The Dead Tree of Ranchiuna Reviews

finished this in 4.5 hours. i really didn't like it, and here is why: 1. the save system forced me to repeat the same parts of the game over and over, unless i quit playing at a designated save point. 2. you have to be very close to an object you find in order for it to highlight and let you know to click on it. that meant a lot of mousing from side to side while walking, and a lot of nausea as a result. 3. walking speed permits either super slow to medium speed. way too slow and annoying. 4. fps defaults to 30, causing a lot of jitter looking around the world. so even more nausea. i did up that to 60, since they provide a nice settings place for that, and it helped, but not enough. 5. story and voice over "life lessons" became very boring. especially when i had to hear them over and over due to not being able to save where i left off. 6. graphics and scenery were dreary, rocky, damp terrain. i think the sun came out once? on the positive side, well....not much for me. i'd have to give this 2 stars out of 5. i'm sorry, but i really didn't like it.

Like others have said this is the weakest of Tonguc's recent games. The voice acting and character dialogue is pretty weak, and the long walk is a bit dull and tedious. Most areas tend to look the same after about 10 minutes. I(t could do with more music and/or more ambient sound, like a breeze, or wind in the tree's as it is, a lot of it is really too silent. On a few positive notes, what music there is is really good, and the narrative theme is thought provoking. it did run well on my old potato, with a few very brief loading stutters. While I commented on the ambient sound as being too little, what there is is well done, and works well on my surround speakers. Hearing crickets and whatnot behind me as I slogged along was nice. I'd say this is more a game for people who are familiar with the rest of Tonguc's stuff and know what they're in for.

I own all of Tonguç Bodur's games but there are a handful I'm just now getting to. Like many of his titles, this one is a walking simulator that tells a story. This is probably my favorite title of his so far. The graphics are excellent (Unreal Engine). I have a fairly solid gaming PC but with the settings cranked to ultra I could tell I was stressing my rig a bit. This isn't a criticism--the graphics & assets are very nice--almost photo-realistic in places. It took me a bit over 2 hours to get through the game, and that was moving pretty fast. It's a fairly long title for a walking simulator. If you enjoy stopping and taking photos along the route, your play time will be longer. Mr Bodur's walking sims are very unique and sometimes polarizing (based on reviews). Personally, I enjoy most of them. If you haven't played one of his games previously, this is a great game to start with because everything is executed really well. He's a developer with a vision, and this particular game seems like he was able to really capture that vision. Besides the graphics, the music is a real standout. In fact, I found myself more than once wanting more music because I found it so enjoyable. The story is revealed throughout the game and is a bit mysterious. I found this one of the best scripts/stories in any of his games I've played (so far). The voice acting is generally solid--the lead performer (in English) has most of the dialogue and did a great job. There are very, very minor puzzle and "skill" elements in the game, but they're so light that they will not present a real challenge. The only reason I mention that is that some walking-sim enthusiasts might want to know. I liked the design of this title as there is a single path, and it is impossible to get lost. This isn't an exploration game, and I don't like getting lost in walking sims--that aspect was executed perfectly. Once you complete the story, don't exit the game when the credits roll. There's more fun to be had. Without going into spoilers, I'll just say that this is the only title of Mr Bodur's that I've (yet) played that invites revisiting after your initial playthrough. In summary, I heartily recommend this title to fans of Mr Bodur's previous games. If you enjoyed his early games, this one is just all-around better IMHO. For people who are new to his work, this is a great place to start. His walking sims are unique for the genre. This title is executed very well so if you enjoy it, you can explore the rest of his games and better appreciate his style and vision.

