Northern Journey

Northern Journey
N/A
Metacritic
97
Steam
89.871
xDR
Our rating is calculated based on the reviews and popularity of the game.
Price
$11.99
Release date
18 August 2021
Developers
Publishers
Steam reviews score
Total
97 (2 214 votes)
Recent
92 (63 votes)

A norwegian happysad game set in a northern land! Adventure through a beautiful and very varied wilderness. Dive, fly, use ziplines and find different weapons to aid your journey to reach the cold mountains and below. Encounter over 50 unique bosses and enemy types!

Show detailed description

Northern Journey system requirements

Minimum:

  • Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
  • OS: Windows 10 (64)
  • Processor: 2.4 Ghz
  • Memory: 3 GB RAM
  • Graphics: GT 640
  • Storage: 7 GB available space
  • Sound Card: Stereo
  • Additional Notes: Game highly optimized. Will run fine even on older hardware.
Updated
App type
Steam APP ID
1639790
Platforms
Windows PC
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vodselbt
vodselbt

A delightful and dangerous feeling adventure story told through a satisfying FPS campaign, with a lot of surprises and variety all the way to the end. My only complaint, and it is a major one, is that there are numerous really frustrating combat encounters with mobs of enemies that can deal tons of damage to you in an instant. It's almost enough to really put the game away for good; the encounter design in this game is crap. But the sense of scale to the environments, the beautiful skyboxes, all the strange characters you meet, and the perilous scenes the campaign forces you into, in the end, made putting up with the struggle and tedious frustrations of the combat worth it for me.

i3lindGuardian
i3lindGuardian

However you found your way to this game, be glad you did!

It doesn't do any new groundbreaking, or absolutely innovative and revolutionary game play style or anything, what it does do, and does extremely well, is just pulls you in with its atmosphere, variety, and immersion. It has this interesting and engaging mood that's very hard to find in games. I never know what's around each corner, or what's coming next. The world and characters are just so unique and strange in their own way.

Game play wise it's a fps where you move quite fast, but it's more about exploration and that sense of discovery than constant fighting. Make no mistake there is lots of combat, it just doesn't bombard you every second, you get a chance to soak it all in and explore.

So again, don't go in expecting some wild new gaming concept. Just wait til night, put on some headphones, and lose yourself in this world, worth every penny.

Enol Cook
Enol Cook

What an experience, what a journey.

Try it.
You will find a unique game with an incredible atmosphere.

From unusual great music & sounds to exceptional visuals & level design.
Enjoy ~10 hours of memorable and surprising exploration.

Siradein
Siradein

I watched Tomato Gaming play this before buying it myself.

There's such a big difference between watching someone else play something and experiencing it at your own pace.

This game is beautiful and depressing at the same time. The music is haunting, the sky is bleak, the people are all weird and alien, both in appearance and action in most cases. I for one am glad there's no achievements because they tend to take away from immersion, and this is truly one of those games where full immersion is recommended.

Шыша добрый кот
Шыша добрый кот

This game is a gem.

Excellent atmosphere, ominous. Soundtrack adds to the atmosphere. Colors make the atmosphere.
Interesting characters.
Quicksave button became my favorite.
Monsters chase you very far.

What I miss a bit:
- More elaborate stealth mechanics (e.g when you crouch/walk, monsters note you less)

Zygolatz685
Zygolatz685

Magnificent, one of the best games I have played in a while. I would like to write more but it is 2am. I binged this over a weekend, very nice effort by the developer, hope a lot of people buy it and you make some good $.

gaminji
gaminji

please play this game, i am begging you. it's a truly wonderful experience from front to back, and my only complaint is that it ended.

SirBoDodger
SirBoDodger

Superb. A cracking little adventure. It's better than some of the things you already think are dead good.

Metacritic
Metacritic

Game is brimming with more heart, soul, and ideas than any mega-budget big-studio project could hope for. A folkloric journey through Nordic jank-core heaven. Had a smile on my face the whole time. It's all at once funny, terrifying, beautiful, ugly, relaxing, stressful, and always endearing.

snow crash test dummy
snow crash tes…

If you love the raw speed and circle-strafing of classic boomer shooters, but want something with a little bit more of a deliberate pace in combat, I can highly recommend a sling-only run here ;D

But for real, this game is a lot of a fun. The developer clearly loves the old health-pack shooters of the 90s, and brings a wonderful weird vision and plenty of personality here. This isn't a game that's going to hold your hand, but it's not like it's punishingly obtuse.

I hope to see more from this developer in the future. Give them your money!

