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I'd been in a bit of a rut with not wanting to commit to any particular game, lately, so instead I decided to throw a few darts at a board (or rather, break open a few Backloggery randomized fortune cookies - same principle as the old names-out-of-a-hat method) and grabbed the shortest-looking thing I'd drawn.
What I got was The Deer God.
The game starts on a cold open where a deer hunter has the unluckiest night ever, simultaneously getting mauled by wolves, struck by lightning, and failing to even shoot the thing he was out to bag. Then a giant glowing deer face tells him he needs to reincarnate and atone for his sins.
Suddenly he's a deer fawn. Almost immediately, an older stag unceremoniously dumps a double jump power on him (don't you know, deers are well known for being able to jump in mid-air) and sends you on your way without another word.
Yeah, this is one of those games that doesn't tell you what the hell is going on and expects you to figure it out yourself. "Press this button to charge forward and kill enemies!" it says, right before placing you near a series of non-hostile creatures. They glow red when you murder them, to indicate you did a bad. You won't know that right away, of course. However, sooner or later, you'll discover that spikes are instant death even if you walk up to them from the side, and your Glowing Cervine Deity will tell you that "your mischievious actions have earned you punishment", and you reincarnate as something else, such as a fox.
Foxes can't double jump. Foxes can't eat the various delicious berries all around. Being a fox is apparently the worst thing ever because animals don't leave corpses when they die, just magical clouds of pixels. You starve to death and die again, only to come back as a deer. Again.
You still have no idea what the hell you're supposed to be doing.
Turns out, the solution is more or less "go right". Going right solves literally all your problems. Quests will show up and get resolved. You will get abilities that mostly amount to "do damage" or "move better". You can murder hostile, predatory animals if you wish - those explode in blue pixels, which mean you did a good. Apparently that's "karma" in the deer world - don't murder anything that doesn't find you delicious.
If it weren't for platforming and the ability to occasionally solve the simplest puzzle or fight a boss, if it weren't for the threat of being not alive any more, then this would basically be a 2D walking simulator. It's pretty, it's atmospheric, it's got a nice soundtrack, but I'm still not sure what it was trying to do except "go right a bunch". Well. Go right and light yourself on fire. As a source of endless amusement, one of the special abilities you get just lights you on fire, which in turn lights anything hostile that you touch on fire. It's well known that ninjas can't catch you while you're on fire, but this is apparently also true of foxes, bears, cougars, hunters, giant rocs, giant scorpions, and porcupines. Spikes can still catch you while you're on fire. watch out for spikes. You go right long enough and you collect magical macguffins, apparently prevent the apocalypse, and can choose to either be a human or a deer with a medal for the rest of eternity. One of these options is technically an ending and the other actually is.
This was a relatively low-effort three hour clear. It was aesthetically pleasing (except when light colors got too overwhelming and I started getting eye pain), but it was very very light on the content.
I would recommend it, except it's $15 on Steam and that's way too much. If you can get it for like, a buck or two, sure, but full price is highway robbery.
What I got was The Deer God.
The game starts on a cold open where a deer hunter has the unluckiest night ever, simultaneously getting mauled by wolves, struck by lightning, and failing to even shoot the thing he was out to bag. Then a giant glowing deer face tells him he needs to reincarnate and atone for his sins.
Suddenly he's a deer fawn. Almost immediately, an older stag unceremoniously dumps a double jump power on him (don't you know, deers are well known for being able to jump in mid-air) and sends you on your way without another word.
Yeah, this is one of those games that doesn't tell you what the hell is going on and expects you to figure it out yourself. "Press this button to charge forward and kill enemies!" it says, right before placing you near a series of non-hostile creatures. They glow red when you murder them, to indicate you did a bad. You won't know that right away, of course. However, sooner or later, you'll discover that spikes are instant death even if you walk up to them from the side, and your Glowing Cervine Deity will tell you that "your mischievious actions have earned you punishment", and you reincarnate as something else, such as a fox.
Foxes can't double jump. Foxes can't eat the various delicious berries all around. Being a fox is apparently the worst thing ever because animals don't leave corpses when they die, just magical clouds of pixels. You starve to death and die again, only to come back as a deer. Again.
You still have no idea what the hell you're supposed to be doing.
Turns out, the solution is more or less "go right". Going right solves literally all your problems. Quests will show up and get resolved. You will get abilities that mostly amount to "do damage" or "move better". You can murder hostile, predatory animals if you wish - those explode in blue pixels, which mean you did a good. Apparently that's "karma" in the deer world - don't murder anything that doesn't find you delicious.
If it weren't for platforming and the ability to occasionally solve the simplest puzzle or fight a boss, if it weren't for the threat of being not alive any more, then this would basically be a 2D walking simulator. It's pretty, it's atmospheric, it's got a nice soundtrack, but I'm still not sure what it was trying to do except "go right a bunch". Well. Go right and light yourself on fire. As a source of endless amusement, one of the special abilities you get just lights you on fire, which in turn lights anything hostile that you touch on fire. It's well known that ninjas can't catch you while you're on fire, but this is apparently also true of foxes, bears, cougars, hunters, giant rocs, giant scorpions, and porcupines. Spikes can still catch you while you're on fire. watch out for spikes. You go right long enough and you collect magical macguffins, apparently prevent the apocalypse, and can choose to either be a human or a deer with a medal for the rest of eternity. One of these options is technically an ending and the other actually is.
This was a relatively low-effort three hour clear. It was aesthetically pleasing (except when light colors got too overwhelming and I started getting eye pain), but it was very very light on the content.
I would recommend it, except it's $15 on Steam and that's way too much. If you can get it for like, a buck or two, sure, but full price is highway robbery.
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