Overall: 8/10 (With caveats) This is a visually fantastic game, packaged with an excellent, atmospheric soundtrack. But, let down by very mediocre game-play, puzzles and poor voice acting and script writing. It attempts to explore the topics of guilt, revenge, jealousy and greed but approaches them with the subtlety of a 12 year old. The first hour or so was a really great experience, very calming and simple. But, when the game started to introduce a plot and very, very limited 'puzzle' use, that tranquillity fell apart quite quickly. The feeling of peaceful relaxation and leisurely enjoyment was replaced with frustration, as the puzzles are little more than clicking objects until you have either clicked them in the correct order, or enough times. Otherwise, it is simply as it says, a walking simulator. The story feels as though it is an Eastern tale translated poorly into English language and presented laughably. It certainly has some heavy, interesting elements, such as the appropriate response to crimes committed long times ago, guilt and abandonment. But, it is not explored very well. Also, it features some kind of reality/dream like contrast with flashbacks to a more modern world. But this is very poorly handled and with the limited amount just doesn't make any sense. The voice acting of the main narrator is ok, but poorly paced. You are presented with huge sums of dialogue set between longer periods of nothing. The subtitles are also very poorly set up. Rather than presenting each spoken line for emphasis, you are shown the entire piece of dialogue across the entire screen. A literal wall of text. The voice acting of other characters is mediocre at best, at one point a scene with a dog which I assume was meant to be serious, the presentation of the lines made me laugh instead. Another nit pick that I feel really pulls away from the sense of immersion is the at times, comical animation of objects. Static scenery looks absolutely incredible, however seeing a goat rotate 180 degrees on a point to turn around, sort of breaks you out of any state you were lulled into by the scenery. The soundtrack though, this is the absolute best thing about this game. It is a mysterious, sombre but adventurous collection that really pulls you into the atmosphere along with the visuals. Even if you don't enjoy the game, the soundtrack is definitely worth the price. Based on these, I'd give the game a 7/10 overall. But, I'd say the soundtrack and graphics definitely bump it up to an 8/10. I understand it's an indie game and doesn't have the budget for perfect everything, but I simply analyse what I experience. Very Good Experience, Mediocre Game, Mediocre Story.

I bought this game when it was published, played for an hour, and then forgot it for a year. I guess that says a lot, but not all. So, I saw this as I was browsing my library and decided to continue where I left. Usually I like this kind of games, but I started to get bored the further I got in this. The bits of story about the past are interesting, but I really didn't like that you're reduced to walking speed and everything gets blurry when these parts occur. It would have been nice to look around while listening, like with the other voiceover. Even for a walking simulator, there's too much walking with nothing happening, but at least you can run to make it a bit faster. To put it simply, the game is too long for the content, because you cannot really explore, just move along the set path. This definitely wasn't an improvement from the previous game. However, with all that said, this is a definite Yes just for the last part alone. As I said, the story was interesting, and you can see where it is heading, but... It's a rare occurrence for me nowadays to come across a story that truly surprises me.

Basically, long and boring. The protagonist goes for a 20 mile stroll, the pathway affording many beautiful vistas, lakes, streams, waterfalls, meadows. The narrator is supposed to be a young college graduate but the voice is a gravelly middle age male. We are captive to monotonous philosophical monologue which is presented as 'wisdom' but is objectively disconnected, doubtful, and often absurd. At times the music is very beautiful - gorgeous cello melodies with astutely crafted orchestration - alas, it is sparingly supplied. Puzzles are no-brainers, but walking on narrow planks becomes tedious. The ghosted dialogues include profanity, and the penultimate scene features a toilet, ostensibly to symbolize the meaning of life. That scene summarizes this computer game.

The Dead Tree of Ranchiuna is a walking simulator, which tells a story. The focus is on the atmosphere and the story. You won't get a lot of actual "gameplay", but rather you'll see yourself walking in nice landscape while a story is being told. If you're into this, the game is very much recommended!

I strongly believe that this is one of the weakest games Tonguc has ever made. The voice acting is some of the worst I've heard, the world is unbelievably linear this time instead of open, and the story (in my opinion) doesn't really make sense. The characters actions and motivations in this game are far removed from what most humans actions and motivations would be in real life and that really took me out of the game. Now, DESPITE all this, the game isn't terrible. You may be wondering how I could possibly think that despite what I've just said above. Well, it's easily the most optimized game Tonguc has made. It does have brief loading hitches from area to area but otherwise runs really, really well. Also, the world is built out in a way that the landmarks really stand out. There are some really insane landmarks in this game and you'll just want to take your time standing there and admiring the scenery. There's also one scene in particular where you are riding a very large animal (I won't spoil what that animal is) and it's definitely a standout scene in my opinion. If we had a middle option, that would be where I rank this one. Despite it's faults, it still has enough here to attract the type of people that have liked Tonguc's previous games (games like Nephise, Bottle, and Drizzlepath). I will admit that in a lot of ways it was disappointing but in several others, it was beyond some of the stuff he's been able to accomplish in the past. There's enough to like here that I'm going to go ahead and recommend it. If you want to see what the game looks like in action and decide for yourselves if this is something that you would like to play, I've started a Youtube series. Also, for anyone who has completed the game and isn't afraid of spoilers, there's an extra guide I made and placed at the end of this playlist that shows you how to get the new game+ items. Just watch the last video on the playlist. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzMRiP9K9Us&list=PL08FwntTpxPCVNu6VpOULR_dlz84FtSGC

