I lovingly present to you one of my best discoveries and also my recommendation of 2022, Eastward. A colorful, challenging and excellent adventure/RPG video game, with two incredible protagonists and an outstanding story.
After its release in September 2021, this time Pixpil brings us John and Sam again in a somewhat more conventional and serene adventure. Octopia It is the first and only DLC of the delivery, where our objective is nothing other than to find a new home and live the good life. Octopia It made its appearance this past January 31, for all platforms simultaneously.
It's not all about saving the world
It sounds somewhat strange that after the events narrated in the base installment of EastwardEdit let's end it where it is now Octopiawith which everything I discuss from now on happens in a parallel universe, with completely new and non-canonical events.
Octopia is a small, abandoned town where both Sam and John decide to settle with the desire to have a quiet life, away from dramas. What they don't know is that they will be the banners of the birth of a new people.
Cheap is expensive
In this new adventure right off the bat we are going to find a delivery that is completely opposite in dynamics. Octopia proposes a video game in the best farm simulator style, managing to compete with heavyweights like the great Stardew Valley, Fantasy Life and the mythical Harvest Moon. It is really to be envied the courage of Pixpil to enter these already cultivated lands, so we are not going to deny that the eggs are there.
At the moment of our protagonists' arrival, Octopia is just a memory of what at some point could have been, and with it, as the days go by, they realize that their arrival is no coincidence. As we advance in the calendar we will receive visits from different people who will also aim to settle in the desert town and since we are such good neighbors our plan will be to help them build their homes, businesses, etc., until suddenly we will be trying not to Not only build our home, but also rebuild the entire town by helping each new member who arrives in the town.
Obviously, most of the day we will be harvesting, cultivating and collecting all kinds of fruit that comes out of the ground and thus get money and basically support ourselves, but unlike several other simulators of this style, Octopia It occurs purely and exclusively in the universe of EastwardEditwhere the fauna and flora will be very unconventional.
After its release in September 2021, this time Pixpil brings us Jonh and Sam again in a somewhat more conventional and serene adventure. Octopia is the first and only DLC of the delivery, where our objective is nothing other than to find a new home and live the good life.
It is not really necessary to have understood or finished the base delivery, since nothing that happens in this section has to do with its roots; in the event that, if you have played it, at most you will have the opportunity to meet up with old friends again.
As in any farm simulator, our objective is to fulfill different small objectives during our calendar, such as helping a neighbor build their workshop, collecting a certain amount of various materials such as wood, minerals or crops, fishing, etc.
One of the well-handled features in Octopia is that this symptom that almost all agricultural simulation games present, fatigue, is adequately resolved. Basically in most of the deliveries of this style, the character's stamina is the limit we have to work for an entire day, where many times we must know what we want to concentrate on at that precise moment since, like any normal person, You will not have the time or energy to do everything you want in just 24 hours.
In this case we will have John who is not only very skilled at plowing the land and removing weeds, but he is a wonderful cook. We can use the different crops to make meals that will help us maintain the pace of the game for longer; and because they will not also be objectives of different secondary missions.
A beauty for the senses
EastwardEdit It is by far one of the indie developments that I most enjoy playing in my free time. I still remember visually comparing it to “something out of the universe of Katana Zero”, but today I realize that it stands on its own.
It is not really necessary to have understood or finished the base delivery, since nothing that happens in this section has to do with its roots; in the event that, if you have played it, at most you will have the opportunity to meet up with old friends again.
The visual of Octopia It remembers its predecessor completely and it's good that it was not decided to change it. The selection of color palette is bright, contrasted and with a sense of lighting that invites us to immerse ourselves without preamble, knowing how to use lighting very well both at pixelart levels and in a 3D way.
Sonically it is a gem, one of the most complete, fun and solid soundtracks that I had the opportunity to listen to in a long time. Composed entirely by Joel Corelitz, who has worked on installments such as the great The Unfinished Swan and no less important in the great Death Strandingso much EastwardEdit as Octopia They translate each note in a magical way and with immense affection.