When I’ve played Primordia a few years ago, quite late for the game originally from 2012, I liked it quite a lot, yet it remained a title that I was hesitant to outright recommend. Check out, pay attention to, maybe get it if you’re in the mood, sure. But not drop everything and get it. With Strangeland I was hoping to have a more definite “heck yeah, get it” recommendation. Yet, while I did have a more enjoyable experience with the title overall, and did really like it, I still didn’t like it quite enough.
Strangeland is a 2D point and click adventure game made on Adventure Game Studio, just like with all the titles Wadjet Eye Games tends to publish and just like the previous Wormwood Studios’ game Primordia. Also just like Primordia, this title is incredibly gorgeous – the visuals and how they animate and transition is unlike anything I’ve seen with these AGS games. The voice acting is terrific, music is great – less outside the game, but phenomenal inside the game, – and the gameplay is stripped down to the most fun basics, with some really nice quality of life features and ideas.
It’s not without flaws, one of the very early puzzles was absolutely horrible in concept and execution and I bet if the game ever gets localized, the localization teams will woe the day they decided to take this task. Yet it was also probably the only spot in the game that felt rough, the rest of the game following surreal, yet understandable logic. A few moments here and there felt a bit “eh, this actually makes sense as a solution, but it doesn’t work”. And there were a few moments where you could fail (there’s no Game Over in this game) and get punished by waiting through animations and walking until you can try again. But otherwise, the experience of playing Strangeland was really tight and considerably better paced than Primordia.
Where the game will or won’t click with you, though, is with its story, the themes and how those are handled. Without going into spoilers, this game has the main character go through dark psychological issues and a lot of imagery, text and scenes borders on feeling E D G Y just for the sake of it. It’s always a problem with any type of storytelling dealing with depression or related issues, be it a song, a story, a game or whatever else, where unless it clicks with you on a more than “I get what it’s about” level, you can almost get giggly about how silly it seems. Now, Strangeland in particular, in my opinion, balanced on that line really well, unlike something far more “edgy” like The Cat Lady, or something disgustingly style and drama over substance like Distraint. This game feels sincere in what it’s going for (not that the other titles mentioned weren’t, but they don’t come across as sincere in comparison). But despite that, you might not really care about what it’s going for, for the characters, for the allegories, for the story. Which isn’t helped by the fact, that there isn’t really that much of a journey through the darkness happening, rather a “weird stroll through a, well, Strange Land”.
So, I would definitely suggest being aware of Strangeland and consider getting it when you’re in the mood to play this kind of title. Because if you’re not in the mood, it might completely ruin your experience. I liked it. Not as much as I hoped I would. Not without thinking about Planescape: Torment a bit more often than I’ve expected. But still, liked it. And definitely interested in seeing what Wormwood Studios will do next.