Grotto

Excluding using magic to gaslight the people and speaking with the dead, the story is a very grounded portrayal of how brutal tribalism was and how changing society for the better was equally violent, albeit necessary and for the good of the people. Has a unique gameplay element of having a limited number of times you can essentially say "yes" and "no" but I later learned you can recharge those times, so I think the constellation gameplay can be expanded upon exponentially for another title. Overall a good story with a unique concept attached to it.

For single play experience, it is good. For replayability and getting achievements, it sucks. PROS + interesting premise + good story and writing + nice graphic and sound CONS - no character(s) voice - many decisions have minor or no consequences - the "gameplay" is too slow - achievements requiring replaying the game over and over, with the slogfest speed of gameplay save scumming is the only reasonable option

[h2]Christian Review[/h2] I don't recommend it at all, especially if you're Christian, as you are forced into worshipping satanic gods. The game started off strong by presenting me with a choice-heavy, psychological appeal that allowed me to explore the weight of my decisions, but I didn't entirely agree with the interpretation. I have come to the conclusion that, to a certain degree, my choices were ultimately fixed in place and not at all flexible, given the context or creativity, but rather what the developer thought should happen if A and B aligned. Around 4 hours in, I completely lost interest in the game and just kind of played on autopilot because I thought I would just survive this one bad part of the game, but sitting in that situation just made me realize that I never really liked the story to begin with or the characters. This game contains suicide, guilt-tripping, murder, devil worship, torture, child sacrifice, and then, after it has presented these topics, it proceeds to blame them on you because it's a "decision-heavy" game. Now it wasn't all bad, though, because I did enjoy playing around with the choices, but again I didn't really feel I had the creative freedom to experiment as much as I wanted, since I kind of had to lean on the description the developers set for the symbols and how they thought those should be interpreted by the characters.

Quite the brutal rollercoaster that was. Not surprising, as I was already familiar with the developers' other game: Laika: Aged Through Blood. Storytelling where acts of cruelty are told, although not in any way crass, quite bluntly. There's no glory or glamour to it, it's just darkness. That seems to be their cup of tea, which is a taste I welcome. In short, I really like this game. I thoroughly enjoyed myself with the characters presented and the story as a whole. A story that felt as though every situation had a tragic punchline to a well told, sick joke. A big recommendation from me. Some people who have left negative reviews on this game make the argument that the “choices” have minor or non-existent consequences, and thus feel cheated when they realise this very fact. I do not share this feeling. The thing with narrative that people sometimes forget is that it has themes. Or at least, a narrative with themes is what I’d argue is a narrative told well, as then the communicative art form has successfully communicated an idea towards its audience. This very fact of storytelling clashes quite awfully with “meaningful choices”. Choices must be implemented that still adhere to the themes the story presents, meaning the choices can’t stray too far off the path. Otherwise the story has turned to something formless. All I can say is that I’d much rather have a story told well with interactive “flavour”, than a story where my interaction with it causes it to become shallow nonsense at the end. Make of that what you will.

[h1][i]Я не прорицатель, я только учусь![/i][/h1] Фраза, выражающая все мои попытки во вдумчивое прохождение Grotto. Аннотация не совсем точна — мы играем за особь, [i]"у которой много имён"[/i] и чья функциональность ограничивается умением считывать послания из космоса. Точка. К сожалению, симулятором племенного шамана игра не предстаёт, ведь расшифровкой предсказаний занимаемся не мы, а посетители нашей скромной и плохо освещённой пещерной обители, и это ключевая, лично для меня, проблема. Понимаю, что, наверное, в том и психологизм — показать суть сбывшихся или разбившихся ожиданий и то, как люди не готовы слышать никого, кроме себя; однако, действовать в одни руки страшно, куда проще заручиться "поддержкой небес". Но Grotto настолько остервенело преследует цель донести свои туманные идеи до зрителя, что забывает о том, что она вообще-то игра. Пусть и минималистичная визуальная новелла с крупицами интерактива, но всё равно игра. И играть в неё было не то чтобы скучно — мне этого попросту не позволили. Освоив механику в самом начале, я опрометчиво предвкусила напряжённый отыгрыш, сознательный выбор кем быть и чего не миновать. Я рассчитывала проходить игру раз за разом, сменяя роли, как маски. Но Grotto игнорирует (безусловно занимательный и уникальный!) собственный геймплей. Здесь, грубо говоря, не нужно думать. Вам не побыть ни профессионалом, толкующим о том о сём со звёздами; ни интерпретатором, пытающимся найти хоть какой-то смысл в том, что показало небо; ни шарлатаном, беспокоящимся лишь о собственной выгоде; ни даже мошенником поневоле, искренне верящим в свой потенциал. Нас, по сути, нет вовсе, и мне нравится предполагать, что такова была задумка разработчиков — выставить Предсказателя некоей абстрактной мистической силой, являющейся для людей не чем иным, как оправданием собственным поступкам. И что на месте Предсказателя мог оказаться кто угодно — хоть кроличья лапка, хоть рассыпанная по полу соль. Люди мнительны, боятся осуждения и хотят верить во что-то большее, затрагивающее не только земной мир, ведь тогда а) чуть проще жить и справляться с последствиями своих решений; б) можно сослаться на влияние внешних сил в случае неудачи. Быть может, я неверно трактую концепцию игры — и мне она искренне понравилась, несмотря на красный окрас рецензии. Таких проектов должно быть намного больше, особенно в нынешнее время, когда удивлять нужно не техническими возможностями прорисовать триллион волосков в гриве коня, а магией нарратива, бессмертным навыком сказаний, данным человечеству на заре времён. Наши дома пронзают облака, наши ракеты устремлены к другим планетам, а медицина справляется с, казалось бы, безнадёжными случаями. Но мы всё ещё рассказываем детям сказки на ночь и, увлекая их за собой в удивительные миры, поучаем, готовя ко взрослой жизни. Точно так же, как это делали наши предки тысячелетия назад. Это спокойная и красивая игра. Не такая философская, какой пытается казаться, но куда более впечатляющая, нежели очередной лут-шутер. Проходится она быстро, без особых нервотрёпок (разве что от долгих анимаций будете уставать), музыка задаёт тон, хотя разнообразия треков заметно не хватает. Выбор без выбора, бессмысленность взаимодействия с созвездиями и нарочитая душещипательность из разряда "му-ха-ха, а теперь ваши дети будут страдать!" низводят Grotto до уровня "сойдёт", но — парадоксально — я всё равно сочла её самородком. Главное, не стройте никаких ожиданий. Иначе значения звёздных переплетений вас не обрадуют.

Grotto is a unique game, in that its narrative repeatedly prioritizes feelings of anger or helplessness rather than attempting to make you feel sad. Many narrative driven games have gotten me to cry, but much fewer have made me feel this suffocated or at loss for what to do. Because in most choices games, the options at the very least imply their consequences. But in Grotto, it is ever unclear how your signs will be interpreted. Truthfully, it felt frustrating at first to figure how best to communicate what I wanted to the characters. I was sure that at least a few of them would not heed my warnings and take anything I gave them as what they wished to do. And yet I found myself desperately trying to prevent them from making those choices. I got deeply invested in these characters, and when the late game threat came to be, I was overcome by an immediate sense of alarm. Choosing who to sacrifice was intense, and felt suffocating, because there were no good options. Truthfully, the way the narrative was handled gave me goosebumps at every turn. Mechanically, it did all it could to not feel repetitive, which I can respect. You can fast travel between the two rooms, most action animations don't take dreadfully long, and even the pipe didn't feel like a chore, surprisingly. My only gripe, which is possibly on me having attempted to maximize efficiency early on by unlocking all constellations, is that I did not realize constellations were renewable until the last third of the game. It could have been communicated a little better, because I genuinely thought limited time uses for constellations were a feature, but I would believe it if anyone who didn't immediately unlock everything figured this out organically. Artistic direction is unique, gorgeous, and I desperately need more games by this studio with this artstyle. Much like in Laika, Beicoli's music and voice carries the hell out of the game, and elevates it even further. It's as much an artistic masterpiece as it is a narrative one. It's, in my opinion, a hidden gem and a must play if you like narrative driven choices games.

years later I'm still thinking about the decisions this game put me through

剧情优秀的冷门宝藏，文本质量挺高，有些地方也称得上是神来之笔。占星卜卦为族人提供建议，然而你能决定的事情微乎其微，星象难以传达你的意思，有时人们只是看到他们想要看到的，很多问题都是无解，很多抉择都是无奈，然而再怎么感到无力，还是忍不住为眼前的悲欢离合而动容，到头来还是希望自己能够做点什么。

I had mixed feelings about this game. The gameplay loop is pretty simple. You create a series of different constellations and then various members of a small community will approach and ask you questions. You answer these questions by presenting them with one of the constellations. The complexity comes in from both the ambiguity of the meaning of the constellations and the uncertainty of how the individual will interpret your choice. Obviously with such simple game mechanics, the game relies heavily on its story to maintain player interest. And it is a clever story but more to the point, it tells that story in such an unusual way that it is quite gripping at the start. Unfortunately, I feel that it doesn't hold up as the game continues. It seems incredible to say for a game that I 100% completed in under 4 hours, but I feel that it went on too long. I'm giving it a recommend because it is was a very unique game with an interesting premise, but I'd probably only grab it on sale (personally, I got it for about $1 and that felt fair).

This game is quite the hidden gem, and I'm surprised it hasn't gotten more attention online. You play as a reclusive shaman, reading the stars to guide a local tribe through all sorts of times and troubles. At times, it is difficult to know the proper sign to bestow. Sometimes, there is no right answer. And other times, no matter how clear your sign, the individual seeking guidance will walk away with the answer they wanted, no matter what you would have said. That last situation can be frustrating - not the game mechanic or story itself, but because it's an honest depiction of how people are. The art style and character design is wonderful. The core gameplay loop is what you'll be doing the entire game (listening to people, choosing a sign, and optionally using "tools" to consult your decisions). If you are a leisurely gamer like myself AND complete this game in one or two sittings, there is a point where it feels like it drags a bit - but to be fair, I was also using every tool at my disposal to try to find as much dialogue as possible, which is not required. One other critique I have is that it took me a while to figure out how to "discover" constellations - but once I glanced at a simple guide, it was obvious and I had no trouble after that. I got this on a pretty good sale, and am extremely satisfied with my purchase.