#Giraffe and annika switch review code

She does receive a necklace from Giraffe that is said to protect her when it matters most. Annika doesn’t actually have a weapon or anything to defend herself with. You get to enter the first dungeon almost immediately after agreeing to help Giraffe. I was slightly disappointed that I couldn’t explore like I wanted to as you can’t get to far off the path. I would have expected a less linear path in the dungeons to be able to explore more but that wasn’t possible. There are five dungeons to play through, again they are set on a linear path, in through the door of the dungeon and follow the path until you reach the dungeon boss. The driving mechanics of the game are asking around and doing a small amount of exploring to figure out progression of the story line throughout the game. Meowster pieces are drawings of cats which you collect for the Ghost Barron in the Spook gallery in return for a prize. There are a few secrets in the landscape to search for, like finding collectibles. Such as Mrs O’Hare who is missing her six little bunny rabbits and of course Annika agrees to find them all for her, in return the game progresses some more. You’ll meet humanoid animal characters along the way.

Most of these tasks are straight forward, but again it fits in with the narrative. Giraffe and Annika has a few puzzle elements where players collect items and run errands for other characters similar to fetch quests. I won’t go into to much more detail about the story other than to say Giraffe and Annika offers relaxed gameplay with the plucky optimism of an innocent heroine. It tells an emotional story through the eyes of a cat-eared girl. There are several stories to be shared, but it’s the main one that will probably keep players enthralled and it opens up bit by bit as you progress through the world. After all, Annika is a little girl, a young girl who really shouldn’t be faced with combat and fighting anyway. These very easy to dodge, either by using a object that has been well placed to block Annika from the attack, or just run past them as I did.Īt the start of the game and probably for a good hour or more of playing Giraffe and Annika, I didn’t like the scant combat feature of the game, however the more I played the game I came to realise that the pacifist side of the game fits in really well with the story. Again, you don’t fight these ghosts, instead you dodge their attack as they shoot projectiles at Annika as she runs past. The only other encounters with enemies in the overworld are with ghosts. Giraffe and Annika is a pacifist game, the only combat there is in the game takes place at the end of each dungeon when you take part in a rhythm battle with the dungeon boss. A day and night cycle in the game provides some variety to the quests as there are some quests that can’t be completed during daylight hours. Giraffe and Annika is a fairly linear game, you can explore of the beaten track, though there isn’t much to see or interact with off the path. The majority of the story is relayed to the player through manga-style cut scenes and I found that during those cut scenes this is when the personality of the cast really shines through, and the cut scenes are appropriately detailed with cute hand- drawn pictures. Along the way, Annika will gradually recover her lost memories, and she will learn about the island itself, the Felycan Cat goddess and uncover the secrets hidden throughout.

After a little push back to the idea of helping Giraffe, Annika eventually decides to help him and the game and quests begins. She ends up meeting a young man named Giraffe, who informs her of three elemental crystals that he needs her to find. But bizarrely, everyone on the island seems to know who Annika is. Giraffe and Annika is a new 3D adventure title by developer Atelier Mimina and published by NIS America.Īfter waking from a strange dream, Annika, a cute cat-eared girl, finds herself stranded on strange but beautiful Spica island and having no recollection of her past.

#Giraffe and annika switch review code

Review code used, with many thanks to NIS America Release Date: August 25th 2020 NA | August 28th 2020 EU

Developers | Publishers: Atelier Mimina | NIS America