Available on PC (Windows, macOS); Consoles (Steam Deck, Switch 1/2, PS4/PS5, Xbox Series X/S)
Plenty of games have explored the theme of loss and grief. Still, Röki tackles these hand-in-hand with other matters, such as belonging to a community, reconnecting with the history of your land, and reconciling your truth and reality. Plus, it’s just always better to experience all sorts of perspectives. So the more stories we get, the better.
Before we get into it, I will say that Röki is not for everyone. It took me so long to finish this because it’s so slow-paced, and I don’t always feel like playing games of this type. It dives into the narrative part instead of the gameplay mechanics. No combat, just puzzles. I enjoy atmospheric and exploration types, but even then, this one became really difficult for me to get through. Sometimes you know where one thing is and what you should do, but it’s all the way back to where you came– there’s a lot of back and forth too. It’s fine up until you’re at your third or fourth runaround, then it just feels like you’re playing at a snail’s pace.
Now, let’s get to what I loved about the game.
First off, the art style. I’m such a sucker for this type. It’s one where you can take a screenshot at any point, and it’ll look like a storybook. With its nice, solid shapes and colors, it really brings the characters and world to life. I absolutely adore it.
The music is also not something to be taken lightly. There are points in the story where I felt my heartstrings being tugged, just enough for me to pause and admire the moment. To live in it. And I always appreciate a game that’s able to do that.
The puzzles can be challenging. It uses an inventory system; some items you find go into the journal, and some are items that are usable. It’s up to you to figure out what to use them for. Sometimes, you can also put two things together to make a whole new item. Röki’s puzzles are… not as concise as I’d like them to be. Some puzzles require you to speak to one NPC several times, and others require you to speak to several NPCs. I didn’t realize there were puzzles like that the first time, so I got stuck at some point. I only replayed and finally finished it after not touching the game for a year. And even then, there were moments where I was nearly stumped!
But what is Röki about?
Röki is a story where you play as Tove, whose family has been struggling with the loss of her mother for years. And although her family has never been the same after her mother’s death, Tove still loves her brother and her father immensely. Unfortunately, they are attacked by a monster in their own home. Her brother is missing, and her father is presumed dead. At this point, Tove does the only thing she can: she goes to save the only family she has left.
In the game, Tove discovers she has magic, and this helps her explore places lost to time. She unravels the history of these places and meets the creatures that inhabit them. All of this is inspired by Nordic folklore, so, for me, there’s an added sense of wonder and discovery.
As the game progresses, Tove will realize things aren’t as simple as they seem. It’s not just the stories that are trapped in the past; people can be caged by fear, too. Fear can mold how people interact with others, and how that can build their own prejudices. Throughout all this, we get to see Tove’s own growth in terms of her grief and how that wisdom will shape the world around her.
The story itself is beautiful. However, if there were a way to skip through some of the animations for interactions, especially if you’ve done them five or six times already, then I think this would have been better. As it is, I think it’s worth experiencing, but only if you’ve got the time and patience for it. When I played the game, it took me about 10 hours to finish it (my year-long break from it, not included).
Röki goes on sale quite frequently, so there are plenty of opportunities to grab it while it’s at a discount if you’re not sure the pacing’s up your alley.
