LOST EMBER

the art style is so good ima eat it >:3

Biggest breath of fresh air I've ever experienced from a video game. This game is fresh, a pleasure to play, endlessly rewarding to explore, and honestly just so different from anything else I've ever experienced in my life. Do yourself a favour and play this incredible work of art.

What a story!!!

So many moments that make you think you have it all figured out and then BAM! You don't!!!

Short game if you focus the story down but plenty of collectables for those that love a scavenger hunt

Highly recommend for anyone wanting a great story to experience in a chill, cosy game.

Surprisingly well made with how small the dev team was, from what I see in the credits. It's a self discovery story for both characters, whether in their past selves or their present selves (though I'm not sure if the wolf was the baby wolf all along or if it both Kalani and the wolf).
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Their journey starts off as the typical childhood, but as the story progresses, tragedy after tragedy unfolds. It's clear they fought for what they believed in, but at what cost?
The cut scenes actually well conveyed through their VA, visual cues (ex: body languages), and the OSTs, even though they lack animations and facial expressions.
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I like to explore a bit and discover small details the devs put in, like water splashes when flying near it or actual foliage physics. The variety of animals makes up the void in between uncovering each events, though some are wasted potential for not balancing the relevance to the story and the puzzles. I'm also not a fan of this controller type of camera movement, it makes me dizzy and make the controls a bit unreliable.
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Water slide with axolotl and goat wall climbing are the ones I enjoyed the most, while parrot gets me malding (don't ask me about sloth's lol). My favorite scenes are when you fly with an army of parrots through the cave and when escaping the sandstorm with the buffalos.

A truly enjoyed game, and despite controls sometimes being a pain, it's still easy to play, immerse yourself, and have a good time.

Nice gameplay and story, though searching out all of the mushrooms and relics seemed an unnecessary distraction. Just being able to play as lots of different creatures was worthwhile, especially travelling through amazing scenery.

Game should be all about immersion, but it frequently misses that spot and sometimes feel empty. However, I enjoyed being a fish, so I recommend.

As someone who enjoys animals and narrative/walking-simulator type games, this game should have been right up my alley. Unfortunately, due to bugs, lack of clear direction, and poor story telling, I found myself increasingly frustrated and have submitted a request for a refund after reaching Chapter 5.

The game is linear in its narrative, but tries to make its world feel open and expansive. However, there is no point to exploring the world as there is nothing to find except random collectables - which you think would support the story with the world building, but do not.

In this linear game, it's often unclear how to move forward. It's easy to get lost or double back around. There's no map, no arrow indicators, and your spirit friend simply follows you - it does not show the way. Since exploring is no fun, this gets frustrating.

Said spirit friend is supposed to be a soul from a Mayan-esque society, but is played by a voice actor with a heavy cockney?/British accent which is bizzarely out of place and sort of culturally insensitive. Utterly jarring.

I didn't finish the story, so I can't say how it ends. But apparently we are a "bad" person (according to our British narrator) who did not go to heaven after death because when the Emperor stole all of our village's food and left us to starve we fought back in the form of a revolution instead of (check notes) ah yes, just dying quietly so as not to cause a scene. What a message.

Finally, the game is buggy. I nearly got stuck in buffalo form unable to move forward because the "ram" button didn't work. So, I couldn't ram through the walls to get into the next area. I even checked out a youtube guide to make sure I wasn't missing something, but nope. I eventually managed to glitch my way through because some NPC buffaloes followed me and knocked down two of the walls for me, and I was able to find a way around the last one in wolf form.

I stopped playing because apparently there are further glitches when it comes to using the goat form up ahead, as reported by multiple other players.

The game looked promising, but between poor storytelling, culturally inappropriate voice acting, unclear directions, and bugs, it turned out to be one big ball of frustration.

Lost Ember is an emotional game that made me CRYYYY. The world is incredibly beautiful, with stunning landscapes that encourage you to explore at your own pace. The ability to take control of different animals adds a unique perspective, but it’s the touching story that truly stands out. I loved it sm.

