Is it blasphemous to name a survival horror sport “cozy”? Possibly so, however whereas considering again on my playthrough of Crow Nation, the phrase popped into my thoughts quite a lot of occasions.
From the soar, 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 vitally deliberately the creepy-cute youngster of Resident Evil, Silent Hill and Closing Fantasy VII. The sport, which was launched on Steam, PlayStation 5 and Xbox X/S on Might 9, nearly checks all of the bins for survival horror, but it surely takes a gentler strategy to the style, making it really feel extra like a take a look at of psychological endurance in opposition to some all-consuming bleakness than a relentless combat in your life. (A Arduous Mode, nonetheless, is seemingly on the best way).
You play as Mara Forest, who should painstakingly make her manner by an deserted amusement park within the 12 months 1990 to search out its elusive and evidently corrupt proprietor, Edward Crow. Assets, like ammo and well being kits, have to be scavenged. Skinless monstrosities could 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 system paired with a well-known fashion 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. All the 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 affords: “a gorgeous, 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 at any time when firing a weapon. Her operating velocity is ok, although, and you’ve got 360-degree management of the digital camera angle, so it doesn’t weigh you down solely 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 spotted the monsters are additionally sluggish as hell. Nicely, most of them. You possibly can run proper by them in nearly each state of affairs if you wish to. That made killing a selection reasonably 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 nasty factor. With the stakes lowered, I handled these fleshy monstrosities like goal follow and picked them off largely 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 resolution, I used to be capable of take my time to choose by 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 tough to remain stocked up on requirements like ammunition, well being kits and poison antidotes, which might be discovered randomly all around the park and at merchandising machines, the place they’d typically regenerate so I may return for extra later.
The soundtrack by Ockeroid (which simply bought its personal separate digital launch) 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 option to take all of it in.
In typical survival horror type, the atmosphere will get more and more hostile as you advance within the sport; creatures begin exhibiting up in heavier numbers, a sooner 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 in every single place — you depend on a few of them for assets 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 crammed 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 every thing collectively in a manner that felt actually satisfying.
It’s quick however not too quick, taking within the ballpark of 5 to 10 hours to finish relying how thorough (or sluggish to determine puzzles) you’re, and has a whole lot of replay worth. This sport is filled with secrets and techniques that aren’t very important to the plot however could make your life a bit of simpler — there’s even a map exhibiting 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 Arduous Mode may additionally make revisiting it much more fascinating. The sport presently provides you the choice to play in Survival Horror mode (the model I performed), or Exploration Mode, during which “you’ll not be attacked.”
I missed a pair secrets and techniques on my first playthrough, so my fundamental targets for the subsequent run are to search out the remainder of these and hit 100% of the achievements. I’m additionally curious to learn the way completely different selections 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 nearly nothing to do with nostalgia.
