Dordogne

It was a cozy and marvellously beautiful journey

Pros: Great story and great graphics
Cons: there is not lot to do or explore, the story is dictating what to do. The narration is too slow and sometimes boring.

The game takes ages to respond to clicks (or rather each animation takes forever to start so it feels like it hasn’t responded) and you’re left going ‘yes I GET it, hurry UP’ which is frustrating. the interactions are counterintuitive; you have to try moving the mouse in all different ways to eg open a door or turn a handle. It’s hard to tell where you are in relation to the scenery which makes navigating difficult. The artwork is beautiful and I really wanted to like it but it’s just not that fun.

82%

really amazing short (4hr) game about recollection, loss, understanding and coming to terms with the past and moving forward. highly, HIGHLY recommended. 10/10

I really loved this game after first three chapters, it has such a comfy art style and has a vibe of nostalgia. It reminded me of my childhood, the village where I spent some time.
But what came after was a narrative mess. The game would've been so much better without those 'complicated' things that were thrown into the plot-pot. The promise of a big secret at the beginning leads to a big disappointment.
The ending feels very rushed and somehow still manages to feel as a waste of time, you play and almost nothing happens.

Melancholic. Everyone you love will one day die. Controls were a bit finicky at times on Steam Deck. Lovely art.

The ideas behind this game are great. The art design is gorgeous, and the story is touching and heartfelt. The primary focus is effectively a nostalgic collectathon in the form of a story. You go through chapters of a young girl's life as she tries to remember a misremembered Summer of the past. It has childish purity, adult contemplation, and nostalgic moments of growing up.

However, it's not without faults, and it comes down to the mechanics of the game. The game is desperately married to those mechanics. You're mostly walking around, inspecting the world for telegraphed pick-ups. The game is meant to be immersive, but because there were so many objectives, I kept getting pulled out of the mood. The same goes for the text messages. They're so distracting! Every time I was appreciating the space, I'd get another dang text from someone I didn't want to talk to. I could have ignored them, but I would rather the protag just chuck her phone in the river!

The story also feels a bit padded. Why were there so many kayaking scenes? Why were there so many sequences of just walking around with little consequence? Why were some scripted sequences so long for the sake of walking? When the game is letting the characters talk, or featuring a gorgeously animated cutscene, or letting you decorate your binder, it's an absolute treat. But when it's obsessively making you do rote tasks over and over, it can be very frustrating, as if the game were an hour and a half too long because they wanted it to be A GAME rather than A STORY.

But, at the end of the day, the story is the main appeal here, and it's a nice story. In classic French fashion, it's a little bittersweet, and a little nihilistic, but ultimately beautiful. The game mechanics bog this down a bit, but it's still a nice time. This is great if you're into cozy games but want a story to go with it. Also, the voice acting is best in French, so change the language! Bonus points to the studio for fully voice-acting and translating everything into Occitan.

bom

"Growing my abs to crush nuts and obnoxious white men with them.
I went from thinking I'm a sh*tty designer to consult and train teams at one of the biggest games companies in the world.
Keep believing in yourself and f**k white men and gatekeepers!"

Marina Diez
Dordogne Lead Game Designer

You would't believe the hate this woman has for white man. It's all over her social media.

Excellent game!
Magnificent graphics and gripping story.
A pearl not to be missed.

Incredibly visuals and art. Very beautiful story telling, with a heart wrenching story about grief, loss, and happiness.
This game has a beautiful message.

A sweet and short game :)
The controls feel clunky as I've seen someone mention in the reviews and it would been nice to have more space to explore, but the atmosphere is great.

The world-making is enchanting.

Captivating visual storytelling. I took my time playing it. I got hooked and for the first time, I wasn't worried (and obsessed) about completing all the achievements.

Nice Painting

this is a really pleasant adventure game- almost Ghibli-esque

so ein schönes Spiel ♥
such a lovely game ♥

A beautiful little adventure about life, growing older and creativity.

A gorgeous, heartfelt, and interactive story. Highly recommend playing and enjoying this beautiful and wonderful story. 10/10. I loved it all: the art, the little puzzles, the little explorations and secrets you can find throughout it. Definitely, will play it again. The music was lovely too!

This game is amazing, full of love! The graphics are very original, each place is a water painting. The story is very interesting. It's suitable for kids and famillies.