Have you ever heard of Hound Picked Games? They are award-winning indie PR and Kickstarter experts. With over 70 years of experience and around 300 games they have collectively worked on, this team understands indie development and is here to help its growth. They specialize in promoting and publishing indie games, claiming to select only the most representative examples of this category for release, meaning indie titles that most people will want to buy and play. If you need a guide to the best of the best from this production world, they are the right choice for that.
Thus, on their list is a promising Dutch studio, HomeBearStudio, about which we will share a few words. They are the creators of the Nairi franchise, which is essentially a point-and-click adventure with elements of a visual novel. The first part (Nairi: Tower of Shirin) was funded through Kickstarter, where it was supported by over 200 people and managed to raise the planned funds for development, which cost just under 10,000 euros. The game was localized in German, French, Italian, and Chinese, and the inspiration for the art style came from Studio Ghibli, Disney, and Pixar. It was very well received on Steam, with an average rating of 9/10.
In this point-and-click graphic adventure, you move through a world where humans and animals live side by side. I mean, here animals are also portrayed as humans. They work, talk, and do everything an average person does in their day, and much more. You, as the player, take on the role of Nairi, the main protagonist. She lives in the wealthy district of the city of Shirin. When her mentor, a raccoon, advises her to leave the house and never return, she escapes and ends up in the lower district of Shirin, deciding to explore it with her friend Rex. Along the way, Nairi discovers the secrets of an ancient world and realizes that her role in this world will be something greater...
Nairi: Rising Tide is a direct sequel to the first story. The story is divided into several chapters, where you have the opportunity to temporarily experience the action through the eyes of other characters. Nairi remains in the primary role, realizing a conspiracy against her family and deciding to do everything to save them. During this adventure, they face various obstacles, especially when she and her friends realize the extent of corruption in Shirin, and on top of that, a dangerous prophecy threatens to destroy the world. So, as for the game itself, it contains a melancholic story that can intrigue players of various ages.
The locations you traverse are interwoven to better connect the story, and you never know what ancient ruins are waiting for you to explore just around the corner. You can communicate with many characters (NPCs) along the way and learn additional information related to your mission. This point-and-click adventure is also not lacking in puzzles, which means you'll have the opportunity to exercise your brain. Some things you will be able to solve through pure logic and what you might do if a situation from the game were in your real world. For tougher problems, a hint system has now been introduced to help you when you get stuck in progress. This was also one of the players' requests for this sequel. I must admit that at one point I found it challenging to figure out what to do next, so this system was more than welcome.
The game relies heavily on the visual representation of the UI interface, so the text is kept to a minimum. This may pose a problem for some, as it can be difficult to understand what the game wants from you when you have the option to interact with objects. For example, a tool system has been introduced that allows you to combine items and glue them together, hammer them, etc. You have plenty of slots available for combining, but the game doesn't explain precisely how it works. I lost a lot of time figuring out the mechanics around that. Sometimes I would get stuck in progress because I didn't know that some items could be directly combined even without the mentioned tool, so it wasn't clear how to achieve what was shown to me in the hint. Essentially, a more straightforward tutorial on interaction possibilities with items is needed. Additionally, I noticed that it can be tedious that you cannot skip some dialogues, especially those you accidentally reactivated with a character. The dialogue repeats, and you still have to "click through" to the end.
The art style is something that represents the pride of this game, featuring hand-drawn illustrations inspired by the previously mentioned studios. It is worth noting that this sequel now has a map and fast travel for easier exploration of locations. This is especially useful when you get stuck and wander from one place to another for a long time. At least now you wander faster (ha-ha). In ninety percent of locations, coins can be hidden somewhere in the background, so you should pay attention to that as well. You use coins in the game to buy hints. Fortunately, the game is generous with them, so you'll always have enough if you have a keen eye. The soundtrack is also impressive and will effortlessly immerse you in the atmosphere of the mysterious and rich Shirin. The story may be somewhat of a melancholic political intrigue, but we can't say the game lacks humor. On the contrary, it is abundant, accompanied by the characters' facial expressions, so the absence of voice acting here doesn't bother at all.
I believe that the sequel (despite minor issues) will interest and delight players who enjoyed the previous Tower. I certainly did. Rising Tide has a lot to offer compared to its predecessor, and the game is definitely at a higher level of the indie category, as Hound Picked Games itself promised. Nairi: Rising Tide is now (and for now) available exclusively for Microsoft Windows and Nintendo Switch. Find out if Nairi will manage to save her family and perhaps prevent the infamous prophecy of apocalypse in this very intriguing adventure for all ages.
A copy of the game for review purposes was provided by the development studio Hound Picked Games
