Colossal Cave presents such a difficult overview for me to put in writing. And I’m not simply speaking in regards to the gameplay problem, which is substantial. It’s making an attempt to use my gaming acumen to a reimagined textual content journey that originated earlier than I used to be alive. So how can I discover that steadiness, taking a look at parts that stay trustworthy to the sport’s humble roots and people which were up to date?
Whereas the launch-day viewers may’ve been these with recollections of taking part in the sport again throughout America’s bicentennial, what is going to give it enduring legs on the Nintendo Change is interesting to extra trendy gamers. And it does an affordable job with this. You begin above floor earlier than shortly transferring to the cavernous underground setup. There’s little context, however the unique textual content is properly narrated to make you’re feeling such as you belong. Fortunately, you may regulate the amount settings to listen to it correctly over the music. It’s mysterious sufficient to lure in followers of first-person journey video games, comparable to my spouse and I.
It’s from that perspective that you just’ll be capable to take within the recreation’s sights throughout your treasure hunt. Whereas the ‘70s construct left you to your creativeness, right here you’ll be capable to admire a realized world. And right here is the place I have to wrestle with being balanced. The “scenic” visuals vary from strong to meh, with darkish and muddy textures showing fairly darn dated in 2023. However for any person coming from the 1976 model, a presentation like this could be virtually unimaginable. It leaves me torn.
One graphical quirk I’m much less forgiving of is the lighting. Your lantern operating out of gasoline and leaving you in pitch darkness is a gameplay mechanic; I get it. However when the presentation reveals me different mild sources, I’ll rightly query why these all stop functioning concurrently. Are different mild sources someway magically linked to my lantern? The devs may’ve thought eradicating this oddity would compromise the sport design. However, when adjoined by different updates, it simply feels foolish, if an in the end minor annoyance.
One other quirk (extra gameplay however connecting to the visuals) is navigation. It’s one factor to inform me I can’t use a ladder as a result of I’m not shut sufficient to it. However why can a gold nugget be carried up a rickety wood ladder however out of the blue be too heavy for stairs carved out of the grotto itself? Once more, I’d’ve ignored this with better-defined visuals, however the recreation paints itself into such corners, inviting these observations and questions. How a lot of an impression this stuff have is determined by the kind of gamer you’re.
No matter your emotions in regards to the visuals, the joys of discovery could be tempered by different issues. The restricted stock solely provides to backtracking via familiarly drab areas. Mazes (hit and miss in video games) are extra miss right here, coming off as time wasters slightly than satisfying challenges. Dwarves are an interruption at greatest, a random defeat at worst. Hints from the narrator are sparse, as are continues. Maps are of marginal high quality. And the odd glitch (one wiping out two rows of saves) may sometimes rear its unpolished head.
Nonetheless, from a pure time perspective, $39.99 is cheap, even when a lot of our time wasn’t precisely what I’d name “enjoyable.” The way in which the rooms are related higgledy-piggledy little question padded our 10-plus hours. We amassed simply over half the treasure, which was sufficient for us. Replaying to gather all of them (and obtain an ideal rating) is one thing that solely the most important Colossal Cave lovers will sort out.
Colossal Cave was a traditional textual content journey, however whether or not this reimagined take is “the journey you’ve longed for” may boil all the way down to your tolerance for dated parts. A lot has modified within the many years for the reason that unique title, and the developer and Roberta Williams have been family names within the gaming group. Going via the passages of this non-linear journey can nonetheless be a mysterious, secret-filled romp. But it surely’s probably greatest tackled with a superb dose of nostalgia.
