Draugen
Draugen is a single-player, first-person Fjord Noir tale of suspense and mystery, set in 1920s Norway. From the studio that brought you Dreamfall Chapters, and the creative team behind The Longest Journey and The Secret World, comes a first-person psychological mystery set in 1920s Norway. The year is 1923. You play Edward Charles Harden, an American traveller who's come to Norway to find his missing sister. But you're not alone: at every step of the way, Edward's accompanied by his ward, Lissie; a gregarious, independent and enigmatic young woman. Together, you must explore this scenic coastal community — nestled amongst the fjords and mountains of rural Norway — in your search for Edward's sister, and unearth the darkness that lies beneath the picturesque surface. "I am not alone": explore 1920s coastal Norway accompanied by a living, breathing, independent companion Interact with your companion, Lissie, through a realistic and dynamic dialogue system Experience a thrilling tale through the eyes of an increasingly unreliable narrator Find your own path through a scenic setting that changes with the weather and Edward's mental state "A story about what lies beneath": piece together a gripping narrative with unexpected twists and turns
Game Discussion
Steam User 12
Interesting mythology and atmosphere, but you could see the twists coming a mile off and compared to other walking sims like Edith Finch or Everybody's gone to the Rapture it's all a bit bland, for me. Worth a punt if under a fiver.
Steam User 7
Draugen tell's a story of loss and acceptance all while ignoring the more interesting aspect of the mystery. It's a shame considering how beautiful and interesting the world is around you and I couldn't help but think of the wasted potential this game has the whole time I played. It's still an interesting experience albeit a tad shallow.
Steam User 3
Needs a neutral option, but I'll pick the closer of the two and recommend it.
It's a beautiful game which allows for a nice bit of clashing against the rather grisly, macabre narrative that unfolds before you. I also enjoyed the Alice character in theory, especially the later developments of her.
But there's only so much you can get out of this game. It seems unwilling to really stretch with its ideas. You have an unreliable narrator at times, but it never digs deep there. You have detective machinations, but you're railroaded and just have to point Edward forward and hold W until you win. It's a walking sim but the developers call this a mystery. And yet you don't solve the mystery at all. You have no real agency as Edward.
It's not incorrect to lack agency in a walking sim. Edith Finch had more even so, but it wasn't swathes more. Instead, Edith succeeds better here through the strength of writing. Draugen isn't poorly written, but it doesn't have the same amount of meat to chew on here. It especially has some clumsy dialogues dotting its playtime, which makes me confused. If we're locked in, we need more. If we aren't locked in, we could go around a lot more with the clumsy hand.
It just feels like the developers shot down the middle instead of focusing on either side of that chasm.
It's not enough to sink the game. Frankly if the characters were better I'd still happily recommend this. But Edward in particular is probably the most annoying protagonist I've experienced this year. He's just so whiny and boring even when things shape into an interesting direction.
Alice after a while just yells at him for this, which is valid because she's entirely right. Get your head outta your ass, Teddy.
I'm happy to have beaten the game. However it feels like they set the stage quite well and just needed to finish it better, and thus didn't quite stick the landing.
Steam User 3
A weak recommendation, 6.5 out of 10. It's a walking simulator and the story in the background isn't really a great one. Also, there are two very similar plot twists in the game (with the second one clearly visible almost from the very beggining). The first twist was a bit more surprising, but actually welcome, as it made the relation of the protagonists far less creepy for the modern audience (basically, with what we learned about Edward and Alice, the only relationship between them that seemed to make any sense was of an older, 40-ish man and his 17 YO wife, with the marriage having had to last for at least over a year. And the dialogue and the relationship between the characters did seem to sell it. Which would be period realistic, it's 1923, but quite creepy for the modern audience, so I did welcome the plot twist. (That being said I really enjoyed the banter between Edward and Alice and I cannot understand people claiming the dialogue is cringe or unrealistic, as in some comments. The dialogue was very good.)
Also, the game is very short, so I'd only consider buying it in a sale.
Steam User 2
This is a neutral review, not a recommendation per se.
Draugen is an extremely short walking sim about a man looking for his sister in a secluded Norwegian village.
It ends too soon just as it was about to get interesting. The culmination is not powerful enough. Technical state of the game leaves much to be desired.
Steam User 2
I feel very conflicted about this game. I'm recommending it because I love how gorgeous the art and music are.
There are some minor failures in the order of the interactions that give you the sensation that you're missing things (options disappearing depending of what you choose first, objects that can only be interacted in the right moment and then never again..) but are minor annoyances.
The problem is the story. The game tries to convince you that you're playing a detective story but half game the writer shows the middle finger in a very badly presented plot twist and keeps on mocking about the player invesment in the story until the end, when a "our heroes will return" title appears in the credits when you're totally detached of the characters and anything that could happen to them in whatever the world they're living. The ideas for the "twists" were interesting, but were developed in the worst way possible, rushed and even confusing. Fortunately is a short game, from the twist on everything turns so unreal that there are no stakes at all, you drag yourself to the ending and ok. Sad disappointment.
Steam User 2
Awesome game, dont even feel bad I neeeded to do 6 playthroughs to finally get last achievement :P. Im actually glad I did, all pieces of puzzles are at place and got the full story. Hopefully there will be a sequel. Recommended all the way.