A narratively rich and enjoyable Indie
Two Falls is a surprisingly good Indie game, coming right in the middle of Native American Heritage Month in the US. It’s no mistake that this game is releasing now, but it’s also worth noting that it’s not just another marketing ploy to push a poor, half-baked asset flip.
Sure, Two Falls is a bit janky and some of the graphical and technical issues will require you to fiddle around in the options to find the optimal performance for your rig. However, given this is an Indie, developed by a small team with a lot of passion and love, the character writing and narrative both help this one shine, and make for a wholly enjoyable 3-5 hour journey.
The game itself skips back and forth between two narrative focuses – a naïve French woman called Jeanne who’s looking for a husband in Quebec, and Maikan, a native looking to avenge and honour his ancestors. The crux of his journey stems from hunting a wolf killer and bringing back the white fur coat belonging to the deceased animal. The only trouble is, this hunter happens to cross paths with Jeanne first, and the pair agree to travel together up to Quebec.
The story is split across 7 chapters, with Chapter 5 the longest in the game. This is also where you’re given a bit of freedom to explore but to be honest, there’s not a whole lot to see outside the main narrative. The chapters skip back and forth between the two central characters, with dialogue choices directly impacting how they view the world around them.
The bulk of the game plays out through these dialogue choices and they do offer a bit of variety to this dialogue-heavy experience. There are a couple of deviating threads here, and the game has some lovely moments early on that seem completely innocent but pay off in a big way toward the end. I genuinely didn’t expect to se a choice I made in Chapter 2 come back in Chapter 6 and determine the ending, making for a more narratively rich experience. Again, no spoilers here but these little moments definitely stand out.
There are some choices that railroad you into taking the same outcome, which does feel a bit manipulative though. Early on, you’re given the choice of whether to run or silently hide from a hunter lurking about in Jeanne’s story… but both lead to the same encounter regardless.
Dialogue choices are presented as two deviating options, and these usually directly impact your personality rather than anything else. These can then be fed into later dialogue choices that can shape how easily you influence others. For example, some choices make Maikan more trusting of outsiders, strengthening his ties with certain individuals he travels with.
By comparison, Jeanne can become more liberating or dogmatic toward her religion, while you can build up her manipulation toward talking people into believing her lies. These do make a difference to the ending scenes too, so there’s the teasing option of going back through a second time.
Outside of the dialogue (which is fully voice acted too), the game sees you entering simple levels where you wander from point A to B. The dreaded “walk and talk” sections are here, and you’re not given the option to Sprint most of the time unless the narrative calls for a more urgent set-piece that’s about to crop up. The exception though is if you get too far away from your companion while exploring, which I guess is at least something.
Regardless, it’s not too much of a deterrent because the landscapes are genuinely beautiful. There’s a definite attempt to make this natural world as aesthetically pleasing as possible, and the devs have even includes some “lookout points” where you can check out the draw distance and natural beauty of the world. Given all of this game takes place in the woods, and across the winter season, seeing the landscape slowly change to include more snow, or take place at different times of the day like dusk or the miday helps to add to the variety on offer.
On top of wandering around, you can examine a limited number of items in the environment, with a couple of achievements tied directly to this, like hunting for an elusive frog. It’s a nice bit of busywork to pad the run-time out but to be honest, it would have been nice to have more variety with the level design during these sections.
A lot of the walking sections are tedious, with one in particular seeing you walk slowly as Maikan across a very simple pathway alongside a river, through a canyon and then zigzagging up a hill. There is a slight attempt to give branching paths but they always converge to the same end point and feel more like a loosened leash than an attempt to make this a living, breathing world.
You never get the feel of the woods being this vast, gargantuan area. There are no random animals lurking about (minus one encounter with a deer) and the aforementioned achievements are linked to specific set-piece areas. It would have been nice to see something akin to The Forest or Horizon: Zero Dawn; a vast forest full of trees, fauna and flora, allowing you to really explore and get lost in the beauty of it all.
However, the game is really here to drive forward the narrative and thankfully, this is where Two Falls is at its strongest. There’s a consistent theme here surrounding the Native Americans but despite the strong character writing, there’s not much in the way of nuance. There are no shades of grey here; the Americans are awful and irredeemable while the Natives are pure-hearted and good. Given the game boasts narrative choices, a bit more of a lean into letting Jeanne and Maikan deviate that spectrum of good/bad would have done wonders with this one.
However, this is a nit-pick with everything considered. Two Falls is a solid Indie experience and highly recommended. It’s definitely worth the £14 asking price, and the game has enough weight to its narrative that you never feel like your time is being wasted. Sure, it has a few technical hiccups, but given the slew of Indies out there, this one’s definitely worth a play.
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