![]() ![]() I first really started paying attention to Superbrothers with their Less Talk, More Rock manifesto, because I'm an easy dupe for anyone who drops a charming manifesto and looks like they're going to try and walk it like they talk it. You're in journey-over-destination territory. And if you're interested in the game, you better get used to that. I'll get back to Sword & Sworcery EP eventually. I'm being prosaic, because I'm just about to go off on a 500-word micro-essay tangent. It's a graphic adventure which stresses atmosphere and style over traditional puzzles. It's converted lovingly from its initial Apple phoney-paddy-thing format last year, where it was very well thought of. Sword & Sworcery EP is the result of a collaboration between Superbrothers, CAPY and musician Jim Guthrie. ![]() The saccharine prose, the frequent swells in the music, the infinite cheerful orbs of glowing light – all of it gets poured on thick, as if every tiny detail of this game absolutely must fill your belly with sparkles of childlike wonder, or else something bad will happen, like some baby animals will die, probably.Let's be prosaic to begin with. It has an obsessive side, exerting a subtle yet encroaching pressure on you to freaking relax and enjoy yourself. However, Sword & Sworcery isn't quite as chill as it lets on. It sounds like easygoing flower-child stuff. I take it to mean that the game wants to be approached calmly, as a plaything rather than as a challenge to be vanquished. That's stilted nonsense, of course – it roughly translates as "This is not a transcendent experience, merely a transcendent experience" – but so is everything The Archetype says. #Superbrothers sword sworcery ep scythian free#As The Archetype puts it early on, "S:S&S EP does not produce the transcendent experience, it is merely intended to free the nervous system of ordinary patterns." It never urges you to push ahead, and in fact encourages you to look around and take a break once in a while. For the most part, though, you browse at your own pace, preferably a languorous one. There are elements you will recognise as traditional game-y stuff: some low-key puzzles, and a few very simple battles. Is it rude to fight a bear-boar hybrid thing on someone's grave? Nah, that's probably OK. It's a framework, a justification for a world in which the player can explore or even just exist – Sword & Sworcery would be totally fine with that. In any case, don't get too wrapped up in the story. The senior thesis practically writes itself. Your guide (and possible overlord?) is a cigar-chomping corporate sort named The Archetype, for Pete's sake. The specifics of the quest are not of primary concern to Sword & Sworcery all that really matters is its quest-ness. I could go into more detail, but it's hard to say too much without giving away the whole store, and it wouldn't make much more sense anyway. You play as The Scythian, a warrior-adventurer who tramps back and forth through the woods, joined on occasion by a few friends, seeking to wield the Megatome of ancient knowledge and awaken spiritual sprites by singing songs of Sworcery. The thin fabric uniting Sword & Sworcery's artistic collaboration is a vague quest. I'm a cave whose burps are made of rainbows, what's your deal? These perfectly commendable production elements come together in a perfectly commendable work that doesn't quite inspire lasting passion. Like Adams and his pixels, Guthrie layers miniature building blocks – short audio loops and esoteric effects – into impressive aural moments. ![]() As a result, the game is filled with scenes that ought to be framed and hung on the wall.Ī round of applause is in order, as well, for musician Jim Guthrie, whose soundtrack starts from the game's strongest inspiration – Zelda – and gives the old adventure-anthem genre a more weathered and adult sound. With brick-like pixels and a palette dominated by muted greens and blues, artist Craig Adams (he's "Superbrothers") hand-crafts the moody forest enclave where the large part of your quest plays out. I admire its visual style, a lush, proto-Bohemian echo of King's Quest tableaux from the Apple II era. Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP is built to be loved, and I admire the hell out of it. Love creates movement in the soul admiration stands there and smiles. It can be explained, sometimes, but not premeditated. You can evaluate a thing on its merits and talk yourself into admiring it. ![]() There's a difference between admiring a piece of art and loving it. ![]()
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