Cairn

Cairn holds a special place in my heart. Never before have I resonated so truly with any piece of media. I have been a climber for the entirety of my adult life, I have done every discipline there is to do. Boulder, Sport, Trad, Multipitch, Deep Water, Free Solo, Ice, Mixed, Cave. There is something primal about pushing your body to it's limits in abysmal conditions, an indescribable feeling, a oneness with the world that I've only felt when every fiber of my being is shaking from exhaustion and the only thing holding me from the void is my fading grip on a hold. A Nirvana so to speak, if such silly sounding thing exists. I have not had a glimpse of this since I watched my best friend fall pursuing the same thing. His name was Trever, he was an awesome human, a truly rare friend, and someone I have mourned every day since the accident. It has been a long, difficult journey of healing for me, and truthfully I am still nowhere close to the summit. But this game has helped me on my way. It speaks so beautifully of that same fleeting feeling Trever and I sought. And as ridiculous and frivolous as this sounds, it let me see a glimpse of that Nirvana again. So to the developers, I sincerely thank you. Never stop telling stories, you all have a gift. And I will end with the only review I can: Trever would have loved this game.

J'ai lâché ma larme à la fin. Ca vaut le coup

I have a lot of mixed feelings about Cairn, and I've struggled to write this review for a while because of it. So let me get the conclusion out of the way first : Cairn is absolutely a game worth playing, and I recommand it to anyone interested by the premise of "a game about climbing". I do have (a lot of) criticisms about it, but I would encourage anyone reading this to give it a try for themselves despite those, and to give the game a fair chance. I say this because Cairn is not an easy game to get into, and can come off as pretty unfun right in the first hours of gameplay if you don't quite gel with it immediately. When I say I have mixed feelings about it, what I mean is that I experienced some of the most breathtaking moments I've ever had in a game while playing Cairn, but also some deep and intense frustration. If you know me of have read my reviews (especially my Silksong one) you know I have no problem with a game trying to frustrate its playern but the problem at the core of Cairn is that a lot of the frustration you experience early on is clearly unintentional on the part of the game, and is caused mostly by the controls. The way Cairn works, when you are climbing, you control the four limbs of the protagonist Aava individually, and in turn. So you move the right hand, grab, move the right foot, step, left hand, grab, left foot, step, etc. Aava will move the center of her body on her own to accomodate where her limbs are grabbing the wall, and can even stretch to try and grab something out of reach, it's all pretty well done. The main problem is that the game has an auto-select in place, which will choose for you the next limb that you can control. And this is where the bulk of my frustration with Cairn comes from, because the auto-select works perfectly right... about 80% of the time. I think most gamers are familiar with the concept of "flow" in games, where you get so focused on a task that your brain enters this unique state of mind, and the world fades away around you. You get "in the zone". It can happen when playing Tetris, when fighting a Dark Souls boss, or when completing tasks in Stardew Valley. Cairn is special in that I don't think I've ever played a game that could get me so quickly and completely in a deep state of flow. When the auto-select works, it really works, and it feels like the game reads your mind as you're trying to navigate the cracks and cliffs of mount Kami. You get in such a deep rythm while climbing, putting one hand in front of the other, listening to the sound of Aava's breathing to know which holds are good and which ones are sapping her stamina, zooming out to check your route... The simple act of moving one hand, then a foot, then a hand, then a foot, it's almost hypnotic, and requires constant focus. Then, when you climb over the edge and get to a rest spot after hours of careful climbing and dozens of falls, you turn around to get a look at the wall you just climbed, and see some of the most magnificent views you've ever witnessed in a game. Cairn is a very pretty game, but what makes these moments so special isn't just the wonderful view. It's the sense of accomplishement. When you climb a mountain in Zelda BOTW, you're not really "climbing", you're pushing the stick forward and Link does the work. Here, when you look back behind you, you can see every rock you've touched, every crack you put your feet in, you can remeber every fall, you can admire your route and truly feel proud of every inch climbed. In addition to that, Cairn also has a gorgeous light and weather system that enhances every moment of gameplay, and adds so much immersion to the game. Whether you're climbing at night under the rain, waking up at dawn with a heavy fog, or watching a magnificent sunset over the mointain, it's always nice to just look at Cairn. All of that, however, is marred by the 20% of the time when the auto-select isn't working like you want it to. I've had countless times during my playthough where I needed Aava to move a specific limb, and the auto-select continuously refused to move it, swapping back and forth between two other limbs that I didn't want to move. This auto-select can be bypassed via the manual limb selection system, but doing so takes time, precious seconds during which Aava is hanging on to uncomfortable holds that drain her stamina. This is what I mean when I say that a lot of the frustration in Cairn is unintentional : it feels more like you're fighting against the game's systems and controls than with the actual mountain. Now, of course, this can be mastered. You learn pretty quickly to always secure yourself properly, to not go for the most dangerous routes, and to recognize the more difficult holds, in short, to always be prepared for the system to ♥♥♥♥ you over. And like I said, 80% of the time, it works just fine, most of the falls I've taken in the game were my own fault, not the game's. Finally, the story. Cairn puts a lot of emphasis on the journey Aava takes, how she's escaping her life and her own feelings by climbing Mount Kami. And some of it is pretty well told, and resonates pretty well. However, it's overall kind of a shallow story, with pretty badly written dialogue. I liked some of the NPCs, but Aava is a walking cliché, and is generally a thoroughly unpleasant character, which IS kind of the point the story is trying to make, but that doesn't change the fact that I just did not really like playing as her. This is compounded by the ending, which I found so incredibly corny and uninteresting. If all of this has maybe discouraged you from playing Cairn, I would still encourage you to give it a try. I'm harsh on the game, but it's very much because I liked playing it, and I wish some of its faults didn't lessen my enjoyement of it. When I finished the game, my first thoughts were disappointment, and longing for the game Cairn could have been without its faults. But then, what remained after that were the moments. The memories of hours spent climbing, putting one hand before another, trying to read the rocks and the wind and the breathing of Aava. The feelings of climbing over the edge, and contemplating a stunning landscape, hands bleeding and breath ragged from the hours of effort. The coziness of a small tent and a bowl of soup, bandaging fingers and preparing for the next day. The slipperiness of the holds under the pouring rain and smothering drakness of the night, as I try to find the next crack to wedge my feet into and look for a safe ledge. And yes, there were times were I felt like the game cheated me and the controls caused my fall, but in the end, what remains of Cairn is the beauty it holds, and I am glad to have experienced it.

