Tall Trails

On first glance, Tall Trails appears to be a low-effort collectathon title, but upon playing the game myself, I discovered a game with lots of charm. I followed the developer on social media through devlogs and found the childish visuals to be charming and it peaked my interest. You play as a golem made of clay, one who has forgotten their purpose who must go on a quest to reach the sorcerer, creator of the golems, in order to find your purpose in his grand plan. Across the journey you will make friends with other golems, climb mountains and repair the 3 broken clay reserves needed to climb the sorcerer's tower. I enjoyed the essential gameplay but I found it far too easy. The game features little if any challenge. There's no boss fights or perilous climbs or anything to really test your skills. Not all clay collectibles are necessary to beat the game, but since they're so easy and quick to get, you might as well. You'll get currency to buy cosmetics, which are always nice, and also badges to upgrade your abilities. These badges make the game even easier and render the game's most "challenging" climbs to a difficulty rank I can only describe as 'super-baby-easy-mode'. This could have been fine if the game offered some optional challenging side quests for more rewards, like climbs that block your upgrades, but even the side quests that attempt to offer difficulty will hardly require any thought to complete, which unfortunately causes the game to feel like a never-ending tutorial. I will admit, the story had me intrigued, there is a mystery about the sorcerer, you will hear whispers that no one has heard from him for many many years, making the journey to meet him all the more suspenseful. Here's another gripe, the big reveal at the end, while humorous, just doesn't hit in any satisfying or meaningful way. It gave me the impression that I was baited with a mystery and suspenseful final climb just to get whatever that was. I don't think it had the effect the developer may have intended it to have. I don't expect a serious story, but I expect when a mystery is presented and brought up numerous times with a suspenseful final level leading up to what it seemingly a major reveal, that you come up with something better. Tall Trails needs more challenge, more optional side quests, more levels and a better ending. The climbing is fun, the visuals are fun, the mechanics are fun, there's so much right with it, but so much in the way of what could be a much better game. A generous 6/10 because I think small tweaks could go a long way here.