Caravan SandWitch

I would love to recommend this game but there's 1 glaring issue that ruins it for me. Often in chapters, progression in the story is locked behind getting a certain amount of materials, which at least for me was very time consuming. I love every part of the game apart from this but ended up refunding it. After a few months the game was free on epic so I picked it up to give a second chance, and got quite a lot further before hitting a massive material count to progress. There should be an option to skip this as the game really loses its coziness and charm when presented with a big grind. This is skipping a lot of other smaller things like the driving which when holding shift becomes very difficult to control, the inclusivity while great and I support still feeling a bit forced and a big nitpick of mine being always told about how bad the space city is but never actually shown it. I'll stop before this review becomes too long and negative as the game is still somewhat enjoyable in parts, just not enough and it wastes the players time too much.

Very cute and beautifully animated game. Great story line!

Played the demo for this some time back and was impressed how it was a calming game with nothing to kill and nothing trying to kill you. The music and sound effects are smooth and unobtrusive. Finally bought it when it went on sale, and enjoyed it until about two-thirds through. Then the political agendas started coming out. PROS: -- Smooth gameplay even at highest graphics settings on a moderate machine. -- Unobtrusive sounds and music. -- Driving the van is easy and intuitive. -- Lots of spatial puzzles in appropriately-increasing difficulty as the game progresses. CONS: -- SHORT. Buy on sale, not full price. -- Fairly low-poly game by today's standards. They could have spent a bit more resource budget on textures to make up for it. -- Some aspects of 'how to quest' are not entirely clear. -- Low-key political statements/attitude throughout, but particularly in the second half. -- [spoiler]Depressing ending.[/spoiler]

Já vi roteiros melhores escritos em paredes de banheiros públicos, os personagens com a profundidade de um pires, a dirigibilidade da van é horrorosa e os puzzles são escassos e fracos. Meu jogo favorito nesse mundo também é sobre um bando de homossexual no espaço [signalis], mas esse aqui é paia demais olha. tudo o que esse jogo tem de bom são os aspectos visuais e o potencial que tinha e que não alcançou.

休闲解谜，玩着不累，画面非常舒服，主要是通过解锁货车装置去到新地方，但是新能力都是货车上的，有很多大型建筑的攀爬场景（让我想起沙贝、退潮），但主角本身只能跑跳，要是主角自身有一些人物能力会更有趣。音乐也好听（推荐曲目：Pensée Dérobée、Intro、Bienvenue），对我来说唯一槽点是LGBT含量太高，总共有3对同性恋和2对异性恋，你有2个老爸，姐姐和好朋友（女）谈过，老太太的旧相好也是女的，性少数硬是搞成了性多数。除此之外，所有人物的性格都挺可爱的，对话有趣，村民、类人蛙、流浪者、机器人、沙巫…他们的立场不同，但都很善良。任务的发布和结算是由社交媒体的方式发送，NPC们还会在里面聊天，氛围舒适，让玩家在这个世界有参与感，总之是玩着很轻松舒服的一款游戏。全成就大概10~15h，只需要注意做完限时任务再开启下一章节，其他成就都不会错过。

Caravan SandWitch is a charming indie adventure that focuses on exploration rather than action. You set out to find your missing sister, but the real heart of the game lies in discovering the island and uncovering the stories hidden across its world. Exploration can make or break a game like this. Either the world feels empty and you just want to rush to the ending, or it completely pulls you in and makes you want to see every corner. Fortunately, Caravan SandWitch belongs firmly in the second category. The island is just the right size, featuring a variety of biomes, abandoned buildings, and hidden locations without ever feeling overwhelmingly large or filled with empty space. Progression is handled particularly well. As you unlock new gadgets, previously inaccessible areas become available, encouraging you to revisit locations and peel back another layer of the world. Hunting for upgrade compartments scattered throughout the island was surprisingly addictive and rewarded curiosity, making exploration feel meaningful rather than optional. The story gradually becomes more engaging as you piece together the mystery surrounding your sister while also learning about the planet's history and its inhabitants. Side quests help flesh out the different communities, especially the nomads, giving the world personality even if most individual characters don't leave a lasting impression. Visually, the game has a colorful and inviting art style that perfectly complements its cozy atmosphere. While the narrative never reaches an emotionally powerful climax, the relaxing exploration loop more than makes up for it. I found myself enjoying the simple act of driving around the island and uncovering its secrets far more than I expected. Final Verdict: Caravan SandWitch is a relaxing and rewarding exploration game with a well-designed world that constantly encourages curiosity. The story is interesting without being exceptional, but its satisfying exploration and cozy atmosphere make it an easy recommendation for anyone looking for a laid-back adventure. Score: 7.5

About the gameplay: The basic concept is really nice. The first few hours are enjoyable enough. There is some music, nothing groundbreaking. The visuals are all right, but it kinda looks like a corporate video. You may be able to "chill" here and there if you want to (and the game would really like you to want it), but you get better results by watching ambient youtube videos. There is not much to explore, you just go to the same places over and over and over and over again as you get upgrades. Multiple sidequest are "time sensitive", meaning if you build your next upgrade (which equals to progressing the main story) you will not be able to finish them. This is utterly pointless and it just enforces you to travel back and forth to the same places multiple times (i guess that is one way to increase playtime). It makes the game really annoying and feel like a chore by the end. About the story and the setting: Oversimplified, dumb narrative spoonfed to you like you are an elementary schooler in your first natural sciences class. And the game is not even trying to go beyond that. Boring dialogue. Ridiculous writing. Even the very few intriguing parts of the game will feel uninteresting by the end. And the narrative setting goes something like this (to oversimplify it even more): - Evil big corporation of a space faring civilization is bad because it wants to do a Dyson construct to solve energy problems. - Evil big corporation is evil, because it does not like sentient AI robots. - Evil big corporation and its stockholders are evil, because profit as such is bad. - Some environmentalism about the responsibility towards nature and a few recurring sentences (I would rather not call them dialogues) against exploiting the environment and people. But don't worry, even in the grim darkness of future capitalism, it is very important to be woke. I mean come on. This character has two mothers. The main character has two fathers. The old woman of the village is apparently gay. The old hermit is also gay. Multiple characters with unspecified genders (including the only baby). And all this between about 10+ people. LGHDTV flags in a few places because why not. This is not about representation. The whole narrative and setting is soft propaganda. An intentional, unsubtle brainwashing attempt. This is a game version of a corporate sensitivity training video you have to watch for social credit. Well, maybe that is the price you have to pay to get money from the French Cult. Ministry. Even with discount I would not recommend this game. (Unless you are really bored.)

Laid back, wholesome exploration game with no pressure. A lot of fun.

I'm sorry, but I can't recommend this game, to me, it's very slow, boring, and empty.