Northern Journey

Northern Journey was an experience.
Unless you are extremely put off by low fidelity graphics or janky (but satisfying) gameplay then you owe it to yourself to play Northern Journey. It more than lives up to its name and there isn't anything else quite like it out there. It's beautiful, it's fun, it's sad, it's creepy, it's an ADVENTURE and all that tied together by the amazing score.
A game that could have just as easily been a walking simulator because the atmosphere is THAT good but also has a big roster of enemies, weapons and tons of puzzles to figure out and a lovely cast of characters.
Yes it is jank, yes a couple of the boss fights suck donkey dung but the good far outweigh the bad in its case and it all comes together to offer one of the most unique experiences I've had in gaming so far.
I've never felt closer to nature than I did playing this game without going outside.
My Playthrough of the game here.
My Curator page

An atmospheric adventure in a northern land, with a low poly aesthetic and a visual style inspired by Theodor Kittelsen. It's greater than the sum of its parts: it's not perfect, but it so damn well packed that every step you take is always surely followed by some more adventuring and exploring. Instant favourite despite its game design flaws, the most black metal and Burzum-esque game I've played yet

Beautiful masterpiece that stands out from all the atmospheric boomershooters. Made by someone who goes outside and you can tell.

Pros:
-Art and environments were amazingly good. It felt great to walk through the world and take it all in. Mountains, swamps, caves, glaciers are all beautiful, despite the low poly artwork. Sometimes I would quicksave, jump off a mountain, stare in awe as I fell to my death, then quickload.
-Bossfights are really epic! I felt myself tense up as I was fighting them.
-Weapons each have distinct uses and "personalities". There are slow firing crossbows and axes for high single target damage, and repeaters for lots of small enemies. I enjoyed choosing the right weapons for the fight.
-Game is just generally bizzare and I never knew what to expect next. Every level is a complete and total suprise.
-Most shooters only have one thing going for them, and that is FPS combat. As a result, they tend to get boring after a little while because you only really do one thing. This game solves that problem by introducing new mechanics frequently. You fly on kites, go lake diving, go cave diving, attend dance parties, climb mountains, solve puzzles, get chased by ghosts, etc. You do so much other than just shooting, which keeps things fresh
-It's scary, but not so scary you don't want to play; Just scary enough to keep things interesting!

Cons:
-Start of the game is kind of rough; I just did not know where to go or what to do. One of the first areas is a total maze. I had to look up a guide to know where to go, which is annoying.
-Some of the terrain is a bit "slippery", I fell of the edge or into a lake unintentionally all the time. Game is just generally kind of janky, but this is also kind of endearing.

Look, you know who you are. Are you the type of person to play weird indie games? Yes? Well welcome home then. Games like this are why I spend my money on indie games instead of the latest call of dooty.

this game feels like one of those random slightly ♥♥♥♥♥♥ gamecube games that your grandma would buy you for your birthday instead of the new mario game and it ♥♥♥♥♥♥ rules for it

A great game! Full of spiders.
I went into this expecting a short, game-jam esque affair and something very simplistic. I was pleasantly surprised to find a full-length adventure through a pretty captivating Scandinavian world absolutely full to the brim with spiders.
The atmosphere, music, artstyle ~ 'vibes' as we call em these days ~ are immaculate. You'll travel through a huge array of beautiful locales and meet the locals, mainly spiders.
The gameplay isn't great, but it's serviceable. You'll spend most of your time looking at pretty scenery, and the rest shooting at things(spiders). So, if you want to grade this game as a shooter, it'd rate pretty poorly. You'll be firing off unwieldy bows, throwing axes, and the hilariously awful yet ever-endearing sling, all while getting stuck on terrain.
Oddly enough, the game reminds me most of Half-Life 2 - a semi-linear romp through a series of setpieces with occasional breaks for mediocre gunplay. This doesn't sound that appealling until you realize the game is so utterly beautiful and full of charm that you'll keep playing to the end just to see what area or situation you find yourself in next, or what kind of spider you encounter next.
Occasionally, that area will be terrifying. This game spends a lot of time in deep, forboding caves full of spiders, or dark forbidden woods, usually also full of spiders. When the game brings out it's spools it can be legitimately pretty stressful and unsettling, though you'll always come out of whatever nightmare you find yourself in to see something beautiful and peaceful, so it really balances out. Still, I'm glad I'm not an arachnophobe but would seriously advise anyone who is one proceed with caution.
A really fun time. I beat it in 16 hours or so, and just as it was starting to drag, it ended. Kudos to the developer who I believe worked on this solo.

One of my favorite gaming experiences, a dark and funny medieval gothic journey through a strange and northern land.