Röki Review - Is It Worth A Try? (Adventure) (PC Nintendo Switch)
Roki is a combination of a classic point-and-click adventure game and a Metroidvania-style game but with a modern twist. Roki has a narrative-rich story about discovery, courage, and redemption and is inspired by Scandinavian folklore. The story is broken up into 3 acts. You play a young girl by the name of Tuve who has been the head of her household since her mother passed away 5 years ago. She keeps things running and takes care of her younger brother Lars with little to no help from her dad, Henrik. The game starts with Tuve and Lars making their way back to their home as the game teaches you the fundamentals. You make it home to find Henrik passed out sleep, so Tuve looks to cook up some dinner for Lars and herself. Soon after the two head to bed for the night their home gets attacked by a creature who ends up kidnapping Lars and destroying the home in the process. So now after the attack, you set out as Tuve on the journey to find her little brother and it seems that Tuve’s run-in with the creature has left her the ability to see things in the forest that are usually invisible to human eyes.
At this point of the game, I would say that the first third of the game can feel somewhat linear compared to the way things will open up later on. I enjoyed the ability to tackle the different puzzles in the order I wanted to do them. I enjoyed the variety of puzzles and challenges. Some of the puzzles had me stumped for a little bit, but I think that was from me overthinking them. The game does help you a little with some hints here and there, but it does a good job of not holding your hand too much and gives you room to figure things out on your own. With it being a Metroidvania-type game there was a ton of backtracking which is helped slightly by being able to sprint with Tuve & unlocking the fast travel doorways but it still can feel like a drag at times going back to the same area over and over just to realize you're in the wrong area or don’t have the right items to complete the puzzle in that area. Throughout your journey, you will be constantly making new entries into Tuve journal. Her journal is broken up into 4 sections, the map, notes, loot, and badges. I can say I was addicted to finding all the loot and badges. Some badges come from story milestones while others come from hidden objectives so I would often find myself thinking Hmmmmm I wonder if I can get a badge for reading all these particular things or for finding all of a certain item. The loot can also be easily missed times it could be something as tiny as a pebble laying in the snow that could be easily missed fortunately, they added a button you can press a button to highlight all the interactable objects in the area. I also really enjoyed the artwork of this game. The environments looked pretty cool to me and along with the music and sound effects, all those things together really helped set the tone for the game.
So, when it comes down to it, is Roki worth a try?
I would have to say yes, it is. Even if you are not typical a fan of point-and-click games (like me) I would still recommend checking this one out for the story and cool atmosphere. Hey, look at it this way, you would be doing your brain a favor by keeping it sharp with the puzzles in this game and I'm sure we all want to keep our brains sharp!
I reviewed the PC version of the game but there is a Switch version on the way too and boy would I love to have this on the Switch to me it’s a perfect Switch game. To be able to hop in, complete a few puzzles on the go, and then get back to whatever I was doing previously would be great.
