Spiral Reviews

You know what's the best thing about getting old? Nothing.

First, I want to mention how fun this game is: from fishing to investigating to occasional (and very original) turned-based combat, it was awesome! I had a blast throughout. Second, I have to say: the dialogue, art design, music and voice acting are all great, and they work together well to create a moving tale. Now that that's all said, I want to spend most of my time here on what I think is the game's crowning achievement: its unique narrative structure and the way it plays with narration and perspective. The game starts off as a wholesome coming-of-age story, but one that's mediated by nostalgia throughout: we are Old Bernard, looking back on his life and his time as Young Bernard. At first, the relationship between the Remembering Self and the Remembered One is straightforward and even ideal, but then... At about the halfway point, things start to change. Things get real story-spicy! I won't spoil what form these changes take, but I do want to say that they add up to the most masterful parts of the game for me: they make not just those parts, but the entire 10 hours of the game worth your time (and your 30 dollars) without question. Spiral conveys the experience of living with cognitive degeneration not just by having Bernard talk about it, but rather by making you experience it with him. It'll always stand as an important and innovative narrative game thanks to this willingness to go the extra mile in its goal of using story to generate empathy.

This is a beautiful game! It gave me What Remains of Edith Finch vibes. I love story driven games where the MC delves into their lives and the past is "narrated" by beautiful mechanics. This game is unique i had a ton of fun playing it and I wish there was more (although it would be difficult to say it is enough). The game starts slow but peope give it time, it will reward you so much! It is an emotional journey with well written characters. I wish the game would delve into the interpersonal relationships between the friend-group and especially with Emily and i would have liked more cameos from the dog but i am nit-pickking here. It is an indie masterpiece. I would love if the studio develops another one like this. Sadly many people will judge it as a triple or double A game and it is unfair. I coluld see the creativity, passion and sweat that the team put into this one. The "Holy Pizza" song had me rolling and the whole "D&D" experience was beautiful. I was invested in Bernards story and i wanted to know more. The studio took chances with some narrative mechanisms but it paid off. You could see that in the end they run out of time but still i was left pleased and happy that I supported such an effort. Congratulations Folklore Games may you continue your beatufil work in the future.

As much as I appreciate what this game is trying to do, it just doesn't do it all that well. The style is unique and beautiful, yes, but why is it that 25% of the game is basically D&D? It has nothing to do with the overall theme/purpose of the game and actually very much detracts from it. It's as if someone at one point in their life had wanted to make D&D with a twist but nobody was interested in it and it wasn't fleshed out so they figured "hmm why not throw it in this other game for no reason whatsoever as a last ditch effort to get someone to play it?" Lame, if you're going to do that then either put in a warning about that or provide a way to skip it.

Well what can I say about this game. Truly and utterly beautiful. The story telling and character building for this game is great and has many themes throughout to really question and challenge myself and brought out conversations about the topics. Graphically- loved the art work style in this game and I loved the fact it looked like James and the giant peach. Voice and dialogue- The dialogue was great and the voice actors and actresses should be implored for their performance. Elfie- NEED A PLUSHIE PLEASE :D Overall, if you like story based games then this is one for you. Its packed with fun moments and nostalgic times aswell as nitty gritty stuff but truly an experience I don't think I will ever forget. I would love to see a game in the CnC style or even other storylines in this format exploring other themes. Loved this game :)

Perfect for those who love a story-rich game where you can either follow the main quest line or explore to find some hidden secrets to enrich the story :)