Is it blasphemous to name a survival horror sport “cozy”? Possibly so, however whereas considering again on my playthrough of Crow Country, the phrase popped into my thoughts various instances.
From the leap, there is not any query about Crow Nation’s PlayStation 1 influences, which its creators at SFB Video games have been upfront about: it is rather deliberately the creepy-cute youngster of Resident Evil, Silent Hill and Ultimate Fantasy VII. The sport, which was launched on Steam, PlayStation 5 and Xbox X/S on Could 9, nearly checks all of the containers for survival horror, but it surely takes a gentler strategy to the style, making it really feel extra like a check of psychological endurance in opposition to some all-consuming bleakness than a relentless struggle in your life. (A Exhausting Mode, nonetheless, is apparently on the way).
You play as Mara Forest, who should painstakingly make her method by way of an deserted amusement park within the yr 1990 to seek out its elusive and evidently corrupt proprietor, Edward Crow. Assets, like ammo and well being kits, should be scavenged. Skinless monstrosities might emerge from the shadows at any flip to seize at you and puzzles of various complexity promise to stall your progress. There’s an ensemble of characters who — together with the protagonist — every appear to have questionable motives.
It’s a well-known formulation paired with a well-known model of character design paired with a well-known unsettling ambiance, but Crow Nation manages to not really feel prefer it’s being propped up by nods to its predecessors. With extra of an emphasis on temper and thriller than violence (and a few humor sprinkled all through), it’s simply distinctive sufficient to face by itself as a definite work. Your entire expertise has this air of reflectiveness to it, and I believe the builders describe it completely in their very own synopsis of what Crow Nation provides: “a phenomenal, uncanny mix of pressure and tranquility.”
The nostalgia did certainly hit me like a truck as I took my cautious first steps across the eponymous Crow Nation theme park as Mara. Naturally, she walks at a snail’s tempo and involves a full cease each time firing a weapon. Her working velocity is okay, although, and you’ve got 360-degree management of the digital camera angle, so it doesn’t weigh you down completely with PS1-era limitations (a blessing).
I used to be ready to be pissed off at some stage in the sport by the stop-to-shoot bit, however I bought over it as soon as I noticed the monsters are additionally gradual as hell. Effectively, most of them. You may run proper by them in virtually each scenario if you wish to. That made killing a alternative slightly than a necessity, and instantly dialed down the sense of urgency I’d gone into my first enemy encounter with. This isn’t in any respect a foul factor. With the stakes lowered, I handled these fleshy monstrosities like goal observe and picked them off principally for the enjoyable of it. That, together with the gradual realization that there weren’t going to be jumpscares each 5 seconds, sucked me right into a a lot cozier expertise than I used to be anticipating.
With out nervousness fueling my each determination, I used to be capable of take my time to select by way of all of the nooks and crannies of the amusement park, ensuring to cease and browse each pocket book or piece of paper and look at each object on the bottom or hanging on the partitions. I may focus fully on the puzzles earlier than me, a few of which had been actually difficult. I even needed to bust out a pen and paper at one level. It additionally wasn’t very troublesome to remain stocked up on requirements like ammunition, well being kits and poison antidotes, which might be discovered randomly everywhere in the park and at merchandising machines, the place they’d generally regenerate so I may return for extra later.
The soundtrack by Ockeroid (which simply bought its own separate digital release) is eerily soothing, and helped to create an environment that totally engrossed me. Crow Nation’s save mechanism leans totally into the sport’s contemplative ambiance, too: you’ll find respite at completely different sources of fireside, which Mara will stare into earlier than reciting a wistful thought of hope and dread within the face of uncertainty. I performed Crow Nation on a Steam Deck, snuggled up with my cats on a grey, stormy day, and I can’t consider a greater solution to take all of it in.
In typical survival horror kind, the surroundings will get more and more hostile as you advance within the sport; creatures begin displaying up in heavier numbers, a quicker one joins the combination, it begins raining, it will get darker, somebody shoots at you from the shadows. However any actual heaviness in Crow County is balanced by simply the correct amount of playfulness. The characters are sometimes so unserious, going forwards and backwards with irreverent dialogue. And you can’t ignore the goofy crow-themed objects which are everywhere — you depend on a few of them for sources and perception.
Initially, Crow Nation hints that there’s extra to Mara than we’re being instructed however makes no clarification as to who she is or why she’s actually on this deserted theme park. Nor does it clarify early on why that park is stuffed with writhing abominations and conspicuously prevalent references to the quantity 2106. These mysteries served to hook me, and maintain me progressing deeper as issues unfolded. The ending tied all the pieces collectively in a method that felt actually satisfying.
It’s brief however not too brief, taking within the ballpark of 5 to 10 hours to finish relying how thorough (or gradual to determine puzzles) you’re, and has a variety of replay worth. This sport is filled with secrets and techniques that aren’t important to the plot however could make your life a bit simpler — there’s even a map displaying you the place they’re, if you’ll find it — and these add one other layer of problem to the general scavenger hunt. The upcoming Exhausting Mode may additionally make revisiting it much more attention-grabbing. The sport presently provides you the choice to play in Survival Horror mode (the model I performed), or Exploration Mode, through which “you’ll not be attacked.”
I missed a pair secrets and techniques on my first playthrough, so my predominant targets for the following run are to seek out the remainder of these and hit 100% of the achievements. I’m additionally curious to learn how completely different decisions in my interactions with different characters may have an effect on how the story performs out. In the long run, I discovered myself moved by Crow Nation for causes that had virtually nothing to do with nostalgia.
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