Novadust Entertainment's first title, Europa, effortlessly combines narrative exploration with 3D platforming. The terraformed moon is gorgeous, with sweeping vistas, waterfalls, snow capped mountains, and magical ponds. It features easy to pick up mechanics with no consequences for failing, coupled with an emotive narrative ready to wet your eyes.
Nostalgic Notes from Father to Son
You play as Zee, the son of Adam, who is heading to the floating island above Europa. Armed with the Zephyr backpack, you'll glide and hover your way through the different areas of Europa. Missing your father, you head to the island, where Adam directed him to go when Zee feels the time is right.
The mechanics are easy to pick up, primarily centered around gliding and hovering using energy gathered in the environment. There are aggressive AI constructs, but you can't die, only lose energy from Zephyr. This lack of fatality instills a relaxing vibe to the game, even though there are platforming elements that may evoke stress under different circumstances.
The story unfolds as you collect Adam's diary entries, left behind for Zee to find. The entries are marked with a column of gold light, making them easy to find in wide open spaces. Some can be hidden, but the story has a review when you leave one region to enter another. There were four of these review periods that summed up the diary entries, ensuring the critical plot details were known as the game progresses.
The narrative does get emotional as you near the Island. I didn't expect to be moved to tears, but I was. The story pulls at the heartstrings in all the right ways. You become invested in the father and son story, their relationship, and their experiences on terraforming the moon. Truly, the writing of Europa is one of its strengths.
Whimsical Environment
The art of Europa further establishes the relaxing and stress free feeling of the game. The hills are a soft green, animals and friendly terraforming robots roam around crystal clear ponds. Fluffy clouds dot the sky and moss grows on the remnants of human buildings. The colors aren't harsh to look at and evoke the feeling of spring days. Even the harsher snow region is idyllic in design.
Cutscenes and certain animal snapshots exude a magical feeling while playing. Similar to seeing an elephant at the zoo, these instances felt like rare occurrences that should be treasured. Given context with the story, the cutscenes were even more awe-inspiring.
Matching the visual environment is the music, instrumentals that conjure images of quiet evenings, picnics with friends, lazy sun-kissed afternoons, and restful nights. It further reinforces the relaxing nature of Europa, even as I struggled to avoid energy steal bombs. I didn't lose this feeling at any point in time during my playthrough. Often with platformers I become frustrated, but this didn't occur even once while making my way to the Island.
Europa is a Sentimental Bite-Sized Game
For those with limited gaming time or who prefer shorter titles, Europa is a title to explore. The main story can be completed in 3-4 hours, with more time investment for those that prefer collecting all the Emeralds, Zephyr upgrades, or earning every achievement. I completed it in three and a half hours with some extra exploration and struggles with some of the platforming (darn you jumping). Parents could potentially start and finish Europa during one solid nap time.
Players who prefer longer stories will still like Europa. While it has a shorter playtime, the story is complete from start to finish. There aren't any side quests, but there are multiple items to collect, sketches to draw, and enemies to flawlessly avoid. On top of that, it's such a relaxing title that it can serve as a palate cleanser between larger, more involved narrative games.
The only downfall that I really experienced while playing Europa were the instances of forced perspective when moving through certain areas. Typically, you have complete control over your camera angle, with the ability to look around the immediate environment. At certain points in the game, however, the camera shifts automatically, which can be disadvantageous to what you're trying to view or do at that point in time. This occurs a handful of times and may not be a bother to all players, but is something you may want to consider.
Europa is a fully realized story with interesting characters, easy to grasp 3D platforming mechanics, and charming environment. Regardless of how long you like your games, Europa is one to add to your playlist thanks to its relaxing vibe. It is a title to experience, even for those that normally avoid platforming games.
Europa was reviewed on PC with a copy provided by the publisher over the course of 3.5 hours of gameplay - all screenshots were taken during the process of review.
Review Summary
Pros
- Beautiful world
- Easy to learn mechanics
- Fully realized story
Cons
- Forced camera angles