ScubaSteve
ScubaSteve

Enjoyed every minute of it, OST is great, the visuals gave me mad nostalgia, and the puzzles are fun without being overly complicated. The level design was great and the art style of each level was definitely one of my favorite parts.

mezz
mezz

Northern Journey is a first-person shooter, set on a fantasy island that surrounds you in mutely colored nature, offering an abundance of invertebrate wildlife. Armed with a variety of medieval ranged armaments, ranging from slingshots and throwables to bows and crossbows, you venture through a variety of foresty landscapes toward the icy mountains.

Gameplay

The game's weapons require more involvement from the player to use effectively than most other shooters. Due to their primitive nature, projectiles drop far down when shooting over greater distances, making the compensation of aim a necessary skill for almost all gear. With some weapons, shots can also be slow to take off in the first place. The slingshot and bow cannot be kept drawn indefinitely, making it necessary to only draw them before taking a shot, which adds an element of timing and intentionality to using them.

Other than the act of shooting itself, most mechanics are very simple and largely resemble those of old-school first-person shooters. Ammo and health pickups are placed in static locations, and enemies never respawn once killed.
While the game world does offer branching pathways and levels with large open terrains, which would make it easy to expect an open-ended world of some kind, progress is gated fairly linearly behind a sequence of key items, which are required to unlock paths or character interactions that were previously inaccessible. Early in the game, there are a lot of shortcuts that allow fast backtracking to the village where you start, but as you progress there is much more of a straight forward momentum.

Each level offers a unique roster of enemy creatures, giving each environment an organic feeling and novelty when exploring. However, as far as gameplay is concerned, their behavior in combat offers little variety. Most encounters can be overcome either by slowly picking individual enemies off from afar, or by running backwards and shooting straight at a horde of enemies until they slowly thin out in numbers. While each weapon has certain situations facilitating its optimal use, all of them boil down to shooting plain projectiles that can hit one enemy at a time, and in the heat of a fight are prone to missing their mark. Encounters grow more overwhelming in enemy count and toughness, and your arsenal somewhat struggles to keep up with giving you options to deal with them efficiently.

Flaws and Technical Issues

Being a solo dev project, some lack of polish is to be expected and excused. However there are some technical flaws, which although each on their own may not seem like a big deal, do eventually add up to grow frustrating. Here are some, listed in no particular order:

- Enemy sounds are not properly spatialized. The left and right channels are always perfectly balanced, making it impossible to locate threats without a direct line of sight. This ends up being very disorienting when ambushed and surprised.

- There are no autosaves of any kind. You are expected to manually quicksave for the entire playthrough, however the game restricts where saving is permitted. While some of these restrictions make sense (such as during combat or falling), some are frustrating to deal with. Being close to an NPC you have interacted with recently or standing on slightly "uneven" ground can be enough to not allow saving, which can quickly lead to you forgetting about it entirely, and cause a sizable and frustrating loss of progress later down the line.

- Many walkable surfaces are unsmooth and have jagged collision shapes, which can become dangerously unpredictable on narrow walkways or near ledges. Frequently you either launch off a cliff unintentionally or fail to perform a jump, due to the game already considering you to be "mid-air", because you walked over tiny slopes or other uneven geometry.

- Melee attacks from enemies aren't distinctly telegraphed moves. They just approach until they clip into you, and deal damage for every frame they stay in touch. It feels odd and doesn't really allow for much close-range maneuvering and positioning, the best strategy seems to always be backpedalling and keeping your distance at all costs.

Final Judgement

After finishing Northern Journey I had quite mixed feelings. At first, it seemed natural to reflect on the various technical issues and flaws in gameplay and come to some kind of negative conclusion about the game, but it wouldn't quite match up with the experience I've had actually playing it.

Despite the various shortcomings and underwhelming combat, I grew fond of it regardless. I find it difficult to express exactly why the atmosphere drew me in. There is something therapeutic about the foggy autumnal environment and its creepy crawly inhabitants, that made me want to keep going forth. The combat overall is pretty serviceable and does a good enough job. While I wish it was more tightly designed, I might have made it sound worse than it really is.

Ultimately I don't regret playing it, it's worth picking up for the environments and entrancing atmosphere, if you can overlook FPS gameplay that's somewhat undercooked, but still playable.

You also get a cool synth ambient soundtrack included for free: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6Cr70QpjqM

LevianXO
LevianXO

This game prompted my first steam review it's that good.

It requires a bit of perseverance, but it's so worth it. The level design, the combat encounters, the ambience are all first class and despite looking relatively old school the environments during some moments look genuinely beautiful.

I can definitely see myself coming back to this game to explore and make the journey again.

Morion
Morion

What a game... from the impressive scenery to the fun and creative gameplay, this game keeps amazing you. I can't complement it enough. And the level design is so masterful that it's unbelievable a single guy just kinda made this game.

