Inuit Mythology professes that everything around us is inhabited by a soul. The game Last Inua, an adventure platform puzzle game, which is based on this mythology is abounding in soul. Following a man and his son in the harsh cold North, Last Inua tells the story of the journey two family members will take to stop an evil spirit named Tonrar which is threatening our world, including the father and son duo. The father with his impeccable strength, and the son, with his spiritual abilities are granting help from three sacred keepers that will help defend the world in balance. The story is very emotional, and telling more than this surface interpretation would spoil the experience greatly.
The artstyle in Last Inua looks like a clean cave drawing come to life. It has a cold atmosphere with its fierce strobes that resemble a fierce snowstorm. The physics are very streamlined, but feel primal. Somebody went to the extra effort to make this game be able to be played on even the most basic mobile phones. The artistic experience on PC is still jaw droppingly good and make it very satiable to play the meager 3 hours that it took me to finish the game. The music attributes to the atmosphere of isolation, and isn’t in your face for a majority of the game. It’s very celtic and envelopes the soul that this game tries to have.
While this game has tried very hard to be a mobile game, it’s controls are clunky and almost unplayable. Leaving the experience not perfect on either format. The game is digestible with a keyboard and mouse, making it feel much more of an enjoyable experience at a home desktop on a fixated screen. It’s physics are close to Limbo but are nowhere near as tight. And animations sometimes take away from the feeling of control, and sometimes they make the game look and feel very clunky.
Speaking of clunky, the gameplay has a switch mechanic to it. You simultaneously play both characters, one with a focus on block breaking and wall-climbing puzzles, the other is focused on spiritual teleportation puzzles. While the dexterity of these characters are slow, the journey towards the end of this game is very short and almost forgives the less than decent gameplay.
This has been one of the simplest games I’ve played this year. And in some ways that is refreshing when considering how many long and taxing games I’ve played this year that require much endurance. Games such as The Witcher 3 or Metal Gear Solid V are the polar (pardon the pun) opposites of Last Inua. This makes the meager 7.99 for 2 hours a good distraction for your money. However, this game is on sale galore, and when the price is usually 2 dollars, it’s hard not to pass up as an appetizer to start your day or something to wind down a stressful, mentally enervating day.
Last Inua from Glowforth should be in your library, not because of its nowhere near perfect gameplay, but because of its ability to combine different art together. The music and graphics combine to make this game salable for anyone who plays games pallete. However, the simple gameplay can be a turnoff for some people. Leaving us with the conclusion that the game is a 7.0.
