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- machineboy
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Embracelet
Released On: Sep 24, 2020
81
7.6
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 8 Critic Reviews
81
88% Positive
7 Reviews
7 Reviews
13% Mixed
1 Review
1 Review
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 8 Critic Reviews
81
88% Positive
7 Reviews
7 Reviews
13% Mixed
1 Review
1 Review
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Reviewing a game like Embracelet is difficult. It can be hard to convey the allure of something so simple, or the emotional impact of such a calm, quiet game. I think the only way to truly explain it is to describe the moment of watching the credits roll by. I felt honest joy for the characters. After four hours, I cared about them. I felt a deep sense of sadness that my time with them was over. I wanted to stay in this world. Not because there was some grand adventure to be had, but because I wanted to keep spending time with these characters. I wanted to see where their lives would take them. Embracelet is a brief glimpse into a beautiful world, and while I’m sad it's over, I’m glad I was able to be part of it while I could.
What a sweet game! Perfect for a relaxing Saturday. [Issue #51 – March/April 2021, p. 29]
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 7 User Ratings
7.6
86% Positive
6 Ratings
6 Ratings
0% Mixed
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
14% Negative
1 Rating
1 Rating
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 7 User Ratings
7.6
86% Positive
6 Ratings
6 Ratings
0% Mixed
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
14% Negative
1 Rating
1 Rating
I have to give this game a perfect score simply because it accomplishes what no game before it has been able to do: relax me. The music is phenomenally good— like up there with the original Final Fantasy VI soundtrack by Nobuo Uematsu. Like that composer, the music here is made by a self-trained musician (who also made the art, story, and programmed the game). It’s similarly melodic and simple. I’d recommend buying the soundtrack just because it’s so special. Many games pretend to be Miyazaki / Studio Ghibli inspired, but this game (without promising any of those references) actually pulls off the slice of life vibe of My Neighbor Totoro. I should point out that the game has a bit of a strange control scheme where you move the character independently of the point/clicking which can be an adjustment but it’s not as much of an adjustment that it should stop anyone from enjoying this one of a kind experience.
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Nintendo Switch
An amazing game! This is the coming to age game for everbody. My gaming experience of the year
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Nintendo Switch
Embracelet is a beautiful and emotional puzzle game with a focus on a story that explores maturity, identity and responsibility, both as an individual and as a global community.
It’s a bit point-and-click adventure, a bit puzzle game, and a bit walking simulator. The story takes you on a real ride, but the gameplay itself is rather relaxed. As long as you’re not expecting too much on the mechanical end of things, you’ll probably find yourself as engrossed in Embracelet as I was.
A charming adventure in a unique Norwegian setting, Embracelet is a delightful coming of age story full of magic, mystery and friendship.
Who would’ve thought that a Norwegian island far, far north could be so idyllic and memorable?
An adventure that doesn’t stand out in anyway. Embracelet isn’t buggy, broken or busted, but it is decidedly average.
Simplicity is what defines Embracelet. Everything was done with the aim of simplifying all the work as much as possible and this should not be questioned. Working in games is an arduous challenge, always requiring a lot of knowledge and time. Now imagine doing it all by yourself? Using tools intelligently and paying more attention to key factors such as plot and art, Mattis managed to make a very beautiful adventure that warms anyone's heart, especially at the end, making me feel an immense curiosity in knowing the trajectory of such striking.
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Nintendo Switch
It’s summer vacation, and everyone is sorting out where they will be for their break, not you, as you need to buckle down and study. It isn’t your fault, though, as school and you don’t mesh, plus your grandpa is on his last legs, and you have been visiting him as much as you can. But what if your grandpa had a secret, a secret he has told no one, not even your mum, his own daughter?
This is Embracelet, a story about a young man, Jesper, who is tasked with a great quest by none other than his grandpa.
Jesper is like every normal teenager, scooting through life without a care in the world doing the same thing day in day out. He goes to school, does homework, the usual stuff.
While visiting his sick grandpa at a nursing home, he is asked to check a drawer to get something for his grandpa. While searching the drawer, Jesper finds a picture of a younger version of his grandpa with a woman that isn’t his grandma. Like any curious mind, he asks, but his grandpa is more interested in him picking up a bracelet that lays under the picture. Jesper picks up the bracelet, and that’s when the real story starts.
Embracelet is, in the most simple terms, a point and click game. Players control Jesper as he explores a beautiful land south of Norway with a powerful bracelet to solve minor puzzles.