I played it twice. Second run for the achievements, and yep, I cried again

10/10

This is the most emotional and beautiful game I have ever played. With beautiful soundtracks and stunning views. Thanks to the creators for the amazing emotions this game gave me.

Beautiful and tear inducing story, great story telling and very fun mechanics, a must play

It took me 4ish hours to beat, got about half the collectibles while doing so. It's a glorified walking sim so if that ain't your jam, don't buy. It's pretty and I enjoyed the experience for the most part. The controls were a bit janky, especially the camera, but I'm not sure if that's just a keyboard+mouse issue. I'd recommend getting it on sale. Also, Atevo did NOT deserve a happy ending imo fuck him

i greatly enjoyed the story and art of this game. i very much enjoyed the mechanics the game. the music was gorgeous. the characters development very lovely.

Get this game if you enjoy simulating running

I finished the story in 4.5 hours... Thats with AFKing sometimes... Its insane how quick this game is. I like the artstyle and I can tell it was a labor of love, but please only get this if its on sale.

Its creative, but the ammount of times I fell out of the map or got gliched is too many... idk

If its on sale, totally worth it, full price? idk...

If you want something "similar" to this game Go play Spirit of the North

Okay, so. This game is absolutely beautiful. The scenery, the music, the characters and the storyline. It's a great game that is just perfect for people who love shape-shifting games.

If you play the story, it's about three hours playtime but just running or flying around is also fun! I can only recommend this game for people that like the mix of cozy and adventurous

This game is proof that you don’t need a triple A engine and a gun to tell brilliant stories.

It’s very beautiful, very relaxing, has great music, and while the game takes a bit of time to get started, it turns out to be a very pleasant and at times moving gaming experience.

Lost Ember's story was very emotional, and the visual design was fantastic, let alone the music!

I loved running around as a wolf, and then a groundhog, then a hummingbird...and so on.

It's a walking sim to a certain extent where you uncover the story by exploring the next areas.

It's a casual game, really not difficult. If you're lost, you can simply look it up online (as I did a few times).

This is a beautiful game with an imersive story. Relaxing music and gameplay

The game is short yes, but it was worth every penny to have me cry at the end.

Beautiful game and story

"Actually, this is a good game, but it's not my type."

First id like to say is that this game is absolutely stunning visually, i cant even describe how much i enjoyed the simple running i did. Overall i enjoyed the game but there were a few odd bugs here and there and for some reason i felt that the story was missing something. Im not sure what that thing is but it just felt off to me. but i would totally buy this game, especially on sale

A very artistic experience

good game

$30 for this is crazy.

In short, its boring and clunky.
Story isn't gripping or interesting therefore I don't feel motivated to "figure out what is going on"

The game play is cute for a second until you realize the core mechanic is the *only* mechanic. Said mechanic doesn't feel optimized. Lots of clipping through geometry if not used in a "safe zone" which shatters immersion but whatever.

The art style is simple in a "hey, listen!" Zelda-ish kind of way but by no means jaw dropping, inspired, or original. It feels extremely conceptual.

The only redeeming quality is the soundtrack, which is gorgeous.

I want to like the game because i feel like it has potential but just can't get into it. I feel bad because there are a lot of positive reviews for it and i feel like i'm missing something.

3/10

Might buy the soundtrack though.

being a fish is hard.

Beautiful and tragic, play this when you have plenty of time, patience, and possibly a desire to sob uncontrollably.

Love the visuals and really beautiful story. I love animals so maybe I'm a bit biased though.

Lovely graphics, great soundtrack and a lovely (yet sad) story! The game is very linear and 100% story-based. There is no combat or traditional puzzles. Different areas will require you to transform into different animals with unique abilities in order to pass through the terrain while discovering your character's past life. Sometimes it's not quite clear where you're supposed to go or what you're supposed to do. Some areas have a lot of open space, and it's easy to get lost in whatever task you're dealing with. I could see some people getting motion sickness while playing this game, although it's not something that affects me. The camera is sometimes annoying to turn, and the characters can't do sharp turns, but the forward movement, flying mechanic and swimming is very satisfying. You could easily speedrun this game in less than 5 hours, and the content might be a bit lacking for €30, but I myself still very much enjoyed the game. The vastly different scenery together with the music and animals was a great experience alone, and I sometimes boot up the game just to roam around for the visuals. The story is simple but has some great twists and turns.

