While the duo embarks on a quest to discover the truth about the world and its inhabitants. As the main silent protagonist John, a man with no plan except his pan, and Sam, a bubbly talkative little girl with bubbly magic and personality. The first thing to note would be that Eastward is actually a linear action RPG with less emphasis on RPG elements. Consequently, I’d prefer a lesser volume or a whisper of the breeze of stinger sounds in that respect to avoid damaging the sense of immersion that I needed to keep me invested in world-building. And while Eastward storyline leans more towards a beautiful dark twisted world – having a merry expressive stinger sound alongside a victory pose at every loot I get, opening a secret door, or winning boss fights breaks the immersion I needed in this dark bleak world. One minute like Zelda – I find breaking barrels had a slightly more ‘oomph’ factor rather than breaking ceramics and glasses in the environment. For your listening pleasure, here are some samples:īe that as it may, the sound in Eastward felt slightly lacking in terms of the sound effects resources department. I was also impressed with the music enough that I purchased one copy via Steam myself. The music will grow into players over time and I find myself humming to the tunes. Its nostalgic factor of music approach has an almost trance-like synthwave approach that felt really refreshing but also carries the emotional weight needed to portray the upbeat tunes of a city, storytelling, combat, dungeons, and all the way to the underground caverns. While each Npc’s has their voice typed out, the tunes in Eastward are definitely something else as composed by Joel Corelitz ( Halo Infinite, Death Stranding). Therefore, the developers should be more confident that their story will not easily be missed or confuse players in a long run. Besides that on the plus side, Eastward simple form of writing makes skippable dialogue text easy to follow through. Combined with a few endless cutscenes, what was meant to carry the story and be handholding ends up dragging players through lengthy cutscenes while they are on the floor like getting nagged by your spouse all the time. On the other end, however, the cutscenes felt like the game has to handhold players 24/7 to make sure they follow up with the story plot. In my opinion, cutscenes in the game on one end receive a lot of care and attention to never leave any details out, which speaks volumes of Eastward’s team level of care, passion, and attention. In addition, the NPCs do interact with players via text dialogue, as their lines are typed with their own distinct typing sounds to portray their personalities and characters. Because of this, I for one do enjoy talking to each and every NPC in this game and although they do not have voice acting – their many expressions carried their voice. Friendly and enemy NPC’s design in Eastward is diverse and uniquely varied as if they were designed out of a bunch of artist’s sketchbooks and each is filled with their pixel expressions as well. Each city is filled with wacky NPC characters that are not only wacky but also different in both shapes and sizes. The environment and level designs feel more akin to a Zelda world but with a touch of modern eastern country look architectures. ![]() The lighting of the environment shines a dim atmosphere highlighting a kinda rustic beauty yet at the same time a decaying world. And I am happy to say that it was maintained throughout the game. ![]() ![]() Directly in your face deal, we get to see many beautiful pixel arts of the game as presented in the trailers. This is first and foremost the strongest unique sell point of Eastward. Having said that, here is my review of Eastward, and hopefully you will be able to understand the answer to the above question. The answer to this question is yes and no, both from a simplistic sense of yes, it can be great but at the same time a mild ‘no’ as many other issues indie titles are facing, Eastward lacks the courage needed to captivate players and draw them into an immersive experience, whether it be resources or storytelling confidence. The main question is whether this independent three-man work stands out from all the other indies or even triple-A titles out there. The questions come to mind on how the gameplay works and even what sort of RPG elements is being implemented into the game itself. As I watched the trailer, I was taken back to the beginning of the Chrono Trigger funfair scene and the whole nostalgia of my childhood kicked in. Mostly because of its main art aesthetics, top-down delightful pixel art environments, and bleak retro-ish soundtrack. When we first covered Eastward trailer presented at Indie World Showcase 2019, I was intrigued by Eastward. ![]() Developed By: Pixpil Published By: Chucklefish Platforms: PC and Nintendo Switch Reviewed On: PC
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