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The game isn’t concerned with difficulty, nor are the enemies guilty of being damage sponges. Despite this, there’s a speed and ease to which you are able to move through these levels. These elements persist, too you’ll have to use your entire kit as well as previous knowledge from older dungeons to make your way through the world. The level design of Eastward is actually quite fun-it’s simple and to the point, but the game peppers in enough new mechanics and forms of puzzles in a way that gradually complicates how you proceed through dungeons. John shows little signs of trauma, care, or even memory-essentially, we’re left with a sense of whiplash where nothing is discussed, as one side of the conversation does not speak and the other is rendered as too young to understand or somehow unable to access the situation at hand. The game goes out of its way to sideline Sam, even to make her forget that something awful has just happened, so as to return to the jolly tone just before these encounters. There are times in Eastward where terrible things happen, and when beautiful things follow them, but there is no room or time to contend with any of it. While comical (what do people see in this corpse-like man?), it undermines the true story being told in Eastward, that of Sam’s.
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He seems to possess a strange magnetism, as Sam is staunchly attached to him and multiple women in the game show a keen affection for him. Despite the game’s lavish animations, he’s limited to mostly keeping his hands in his jacket pockets and scratching the back of his neck. He carries a frying pan around and is an avid cook, but doesn’t seem to have any sort of discernable passion for the subject other than his dedication to cooking for Sam when she’s hungry. Unlike characters such as, say, Link, we’re given little to infer about his personality. John, the primary playable character, is a silent protagonist of the strictest sort. The issues arise after these stories have come to pass. It’s unafraid to move at an unhurried pace and tell very small stories. The game is, above all else, concerned with life and how it manifests, which is one of its strongest aspects. Every locale in the game feels staggeringly alive, with gestures towards a greater culture, way of life, and population communicated through idiosyncratic dialogue and minute design touches. It’s one of the most beautiful games I’ve ever played, and is a constant visual delight. The game, at times, feels like an elevated version of a Game Boy Advance title, with its opulent pixel art, propulsive chiptune soundtrack, and sweet story.
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Eastward video game series#
Though inspired by the Mother series as well as the 2D Legend of Zelda games, Eastward is very much its own experience.
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Unfortunately, the game consistently roadblocks its more immediate themes and storytelling with overlong story segments and a terminally wooden protagonist, whose lack of emotion even in his body language leaves the game with a confused tone. In fact, I struggle to say I actively dislike it-there’s a lot to love in its richly detailed pixel world, and several moments that made me believe in the vision expressed across its overlong 20 or so hour runtime. Pixpil’s debut Eastward is a game I desperately want to like.