* No actual spoilers, but you can skip this if you want to find things out for yourself *

Some of the story didn't make much sense, such as certain characters completely forgetting their personality from their past life, and acting completely differently in the current timeline. Something that's touched on lightly at the very beginning of the game but never fully explained is the fact that humans who are denied entry to the afterlife get reincarnated as animals. You play as a reincarnated wolf and team up with a wandering spirit that was also denied entry to the afterlife. It is never explained why the wandering spirit was never reincarnated as an animal, even though that is what happens to humans after being denied entry. It's a little bit annoying and feels a little incomplete, but it doesn't bother me enough to not play through the game every once in a while.

Fun game for kids my daughters love it! You can play as any animal you find and do different things while exploring.

Had potential, feels more like a proof of concept than an actual game.

The general issues are plenty:
The commentary is absolutely useless (should be disabled by default), the story is deeply uninteresting, the music would fit better in a Sims game, the controls feel stiff, the VA is not great, the collectibles only serve to waste your time (for example one relic is literally just a hammer with its description being "a simple and versatile tool").

There's also specific choices made by the devs that just seem weird, for example :
The game prompts you to try the 1,2,3 buttons to get animal-specific actions like laying down or eating, but there's only a very limited amount of these actions making it feel like an unfinished mechanic. Another specific issue that I found annoyingly weird is that the ducks can only hover 50 cm off the ground and glide down such that you can't fly up slopes without hitting the ground, but hummingbirds can fly at any height you want for any distance you can go. Also keep in mind that the amount of animals in a given zone is also so limited and useless that switching just feels like a gimmick.

Overall, this game is not only boring (and do note I enjoy unguided/guided exploration games), it also feels like the devs had some nice ideas and didn't commit on any of them.

Don't waste your time.

Beautiful Graphics, Interesting story, Lots to explore.

Lost Ember is a beautiful game with an incredibly impactful story that resonates on a deep emotional level. The world is visually stunning, and the ability to explore it through different animal perspectives is both unique and mesmerizing. The blend of exploration and storytelling is truly captivating, keeping you engaged from start to finish.

When I finished it, I had to sit back for a few minutes and let it all sink in. It gave me that instant bittersweet feeling—you know the one you get after playing a really good game. Yeah, Lost Ember definitely delivers that.

For those who enjoy a meaningful, well-crafted experience, this game is a must-play. Would highly recommend it!

Im, Really, what can i say, its the best game, im recomend it, whatever the price is, this is worth.. 10/10

Imma be brutally honest about this review, The graphic were absolutely gorgeous but my only issue with this game a the problematic glitch I came across in this game when entering into certain parts. My laptop is perfectly fine with the requirements of this game but I was not expecting my laptop to freeze to where I couldn't touch anything.
7/10
It's honestly a beautiful game but that really turned me away.

Amazing game 10/10

this game had not only a terrible and predictable story, but the voice-lines were also very awkward.
the game felt forced, and i can only confirm that by the multiple glitches i found throughout this 3 hour game, here are some examples of what i ran into.

floating wolf
found a spot in which infinite falling was near unavoidable
got stuck inside of a ram mid transformation
visuals of your character becoming a wolf after very clearly beginning a cutscene as any other animal
birds cant land
npc birds land awkwardly (i know this isnt a glitch but it really felt like one)
rams animations freeze upon spawning, if they spawn above ground they can be stuck falling
ramming did not work for me and i had to rebind my keys
somehow got through the pink border on accident, no it didnt break like it usually does, i just got through and the ember asked where i was going, couldnt continue the game obviously because, theres no way i can without completing the previous task.
during the very last scene, 2 songs played over eachother (this is actually currently happening in the menu)


i just finished watching the credits go by, im on the title screen, i see it right now, my main hope, was that there could potentially be a free-play, where u can fly around and do whatever you want without having to follow a story, lets see if there is one :)
nope! no free-play. my only hope that could maybe save this game for me.