Alright. [i]The Dead Tree of Ranchiuna[/i] is done and dusted. I actually thought I'd played this before, but turns out I hadn't, so no better time than now to remedy that. And it was another stellar walking simulator by [i]Tonguç Bodur[/i], who has more or less mastered the genre. This is, as is the case with his other games, very story-centric, set alongside the backdrop of a lush outdoors and mountain setting. This is also one of his lengthier walking sims, weighing in at about two hours plus another half hour or so to wrap up postgame content (which helps fill out some story points). The remaining hour of my time is me forgetting to close the game, lol. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3271655558 The story was interesting IMO. Well written as always, and with an interesting dynamic where the main story is more of a set dressing used to convey a sub story. Both focused on envy and betrayal ultimately. By my mind, the only sympathetic character in the game was Danielle, who was basically treated as a possession or distraction by literally all the other characters. Who were, by and large unlikable, and IMO, intentionally written that way. You have the presumed protagonist (Andrei) who leaves Danielle and his friends behind to pursue his life in the big city, never calls or checks up on anybody, then just shows up out of the blue years later expecting to continue his relationship with Danielle and resume the friendships he had abandoned. However, his friends all resent Andrei due to a childhood incident with one of them, but more realistically, also because they too covet Danielle. Such a twisted web. In contrast, the narration is more about reflecting on the nature of society as it pertains to trust, empathy, the nature of perceived strength and weakness, bullying, and so on. And while that does tie into the main story, it also creates a more introspective focus on what it means to simply be alive and interacting with society in our world. The voice acting was hit or miss. The characters were all done pretty well. The narrator OTOH had times where he was in the flow of the story and other moments where you could tell he didn't really know what emotion to convey. The soundtrack was all excellent, and it's always impressive how the songs are appropriate to the circumstances you hear them in. About to enter a dark cave. Enter a whimsically foreboding piece. About to enter a more mysterious place. Have some kind of ethereal tunes to accompany you. Very nicely done. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3271655641 The graphics lean in the grittier side of natural surroundings. You get the sense that this is an area that sees a lot of rain, and that the protagonist's mindset while viewing this is also somewhat darker. It's definitely a beautiful game, but don't expect huge splashes of color everywhere. They exist. They just aren't the focus here. Also, I thought some of the portraits and pictures hanging in a few places were very nice touches. Gameplay-wise, this is classic walking simulator with a couple lever puzzles and a few objects that need to be found. However, a new entry to Tonguc's game is a simplified version of a lockpicking mini game. That was cool. I also think it's noteworthy that Tonguc takes a more direct hand in deciding how fast your character can move. There is of course walking and fast walking, but there are sequences where he ramps up your speed to reflect the urgency of the moment in the story. Now, I think we all know the slow walking is something nobody is doing when they play the game, so it doesn't really need to be there, but the attention to your actual walking speed as a pacing device within the game is pretty cool. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3271655420 I thought this was a fun game and certainly one to look at if you enjoy walking simulators in general. [code]If you found this review helpful and would be interested in supporting my Curator group, [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/32549618/]Robilar's Reviews[/url], it would be appreciated. Cheers.[/code] [code]Also follow [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/32732116-IndieGems/]IndieGems[/url] for more reviews like this one.[/code]

This ranks among the worst games I have ever played. I am stupefied by the positive reviews here. I love Myst-type games and enjoy a good walking simulator such as What Remains of Edith Finch. But this "game" is 99% walking around. Literally. You just follow a path for several hours. You walk by houses, lookout towers, and other structures, but you can't go in them. There is literally NOTHING to interact with. There are a few "puzzles" where you have to flip a switch to open a door. That's it. You can run, but it is painfully slow. Thankfully there is a hotkey where you can toggle walking so your finger doesn't tire out. The story is terrible. It makes no sense. It is a bunch of babbling recollections of something that I really couldn't care about. The acting is poor as well. I had no clue why I was walking around. Definitely the most boring game I have ever played.