PC and Switch players have a new adventure in Blanc, a game full of good ideas but with questionable technical execution. We tell you what to expect, in these lines!
white is the new of Casus Ludia French studio dedicated to games in general, but now it debuts with its first videogame with quite a unique adventure. In this title, with an aesthetic of drawing by hand and in black and white, we will control a fox and a deer who will have to travel several maps to find their families. Thus, with an adventure, platform and puzzle format, we will have to make our two characters collaborate and do everything as a team… but managing them at the same time. We tested it in its version of Nintendo Switch.
the grace of white is that it presents a system where you play with two analogues at the same time. The idea is that you control the fox with the left stick and the deer with the right stick, and since you don’t have to control the camera because it moves on its own, you will go with both of them at the same time, advancing and doing tasks so that your little animals can continue. with the way. At first, they start on “separate” tracks so you test each one individually and see how they jump, how they handle themselves, how the fox can go under places while the deer must jump, and so on.
But, the point is that eventually and as the game progresses, the two will have to start collaborating. Thus, the game system is made so that at times they separate, the fox throws some logs to form a bridge or the little deer puts its tail so that the other can jump high and reach a platform. Thus, you are mixing the talents of each one that must collaborate mutually to continue advancing.
The idea is adorable, but the execution not so much: Controlling two characters at once is confusing, and sometimes you have to collaborate with pretty precise timing to make it work. To this is added that the control is somewhat erratic and many times you have the correct idea but you have to be stopped at the exact pixel for the game to decide that yes, now it will show you the command to “push”, “jump ”, “help” or whatever you need at that given moment. It’s also a bit strange that, since the little animals have four legs, you can’t turn on the spot and many times you have to make half-open movements that make it difficult to find that sacred pixel that will allow you to progress.
As if to smooth out some of this nitty-gritty, it’s pretty cool when you’re playing in two-player mode – especially on the Switch where you can grab the controller, hand it over to someone else, and only carry on when they’re gone. This makes control easier, but on the other hand, it can bring frustration when someone is sure that the “perfect pixel” is somewhere and the other person assures you that it is not there because they already looked for it. Play it with a couple who is doing badly and you are about to return to being single. Play it with a brother or sister and you’re ready to go back to the days of bitching your mom called you out on.
But then, What reasons are there to play Blanc?
Actually, many. The art, with its white tones and freehand strokes are gorgeous and often feels like watching an indie animated film done with incredible taste. The ideas, although they are not well executed, do not mean that controlling the animals is not super cute and that the mood relaxing doesn’t permeate everything you do. And, the music is gorgeous with its minimalist sound of pianos and strings, worked with incredible good taste.
Also, although they are not always well executed, the game keeps you hooked with new puzzles and abilities that you unlock little by little. For example, the first thing you unlock is for the deer to put its tail so that the fox can go up, but then the fox starts to be able to cut ropes to open paths. Then you will have to work with both at the same time to pull doors between them and be able to move them, and there is even a part that you have to use the body of your little animals to shelter some ducklings from the wind so that they don’t get blown away – there is always some new mechanic or little thing.
In regards to accessibility, the game complies in the sense that there are no game overs and it is more than anything playful, fun, where every situation has a solution and you don’t have to start over from any checkpoint – it’s just going from A to B. However, between the frustration of control and that many times you don’t know if your idea is wrong but the menu doesn’t appear or if you’re making a mistake, this is often easier said than done.
It also doesn’t help when you think you have a great plan but the camera isn’t with you and you get stuck behind a wall, or when you can’t climb a wall or platform because the game simply decided that the solution is another and that’s not it.
In conclusion
Has it ever happened to you that you saw a game from afar and you thought at first glance that it had everything it had to have for you to like it… and yet it doesn’t convince you? that’s a bit white, a game where on paper there is innovative mechanics, unique art, and correct production values. However, you can tell that this is their first game and there are a thousand little things that aren’t quite polished, and it’s surprisingly frustrating for a game that, from the start, is meant to show how two opposing halves complement and help each other. the other. Blanc thus goes down in history as an interesting experiment but one that fails in the technical section.
| RELEASE DATE | February 14, 2023 |
| DEVELOPER | Casus Ludi |
| DISTRIBUTOR | Gearbox |
| PLATFORMS | Switch, PC |