even though i got this discounted ($9) i still wish i could return, but having 3.1 hours on record, i cannot.

knowing how many glitches there already are there must be more, this is my main reason for a negative review, please, unless you take the game very slowly and dont mind some visual glitches along with bad voice acting, do not get this game

It's an ok game for it's price.
+:
1) Pretty style
2) Good story
3) OK gameplay
-:
1) "Narrator" is more annoying than helpful. Calls the wolf Kalani despite Kalani's spirit literally talking to the wolf in the very first cutscene as a separate entity. How can he guide us if he himself gets the story wrong? Also he has a completely different personality than the character we later learn to be him while alive.
2) The exploration is unnecessarily difficult sometimes. The geese (or whatever these birds are) can only fly 2 meters in the air and are very hard to control. The locations are HUGE and exploring them is already hard enough, why make it harder? I simply got tired of it midgame and only went for memories (main storyline) without checking anything else.

Still i enjoyed this game more than hated it, mostly because of the story.

This is way more wholesome than I thought it would be. The story is moving. It's been a long time since a game made me cry and strange enough this helped me with dealing with my own mother's passing nearing the date. Just thank you for this. The music is beautiful.

Amazing and beautiful game with a great story

worth it , played it, loved it, 100% recommend.

Amazing game, truly loved it! I especially enjoyed the ability to play as different animals and the captivating atmosphere. While the voice acting felt a bit emotionless and monotone at times, overall, it's a beautiful and immersive experience.

Really nice journey, fun but also emotional story

The story Line behind this game will blow you away! I am so very glad that I bought this. Please if you have the time and want something relaxing and a wonderful story this is worth everything

A beautiful, cinematic, and walk-through-story game with fun mechanics. That being said, it's not worth its current price tag. Buy this game when there is a big discount, and enjoy!

thank god it is over . started this thing about 5 to ten years ago with a computer that could not keep up with the grapics
so after hours and hours of trying to get the stupid goat up the mountain i quite i reinstalled it in a new gameing laptop
and finally finished the thing the game can be summed up as this transform into animal try to find way off map colect useless objects that have zero impact on game play find secret exit transform into next animal you could literally play this game by just pushing the w key or up arrow rec emend only for visuals and at a discount otherwise no

Much relax.

A story rich, absolutely stunning beautiful game. You start out playing as a wolf who is approached by a spirit orb to find a way to help it pass into into the afterlife as he is stuck. You need to advance and unlock areas in the world using different creatures, and uncover the story of his life so he can discover what is keeping him there and what he needs in order for him to pass over.

I love the mechanic of being able to shift into different creatures in order to progress through an area, or to help you find the collectables along the way - which I would recommend a guide for as there are many. The spirit buddy that joins and stays with you through the game is entertaining, helpful and is able to say more than 'Hey, Listen!".
I recommend making sure you find and trigger all the memories as it really helps unveil the story of what happened and make sense of the characters.

10/10 - highly recommend!

I have actually Kickstartered it back in the day, because I really wanted to play a wolf and this kind game is something I love to play just to get out of the stress of RL and I wanted to support a new Indiegame company at the time with their first game. I do like story orientated walking simulators, even better if you play an animal. They are soothing, even if the stories are often quite sad.

This one isn't any different. It still hit me the same the second time I played it. First time was on console (which I got through the kickstarter) so I bought it later on for Steam as well, since I'm mostly playing on computer now anyway and I really wanted to play it sometime in the future again (this time with trying to get everything, since I still missed quite a lot in my first playthrough, even with going through all kind of corners).

I played it now, obviously, and like I said I still love it. Pretty sure I will come back to it at some point in the future to play it again, just for the soothing aspect of running around as all sorts of animals. It definitely has replayability for me, who loves these kind of games, even with having 100%-ed it now. I know it may not be the same for others, but this is my personal opinion.

Though the macaws were sometimes a little harder to control than any of the other animals XD

I don't mind the price either, since even 5 hours of story in a game (if you ignore everything else) is quite a lot and if you're interested in playing it, but the price is too high, there are always discounts at some point or another.