In case you’re available on the market for a comparatively stress-free journey with a deal with exploration — and a surprisingly partaking story — then Caravan SandWitch often is the recreation for you. Set on a largely abandoned planet, protagonist Sauge returns to the place she as soon as known as house to be able to monitor down her older sister, who’s been presumed useless for six entire years. Nevertheless, having been pinged by an emergency message simply days earlier than her journey begins, Sauge merely cannot ignore her newfound hope.
The plot unfolds as you traverse an open world stuffed with outdated roads, a whole lot of sand, and the ruins of a as soon as bustling, planet-poisoning civilisation. Environmentalism is on the coronary heart of the title’s narrative, though the developer’s well-meaning messages by no means cloud the sport’s need to inform a character-based story. It is an intriguing story, and you will find your self pushing for emotional closure on Sauge’s behalf.
You will not be exploring your complete map on foot, although. Sauge is presented the world’s final working automobile — a pleasingly sq. van — proper close to the start of the sport, and a lot of your time with Caravan SandWitch will likely be spent bumbling alongside on this satisfyingly bumpy journey.
Progress is gated by van upgrades, as primary story aims require the usage of instruments like an environmental scanner, or a grappling hook — each of that are hooked up to your car. They’re unlocked through the gathering of outdated machine parts, which could be discovered both via exploration, or by finishing character-driven aspect quests. It is truly a tightly designed expertise, as you will usually revisit sure ruins and discover that your newest gadget opens up a complete new space, or extra secrets and techniques.
The journey lasts round six or seven hours, and for essentially the most half, it is enjoyably breezy. Nevertheless, proceedings do really feel a bit of padded at particular factors, with an emphasis on travelling backwards and forwards between key places. What’s extra, a complete lack of significant rewards — exterior of character growth — places a dampener on some slightly time-consuming aspect quests.
Caravan SandWitch is only a actually nice online game. It may be a bit tough across the edges when it comes to animations and technical efficiency, however its story intrigues, and its atmospheric model of exploration is basically a delight.