Among the infinite things in the universe is the amount of slow cute looking indie adventure games released over the course of the past 10 years. It is now almost impossible to predict how good and engaging a game like this would be, even after watching a few bits of its gameplay. And the unfortunate reality is that it’s easier to just ignore them all until you see one talked about and praised a lot. Which is a shame, as smaller productions that have something to them easily get lost now. Voyage is among those. It’s incredibly simple gameplay wise. It’s absolutely nothing you haven’t played before. But due to its visual style and the story, it’s actually far more curious than you might think.
The gameplay in the game is incredibly simple. It’s basically a cinematic platformer, but without the platforming. And all of the different types of interactions that you tend to get in cinematic (and puzzle) platformers are boiled down to very few simple ones. In many ways, it’s a 2D narrative exploration game more than an adventure, really, or something like Journey, except without the fun of movement.
Which makes the game sound really boring. And thing is – it isn’t. Yes, it is nothing new apart from the fantastic art style and animation. But just like Journey or ABZÛ, there’s something that might hook you. It did hook me.
There are bits of the game that are less interesting than the most. The story isn’t as punchy as it wants to be and some elements are a bit obscured where they clearly were meant to be more revealing. And the very beginning of the game, the tutorial of basics, isn’t as clear as the developers clearly expected it to be. But it’s engaging. It has local coop (and you can use the Steam Remote Play Together to play over the internet). You can hug the partner. It’s beautiful to look at. It has charming soundtrack… I can understand if it doesn’t click with you, just because they’re have been so many games like this. But do check it out as you might enjoy it.