A Story About My Uncle

 

Story About My Uncle

Type	Adventure
Single or multiplayer	Singleplayer
Developer	Gone North Games
Publisher	Coffee Stain Studios
Fun	3/5
Difficulty	2/5

Ever since I became an uncle, apart from the love, I’ve also felt a need to impress my nephew. Whether it was with silly magic tricks, or toys, or ways to use toys, everyone wants to be the cool uncle that they tell their friends about. And what better way to ensure that than by discovering and subsequently exploring a whole new dimension?

Saying that a game features a different dimension than ours draws with it several questions, main of which being what it looks like. In this area, the designers hit the nail on the proverbial head. The areas that you explore in the game are impressive, vast, and at times beautiful to the point of jaw-dropping.  

You will explore open areas where you jump between floating cliffs, set against the backdrop of a sky with a thousand stars, as well as underground tunnels and caves, with glowing runes on walls lighting your way and deep chasms waiting to swallow you. The sound is appropriate and follows the standards set by the graphics.

Speaking of jumping between cliffs, it’s more swinging than jumping. You only get two pieces of equipment in the entire game. The first one is an experimental glove, that allows you to grab specific anchor points spread out over all the walls in the game and pull yourself towards them. The second are shock absorbers on your legs, so that you can land safely from any drop, provided there is a floor.

For the most part, this method of swinging and flying around works really well. The momentum and speed of jumping around are easily felt, as much as current technology allows. In very few places you might feel like a jump is too far or too high, but even the several retries you might experience in such places do not take away from the general lack of difficulty. This is not a bad thing; it’s refreshingly non-infuriating.

The story starts with a man telling a young girl a story about his uncle, an amazing scientist who disappeared one day. Setting on a quest to find him, our narrator finds the equipment his uncle had prepared, and enters the other dimension, hoping to find his family member. Without revealing too much, the story later adds other plot twists and turns. It’s a pretty decent story, dealing with the themes of love and tradition.

Overall, there really isn’t much more to say about it. It’s one of those games that you finish, say “neat” to yourself, and let it sit in your library, satisfied you supported the work of talented individuals who you hope will go on to do more things like this. It’s a game where you swing on energy vines through beautiful environments. If you would like to see what that feels like, and you don’t mind venturing into other dimensions to do so, play this game, and experience the uncle’s story.