Update Five: 08 June 2017

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

Hoo boy. A walking sim with light survival elements and sparse combat, Kona started its life in early access (where it was gifted to me by a friend) and was fully released a few months ago with a full storyline. It’s no Firewatch, the quintessential guy-wanders-around-the-woods period piece, but it has some charms all on its own. It has a deeply engaging atmosphere that sucked me in. I went no-vehicle during this playthrough (for, of course, an achievement) and I largely didn’t mind wandering back and forth in the dark/*/ peering blindly through snow and winds to find holes in the ice or treasure hunt spots.

There were some neat surprises, too, like a conspiracy theorist mechanic you find who’s so obsessed with aliens he builds a little spaceship in his garage. He also built a HUGE radio antenna to speak to them, too. My kind of guy!

On the other hand, the experience doesn’t feel as polished as it could be. Maybe Firewatch spoiled me, but where pretty much every inch of that map was carefully plotted out, designed, and pretty unique, this one was mostly…. snow and trees and snow and trees. The narrator also bothered me - his voice was… fine? but he seemed rather bored and detached from what’s going on in the game. If they were to have a voice over, I’d rather it be the main character speaking. Instead, his thoughts appear in floating text when you examine things sometimes, which looks interesting but has little impact. The story overall is pretty okay - I think I’m just burnt out on mysteries. I really enjoy more ‘character’ pieces where it’s about characters, their faults, their desires, and their relationships. Kona is not that.

I’m glad this game exists, though, and I spent a nice time with it. There are a few achievements I’ve missed, but I’d have to play the game through again to get them. Instead, I’m going to shelve this for now and revisit it another time. It certainly made me appreciate the rapid approach of summer!

/*/ it did not have to be in the dark, I moved the game forward into night time by accident and had to mop up a bunch of stuff then. Don’t be like me, kids!

Next up: More hidden object goodness for the monthly theme.

See you soon!