One of the first aspects players will notice about Embracelet is how beautiful it is. It isn’t beautiful graphic wise, but more the way the vibrant colours combine with the minimalist setting of the world create the perfect harmony of eye dropping beauty. It gives the sense that the island is gorgeous, but there’s nothing to do for the people living there. It provides that small island feel that only some will stay and others will leave to go onto something better, aka like real life.
The beautiful island aside, the characters, especially the main two teens, give players that same feeling: one wants to stay, and the other wants something more from life. Giving opposing sides to the same coin. Because while players need to learn about the bracelet, they also must choose between what they want Jesper to have in life by determining which of the two teens they align more with.
The story, in a sense, is linear because no matter what, there are story beats that will occur for everyone when pertaining to the story. Most would see that as a bad thing, but for me, this was a positive as it didn’t give me this false pretence that my decisions mattered overall. The choices that did matter were the mundane, the choice of who you fancied in the game’s narrative. The sense that some things had to be done while others didn’t allow the story to be told the way it needed to be told.
The sound in Embracelet also goes the minimalist way. Embracelet contains no voice actors whatsoever, but this approach works to the game’s advantage as it gives off this relaxing feel when soft music plays in the background. I am not sure if this was the idea for me to feel like I was in a mode of Zen, but if it wasn’t, I loved it anyway.
I could go on more about the story, but it would be spoiler territory if I said anything more.
Embracelet offers players a meaningful experience in a mostly real setting with a story that combines reality and truth with magic. While short, the experience will resonate with anyone that has ever lived in a small town or island.
A code for Embracelet was provided by The Indie Game Collective on behalf of Machineboy. Embracelet is available on PC, Switch, Android and IOS.
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Nintendo Switch
This is one of the most difficult games I've had to review! The game itself can't be directly compared with bigger budget studio-made games, as it's a one-man creative team: that one person could create such a deep game is truly impressive. But it would be unfair to compare it to bigger budget, built-by-a-team games. And yet it's tempting to do so since it's really not far off being something you could imagine a team creating. What I'm trying to say is it's a great game for one person to create on their own, but would be a rather mediocre offering from a studio, so I have mixed feelings about it.
This is a "bildungsroman" (coming-of-age) walking simulator/point-and-click adventure game where your choices matter. Not that there are any right or wrong choices, but choices that affect what happens in the story. There are one or two minor puzzles along the way but nothing too taxing.
I played on a large screen but I think it should work fine as a handheld game too. The low-poly art style, while not mind-blowing, is impressive for a one-person game. There's some nice music in there too, also created by the developer. I'd have liked just a little more variety in the music though… in places it got repetitive.
The story is great in a number of places, but very slow and drawn out in other places. Most of the beginning of the game, for example, could have been cut and filled in as dialogue-based exposition, or perhaps a series of flashbacks during the game's opening titles, at no cost to the overall game/story. I felt like the story didn't really get going in fact until about half way through the game; a less tenacious player might give up before then. But it's worth persisting with, in my opinion, as there are definitely some very touching and enjoyable moments in there and the momentum does gather in the third act.
It reminded me a lot of Mutazione which features a somewhat similar plot (main character travels to a remote island of misfits due to an unwell grandfather), has similar themes (teenage angst, love, friendship, camaraderie, coming of age, magic…) and gaming style (point and click adventure).
Controls were a little awkward in places. Not unplayable by any means, just a little bit clunky at times. I found it frustrating that the camera angle changes regularly so "right" would suddenly change to mean "up" or even, in a couple of places, "left". This meant sometimes I would run off one screen to another, only to about turn and run straight back to where I had just come from. Frustrating! But it was never bad enough to turn me off the game.
There were a couple of typos and slightly "lost in translation" moments in the text, but the gist was obvious at all times so not a major problem. And I encountered a small bug in the character movement during one scene which held me up for a few moments but ultimately managed to work around.
So overall it's an interesting game and I don't regret the money I paid. I love unique indie games and this was definitely a worthwhile play. In the future I will definitely be revisiting the island of Slepp in the future to see what the outcome of making different decisions might be. I definitely recommend this game to fans of the genre, but please go into it with appropriate expectations given it's made by only a single person!
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Nintendo Switch
Summary Embracelet is an adventure game set in Northern Norway - a unique coming of age story about love, loss, friendship and family - and a magical bracelet with mysterious powers. Embracelet is a puzzle adventure game with a gripping story, gentle and satisfying puzzles, exploration and a beautiful, orchestral soundtrack. You play as Jesper, ...
Rated T
for Teen
Platforms:
- Nintendo Switch
- PC
- iOS (iPhone/iPad)
Initial Release Date: Sep 24, 2020
Developer:
- machineboy
Publisher: machineboy
Genres:
