NORTH

Short, atmospheric narrative-exploration game set in a cyberpunk city, centred on the story of a refugee and his sister ✅Good, simple, colourful graphics ✅A good soundtrack that suits the game’s atmosphere ✅An interesting concept for a game about refugees ✅The price is good value for the game’s content ✅Simple environmental puzzles ✅Exploration of a large city ❌Unclear objective ❌I experienced some stuttering in certain areas; the game may have been poorly optimised ❌No options menu or save feature ✅✅ Verdict: [strike] Terrible [/strike] , [strike] Bad [/strike] , [strike] Mediocre [/strike] , [b] Decent [/b] , [strike] Good [/strike] , [strike] Very Good [/strike] (Rating scale for tested game) [quote] If you'd like to see more of my reviews, you can find them on my curator page: [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/45994324/admin/reviews_manage/]CuratorKingViking[/url] and on my group: [url=https://steamcommunity.com/groups/CuratorKingViking]GroupKingViking[/url] If you have any questions about my reviews, feel free to ask. I’m happy to answer them. All reviews are my own!! Best regards, King Viking Bezimienny, Polish Game Reviewer. [/quote]

I rather go outside and walk thank you.

It's amusing how easily intentional disorientation can be mistaken for bad game design. NORTH generally straddles a line between arthouse and dog droppings. The game portion is just patently unfun, with a visually muddy map that is difficult to wander through thanks to no pause menu and minimal options. The character art and, specifically, the immigration office, look beautiful and haunting in their own way. The /narrative/ disorientation, however, works wonderfully. The way it broadcasts the othering is fantastic, and at a brisk 30-40 minutes. A good, but very technically flawed, narrative game that I recommend to people who aren't scared of the word 'art,' but also only to those who can handle some intentional and unintentional gameplay frustrations. Not for a casual person who needs a game to be easy or intuitive.

good

⣿⣿⡻⠿⣳⠸⢿⡇⢇⣿⡧⢹⠿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣾⣿⡇⣿⣿⣿⣿⡿⡐⣯⠁ ⠄⠄ ⠟⣛⣽⡳⠼⠄⠈⣷⡾⣥⣱⠃⠣⣿⣿⣿⣯⣭⠽⡇⣿⣿⣿⣿⣟⢢⠏⠄ ⠄ ⢠⡿⠶⣮⣝⣿⠄⠄⠈⡥⢭⣥⠅⢌⣽⣿⣻⢶⣭⡿⠿⠜⢿⣿⣿⡿⠁⠄⠄ ⠄⣼⣧⠤⢌⣭⡇⠄⠄⠄⠭⠭⠭⠯⠴⣚⣉⣛⡢⠭⠵⢶⣾⣦⡍⠁⠄⠄⠄⠄ ⠄⣿⣷⣯⣭⡷⠄⠄⢀⣀⠩⠍⢉⣛⣛⠫⢏⣈⣭⣥⣶⣶⣦⣭⣛⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄ ⢀⣿⣿⣿⡿⠃⢀⣴⣿⣿⣿⣎⢩⠌⣡⣶⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣆⠄⠄⠄ ⢸⡿⢟⣽⠎⣰⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⢀⣾⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣦⠄⠄ ⣰⠯⣾⢅⣼⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⡇⣾⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⡄⠄ ⢰⣄⡉⣼⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⢸⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣧⠄ ⢯⣌⢹⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⢸⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⠄ ⢸⣇⣽⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⠸⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⠄ ⢸⣟⣧⡻⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣧⡻⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⠄ ⠈⢹⡧⣿⣸⠿⢿⣿⣿⣿⣿⡿⠗⣈⠻⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⡇⠄ ⠄⠘⢷⡳⣾⣷⣶⣶⣶⣶⣶⣾⣿⣿⢀⣶⣶⣶⣾⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⠇⠄ ⠄⠄⠈⣵⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⢸⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⠄⠄ ⠄⠄⠄⠸⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⠘⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⠇⠄⠄

[h1] 「北」の都市は、何かがおかしい＿＿ [/h1] 「南」での生活から抜け出すため、砂漠を越え、「北」へとやってきた主人公。 しかし移民が認められるためには様々な条件をクリアすることが求められる。 「北」の都市で出会う奇妙な光景を「南」に残った妹への手紙にしたためながら、管理者から求められるタスクをこなしていく。 極めてディストピア的で奇妙な「北」の都市で主人公を待ち受けるものとは…… というのが基本的なあらすじのSF短編アドベンチャー。 クリアまでの時間は約1時間ほど。途中セーブはできないので、まとまった時間がとれるときにプレイするのがおすすめです。

Жаль, что я не сумасшедший, чтобы понять всю глубину данного шедевра

[b]NORTH[/b] is a very loud exploration game where you must brave unknown territory as a refugee coming from the south. Far from home, you find yourself in a new land that threatens the little control you already had. In NORTH, you are the outsider wandering through an "outsider" world. Is it good, bad, or neither? It's hard to tell, but the thought of forced bureaucracy sends a chill down your spine regardless.

[h1] Short, abstract walking sim. Better to watch this one. [/h1]

NORTH is a kind of badly made first person adventure game/walking sim kind of disaster, but worse, I guess. You know how Dear Elise had a rich and weird narrative that kept you guessing and kept you going, no matter how dark it was? Well, this has probably 0.0001% of that, it's just a bunch of lazy scenes slapped together to make a minimum viable product for a Steam cash grab. Hey, at least it's not an asset flip, right? From a technical perspective, the game doesn't meet basic minimum requirements that most PC gamers expect as standard. The game features lazy minimalist/untextured low-polygon "retro" assets and visuals, making this look like a barely functional 3D game from the early 1990s. The lack of textures is a method that lazy devs often use to disguise their lack of talent/interest in doing the graphics properly and trying to disguise it under the name of "art", or "We made it look bad on purpose", which really isn't something gamers should have to put up with. It's unclear why the developers weren't willing to arrange high quality, high polygon count contemporary assets and high resolution textures for the game. It looks bad as a result of their decisions, and that's just another reason to avoid it. The controls can't be customised, which will be an annoyance for many, but it can also render the game unplayable for differently-abled gamers, or gamers using AZERTY or other international keyboard layouts. The game is very badly optimised, with low framerates and janky gameplay even on a high end rig. Developers must take the time and polish their games and ensure they are optimised and will play well on any potential customers system. These technical defects push this game below acceptable standards for any modern PC game. NORTH is relatively cheap at $2 USD, but it's not worth it. Given the defects and quality issues with the game, coupled with the unrealistic price, this is impossible to recommend.