels increasingly stressful, it’s important to take time to try and relax.
While I often find it cathartic to turn to a game that allows me to blast and hack away that pent-up tension, this week I decided to take a more gentle route.
Voyage is a beautiful 2D adventure game which follows the journey of two survivors, stranded on an alien planet who are trying to find their way home.
The hand-drawn graphics give it an instant otherworldly quality – very reminiscent of Studio Ghibli – which blends perfectly with its ethereal soundtrack.
It’s the work of Venturous, a tiny indie game studio in Sweden which consists of brothers André and Johan Steen, and for a debut title, Voyage is very impressive.
Simplicity is the key here. There are no messy popup dialogue boxes nor reams of text running across the bottom of the screen, instead the story plays out through actions of the two unnamed figures on the screen.
You can play this game alone, switching between the two characters as needed as the plot unfolds, or you can team up with a friend if you’re feeling more sociable.
However you choose to play, teamwork is the key to helping these two little dudes get home.
While there is no dialogue between the friends, you can gesture and ‘grunt’ to call your partner over for help.
You can even stop and give them a hug, which is a lovely little touch.
There’s lots of puzzle solving required to overcome obstacles, from climbing out of caves, and scrambling up and down hills, to crossing sand-swept deserts and hiking through verdant forests.
Along the way you’ll meet spirit creatures and mysterious animals which you can interact with.
In one portion of the game I had to encourage a reluctant sheep/cow-like creature to move along a few feet so that my little characters could stand on its back to climb onto a ledge.
The puzzles are never overly taxing, although the solutions do sometimes overstay their welcome – for instance having to drag a log along the surface of a pond, which seemed to go on forever.
There are eight or so ‘levels’ here, although you’re never told when you’re ending one and starting another, instead, each is defined by moving to a new environment.
Every set piece has its own distinct theme, and I often found myself getting lost in the backgrounds.
Like everything in this game the artwork is deceptively simple, but when you stop and study the landscapes you find they are rich and detailed. Animation is soft and gloriously
smooth, and by the end you find you have a genuine connection with the game’s heroes making the ending unexpectedly emotional.
The game does feel a little short – with the story playing out in around two hours. But that is reflected in the cost, with a price tag of around £12 – less if you keep an eye out for offers.
There was a danger that Voyage was so simple it would teeter over into boring, but that never happened. Instead, I found myself reaching a zen-like state, allowing the gameplay to wash over me in soothing, gentle waves.
I realise this may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but if you’re looking for the antidote to a fraught day, then this is the perfect tonic. BUY IT: £11.99 from store. playstation.com/ (Playstation Plus members get 20% off) Switch players can get Voyage for £9.59 from nintendo.co.uk, offer
available until September 1