This was a really fantastic and novel experience, some of the best in my recent gaming history. The climbing mechanic works great throughout most of the game, only at the end you start reaching a point where the game looses some suspense as you see through the mechanics facade and start moving effortlessly. Story and world are also quite interesting, as are the survival mechanics, which are surprising interesting and complement the core gameplay well.

This chick eats like a horse. I have no idea why survival mechanics like eating/drinking are so outlandishly wild in modern games. Diabetic three-legged hippos don't require as much caloric or water intake as most games suggest you require in this day. Do I like the climbing? Absolutely, once the janky auto limb thing was sorted out (always go manual, always). Are the graphics and audio to be loved? For sure. I could use a little more ambient though, all of that wind/rock/rain could come up in the mix. They (audio devs) do a wonderful job at overall exertion/breathing etc. even the pitons dangling from the belt is all on point, but the mix (and by this we mean sound engineering) doesn't really feel dialed in unless you have the audio cranked, and then I just become self-conscious in the climb that she's going to fall and make a big fuss about it. I think the major detractor, as others have stated, is that the protagonist is a great climber (when you unpack the auto jank), but kind of a miserable, whiny, emo, self important trollop that you're stuck with on a mountainside (reminds me of certain ex's). I'm not sure why they decided to flesh it out like this... I would have much preferred a stoic, tea-drinking, book-reading climber enthusiast like 99% of em are rather than handling an edgy brat up the side of a cliff. I mean I'm not too far in on the story but falling enough times is absolutely enough noise out of this woman (and it's mixed louder than anything else). Also, she eats like a horse.

