Draugen has me stepping back into the walking sims territory. Hit or miss as far as those go. Does this short 1920s mystery in Norway hold up, though?

Stepping into the shoes of Edward Harden we disembark in a small coastal village of Graavik searching for his missing sister. However, he's something of a stick-in-the-mud kind of character far more interested in his own quest than anything else and Draugen balances that out with his companion Alice, or Lissie which she seems to prefer, as polar opposite to Edward with an extremely bubbly personality. Two complement each other like a glove, but soon find not everything is as it seems in Graavik. In fact, no one appears to be there and our dynamic American pair soon find themselves tackling that particular mystery as well...

Some walking sims attempt to flesh out the world with myriad of items to [pointlessly] examine, some go for rudimentary "puzzles" to solve, and yet all seem to thrive on building up atmosphere. Draugen definitely falls in that third as this Norwegian village in the middle of nowhere has immense atmosphere through sheer desolate landscapes. Howling wind is ever-present and fixed weather effects as well as time of day are at narrative convenience of the story. In fact, only familial aspect is your chatty companion Lisse with even a dedicated button to call out to her. She becomes your link to reality in this harsh place that never really takes any threatening action against the protagonist. Thing is, that's a double-edged sword as Lisse may quickly wear out her welcome provided she doesn't click with you from the beginning with her mannerisms. I expected a twist with this kind of setup, especially as you come across more and more clues as to what happened to both your sister and local bigwig family in who's mansion you take shelter for the visiting week, but when said twist hits it still managed to surprise me. Not that it covers up for what is essentially a very weak and understated story. There's open endings and then there's giving your players blue balls.

Would I recommend Draugen? There's nothing OFFENSIVELY wrong with the game, but almost everything except for the visuals and sound design - landscapes primarily since character models could've been better - seems to falter to some degree. There's little to really DO except walk forward and read some cryptic notes, story does not end in satisfactory fashion for my taste, and I'm not the sure I approve of the state Edward finds himself at the end. Then again going by that teaser in the credits there may be more coming which would flesh out our boy and Lisse further for possible improvements.

Draugen has me stepping back into the walking sims territory. Hit or miss as far as those go. Does this short 1920s mystery in Norway hold up, though? Stepping into the shoes of Edward Harden we disembark in a small coastal village of Graavik searching for his missing sister. However, he's something of a stick-in-the-mud kind of character far more interested in his own quest than anything else and Draugen balances that out with his companion Alice, or Lissie which she seems to prefer, as polar opposite to Edward with an extremely bubbly personality. Two complement each other like a glove, but soon find not everything is as it seems in Graavik. In fact, no one appears to be there and our dynamic American pair soon find themselves tackling that particular mystery as well... Some walking sims attempt to flesh out the world with myriad of items to [pointlessly] examine, some go for rudimentary "puzzles" to solve, and yet all seem to thrive on building up atmosphere. Draugen definitely falls in that third as this Norwegian village in the middle of nowhere has immense atmosphere through sheer desolate landscapes. Howling wind is ever-present and fixed weather effects as well as time of day are at narrative convenience of the story. In fact, only familial aspect is your chatty companion Lisse with even a dedicated button to call out to her. She becomes your link to reality in this harsh place that never really takes any threatening action against the protagonist. Thing is, that's a double-edged sword as Lisse may quickly wear out her welcome provided she doesn't click with you from the beginning with her mannerisms. I expected a twist with this kind of setup, especially as you come across more and more clues as to what happened to both your sister and local bigwig family in who's mansion you take shelter for the visiting week, but when said twist hits it still managed to surprise me. Not that it covers up for what is essentially a very weak and understated story. There's open endings and then there's giving your players blue balls. Would I recommend Draugen? There's nothing OFFENSIVELY wrong with the game, but almost everything except for the visuals and sound design - landscapes primarily since character models could've been better - seems to falter to some degree. There's little to really DO except walk forward and read some cryptic notes, story does not end in satisfactory fashion for my taste, and I'm not the sure I approve of the state Edward finds himself at the end. Then again going by that teaser in the credits there may be more coming which would flesh out our boy and Lisse further for possible improvements.