Official PlayStation Magazine - 04.2020

088

REVIEW

INFO

FORMATPS4

ETAOUTNOW

PUBREDTHREAD

GAMES

DEVREDTHREAD

GAMES

DRAUGEN

A shortghoststory youcan’t a-fjordto miss?

S

o manyofthestoriesweenjoytoday

anticipateanaudiencethatwill

poreover,dissect,andthenplace

behindglasseverydetail,nomatter

howminute.Withlargerandlargermedia

propertiesgivingthemselvesovertothetidal

waveoflore–tochartingeverydarkcornerof

theiruniverse–it sometimesfeelslikethere’s

nospaceforthediscomfortoftheunknown.

TheDreamfallChaptersdev’slatestfollowsan

Americanin1920sNorwayasherowstothe

isolatedfishingvillageofGraavikinsearchofhis

sister,who’sdisappeared.EdwardHardenis an

upstandingyoungmanwithanappreciationfor

thenatural,knowableworld,andis accompanied

bystraight-talking17-year-oldLissie.Whythe

apparentlyproperEdwardwouldchoosesuch

a peculiartravellingcompanion(andwhyhe

neglectstomentionherinhislettertohishost

inGraavik)is onlyonepieceofthemystery.

RAISINGHEL

Pitchedasa ‘fjordnoir’(thoughit alsohasnotes

ofthegothic),youexplorethebay,gatherclues,

andponderwhetheryou’replayinga particularly

prettywalkingsimor,actually,

anaudiodrama.Asyou

navigateGraavik,Edwardand

Lissiechatterabouttheirlatest

discoveries.There’sanengaging

pushandpulltotheirdynamic,

butwhileseeingthembounce

offeachotheris enjoyable,

youfeellikea thirdwheelat

times.Moreoftenthannot

whenyoufindthelatestpiece

ofthepuzzle,you’releftto

stareatit asthetwowould-

bedetectivestalkit outfor

minutesata time.Despite

that,it’shardtoskipthrough

theirverbosechatterthanksto

compellingperformancesfrom

NicholasBoultonandSkye

DevaBennett.Theyabsolutely

sellthecentral,complicated

relationship,thoughthereare

instancesofperiod-appropriate

slangthatworkagainsttheir

effortsandsapthetension

fromatleastoneconfrontation.

Graavikitselfstartsoutas

anythingbutgrey;a relatively

smallspacethatis lushly

realisedinitsintroduction,

youstillfeeldisorientedbyit

attimes.Thegamesurprises

evenasit’sclearlydrawing

froma limitedbagoftricks.

Edward’smultilingualismhelps

tofurtherlureyouin.

Anairofmelancholy

hangsoverGraavikasyour

protagonists’viewsofreality

contradicteachother,andyou

starttogetbreadcrumbsabout

whatmightreallybegoing

on.Therearefamiliarbeatsin

thisstoryabouta youngman

comingtoa foreignlocaleto

chaseshadowsfromhispast,

buttheyarecompetently

deliveredrightupuntilthefinal

‘twist’,whichis weigheddown

byheavy-handedexposition.

Thankfully,whatcomesnext

allowsforjusta smidgemore

mystery–yes,it’sformalised

throughmechanicsanda

dialoguechoice,butit leaves

usfeelinglikesometimes

a littleambiguitycanbe

moresatisfying.

FJORDESCORT

VERDICT

Important dialogue

choices are helpfully

contextualised.

A haunted walk through

beautiful Norwegian countryside.

Come for the mystery, stay

for the chat, leave with more

questions than you bargained

for. Jess Kinghorn

“SURPRISES EVEN AS IT’S

CLEARLY DRAWING FROM

A LIMITED BAG OF TRICKS.”

@KoeniginKatze