If I were to rate this game purely on its design, it would get a perfect score. There's just one thing that drops it from "one of the best games of the year" to "wouldn't recommend unless you're a die-hard." The automatic limb selection is awful. Aava will choose to move limbs that make no sense in the moment. She'll stretch herself out in bizarre ways. She'll curl herself up in a ball on the side of the mountain while her arms are shaking and she's about to fall. Have a few limbs placed correctly but need to quickly set others that aren't in the right spot to prevent a fall? Forget it, the game will choose to move an arm or leg that is *firmly placed* in the *correct grip* over the ones that are in bad locations. Frustrating as this was at the start, I found a way to mitigate it for the first 80% of the game: I started taking my time, choosing limbs manually and moving them carefully. This worked..... ... until you get to the end, and the game decides to not only put you on a timer, but make it difficult to see and hear. I couldn't tell when Aava was struggling. I couldn't see if she was placing things where I needed her to. I'd find what looked like adequate grips, only to have her start trembling and complaining at the same time the camera shook and the music/sound effects swelled. The result? Fall after fall after fall because the game got in the way of my ability to make good decisions. The developers really should have spent more time ensuring this worked right, or they should have designed their game accordingly. I can handle challenging. I can handle having to make split second decisions when my choices are incorrect and I have to adjust the route I'm taking or how she's gripping the rock. What I can't handle is when the devs make a conscious decision to layer their unpolished, janky movement system underneath an avalanche of sound effects, camera movement, and music. Either tighten up the former, or tone down the latter. Until that's addressed, I can't in good conscience recommend Cairn.

A beautiful game that encourages the player the manage resources and consider their movements carefully while also encouraging them to explore the scenery. I absolutely loved going around and up and down the mountainside looking for all the hidden secrets and lore. However, I do think this game requires a good sense of patience. You really can't rush your movements. It's best if you take your time to plot out your actions and your route, and if something goes wrong the best way to face it is to think it through calmly. I enjoyed this game because I love taking my time and tackling things at my own pace. I also liked the resource management system, and I think the game is pretty fair with how often they decide to grant you resources like food and water, then it's up to you how you want to ration it. I didn't find the climbing too frustrating. I think there was definitely a learning curve in the beginning, but eventually the game trains you to seek harder and harder routes without you realizing. In the end every route can be a challenge and it's up to you how you decide to face it. You will definitely encounter a setback of some kind, like falling or running out of resources, but honestly those experiences gave me determination to either push through or reroute myself. I personally just accepted that setbacks will happen but it's not the end of the world. In the end I reached the peak with 11 deaths and like 100 falls, but I felt accomplished!

This game is so beautiful, the art direction is so strong! The visuals, the music, oh my goodness the way that the song at the start of the game, right when the title card drops? Sounds like the wind calling "Aavaaaa" to Kami's peak? It's just gorgeous. I found there is quite the learning curve as far as climbing goes, and the game recommends keeping things like limb highlight and grip indicators off for immersion, but I recommend turning them on! It helped me better learn and understand how to climb. It feels a bit like a puzzle game, it's not totally like QWOP, you have much more control over Aava's limbs than that. But the climbing itself is comparable, for sure. Planning your own routes and exploring the mountain is also just an exhilarating joy. The cooking and survival aspects are also wonderful, they're so fun! They help shake up some of the monotony of longer climbs too. I've seen mixed opinions on the story but I loved it and found it very impactful, I cried a few times over it and wouldn't recommend skipping it on your first playthrough. I can't wait to beat a free climb and put my route and stats on a t-shirt just to find other Cairn-heads in the wild -- this game is an absolute top recommendation from me, holy crap, you should experience this game. I'm farming for all the achievements right now and I think I'll still be replaying even after I'm done. It has really decent replay ability! I'm on my second playthrough and am discovering all kinds of new areas I missed on my first climb. I just love Cairn.