Lets review Draugen: Style over substance or amazing mystery game?
1Red Thread Games' website: https://www.redthreadgames.com/
Full Review:
Draugen is a Norwegian mystery adventure game, developed by Red Thread Games. The story revolves around Edward who travels to an isolated Norwegian village called Graavik to find his sister who has vanished under mysterious circumstances. Together with his companion Lizzie, he soon realizes that the village is empty - it's up to him to find out what happened and to find Betty.
Categorized as a "Walking Simulator", although I personally think that exploring a mystery is more than that, Draugen has a pretty straightforward gameplay. You walk, walk a little faster, have tons of conversations with Lizzie and click on prompts to do or say stuff - maybe even both at the same time!
The game itself looks beautiful and is quite lovingly designed. Each house, room and environment has little details that create a believable village that housed real people. It's also just very nice to go on the balcony and enjoy the sundown, it's no wonder the Norwegian film institute did give a grant to develop this game, Norway looks amazing.
The characters are well designed and the voice acting is pretty good. Personally, I got a little tired of Lizzie's constant but rather unhelpful comments but maybe that's because I already provide those for my lets plays and don't need another annoying lady interrupting important plot points.
The information you find in this world is sparse but so well designed that you do get a lot of the village's history just by putting the pieces together. But don't worry, both Edward and Lizzie will explain every single detail in case you didn't make a certain connection. That can be a little bit straining at times because at least I made some connections way before the protagonists and still had to go through the motions because some letters and objects that you can discover early on are only available as conversation prompts once you reach a certain plot point.
The pacing of the game is pretty much perfect. It doesn't get boring and with roughly 3 hours length, it's just the right length for a nice game night. It's basically impossible to get stuck, believe me, I am a pro in getting stuck and I basically flew through the game.
I am not quite sure about the story itself. Without giving too much of it away, it does take a little too much on and at the same time doesn't fully explore some interesting paths which is a shame. In the end, I was a little disappointed because the game didn't match up with the expectations I had, given all the little plot clues, letters and other details I found in the village. There is also a whole part of the story that I personally could have lived without but that's probably subjective and you can make up your own mind once you get there.
All in all, I did enjoy Draugen very much but the mystery couldn't really keep its promises. However, apparently this will be part of a series of Edward's and Lizzie's adventures, so maybe the next chapter will tickle my fancy a bit more. Because even with that disappointment towards the end, I was entertained and intrigued enough to take part in the next adventure.
If you like Norwegian folklore, uncovering mysteries and games like The Vanishing of Ethan Carter, than I recommend Draugen to you. It might not be quite Ethan Carter but it's still a lovely little game even if it is quite pricey.
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