Jmod
Jmod

A weird atmospheric adventure. If you want something that is visually beautiful, strange, and with an atmospheric soundtrack and great level design, then this is it. A refreshing soothing journey that really helps with stress.

Agent Orange
Agent Orange

Northern Journey is a game… Nah but fr this game goes hard. It’s incredibly weird in an endearing sort of way. (and downright creepy at times) It’s got some incredible scenery to explore, exploring this game is just an absolute treat. The music is good, story is interesting and eerie, the level design takes the cake for sure but there is a lot to love. And one thing not to love, that being the combat. To call it good would be a white lie and quite frankly I’d only consider it to be serviceable so it’s a good thing the combat isn’t the selling point. I’m a hardcore fps junkie I’ll run circles around you on Ultrakill but I will NEVER play that second last boss again. For sake of not spolining anything we’ll call him the cunt on top of the mountain. This guy is probably the worst designed fps boss I’ve ever encountered so be prepared for some unfair asswhoopin that’s all I’m sayin. At the end of the day, if you’re already considering buying this game, I say 110% do it. $12 is Highway robbery when what’s being offered is 10-14 hours of some of the best exploration and immersion the videogame industry has to offer.

Wsujrdfginoh ▲▼▲
Wsujrdfginoh ▲▼▲

Northern Journey is easily the best game of 2021, at least that I played.
Every aspect of the game is filled with so much charm. The graphics are beautiful and incredibly efficient and competently made. It runs extremely well and looks fantastic. AAA studios could learn something here. The graphics look realistic and also very stylized. The characters and enemies have very interesting designs. The music is wonderful and does an fantastic job at conveying the intended atmosphere at all times. However, the core of the game is the gameplay. Playing this game felt like playing Half-Life 1 for the first time again. The weapons were very unique and fun to use. The game constantly featured new types of enemies, level designs, and mechanics. It stays interesting the whole way through. There is not a dull moment. I felt more of a sense of adventure and exploration playing this game than anything else I have played in a long time. The biggest compliment I can give this game is that it truly, more than almost anything I've ever played, felt like a completely unfiltered artistic view of a man with a real passion and a vision to make something purely based on his own desire. If there is any argument for video games as art, this game is it.

gungadin22000
gungadin22000

Honestly, this is probably the most impressive game released in 2021. As a small indie game, it has next to no budget, 2001-era graphics and awkward combat, but it is probably the most insanely atmospheric and immersive first-person experience I've had since Arx Fatalis.

Why is this, you might ask?

Well, you know those deformed zombies in the sewers in Dark Souls 2?

In Sinner's Rise in DS2, you take an elevator down into some sewers at one point. Here, you will find 2 or 3 deformed zombies with a completely unique model, moveset and sound effects. Those are not found anywhere else in the game and are a horrifying surprise the first time you see them.

Well, that's this ENTIRE DAMN GAME!

Jesus, I've not come across such enemy variety in a game since....ever. Every map doesn't just have its own set of enemies, you will find unique enemies around every corner. The 2nd map in the game has a very elaborately designed giant swamp monster guarding some loot and is never seen again in the game.

While most enemies are a variation on the theme "giant insect" or "evil forest creature", the movesets they have is very diverse and makes the game immensely tense. You never know what the next type of giant bug will do to you and adjusting your tactics on the fly is a neccessity

Level design is extremely varied and the open-world is well made, with maps looping back on themselves and more pathways being unlocked to allow you faster access to earlier areas without having to resort to anything as immersion-breaking as a fast travel system.

I absolutely recommend Northern Journey for anyone seeking an engrossing and slightly surreal first-person adventure and wholeheartedly hope for the one-man dev studio to actually aquire some funding for their next title. With creativity such as this and actual money to burn, the sky is the limit for this developer.

Martin
Martin

Best handcrafted world I've ever seen. Play it slow. Stop often and take everything in.

I regret not saving at the bottom of Fallcrush :(

Combat 7/10
World 10/10
Soundtrack 10/10

Ferrin
Ferrin

One of the most unique FPS games I've ever played. Stunningly beautiful in its' own fabulously different way, with textures sourced from actual real life imagery taken by this game's sole developer, something that very very few developers bother with nowadays. The combat can be a bit rough, but it's still charming, and I wouldn't have it any other way. The soundtrack is stunningly beautiful, with dark synths, distorted percussion, and lush, reverbed-out norwegian overtone flutes.

Calebb
Calebb

Just completed this game and I found it to be a great experience!
It's a fast paced FPS with a surreal narrative, full of beautiful scenery.
The game features a ton of weapon variety and environmental challenges. Be warned, this game can be very hard but every challenge is surmountable with the correct approach. Personally I found some of the platforming segments quite coarse and touchy for how quickly the player moved and the amount of multitasking required; but these challenges were ultimately rewarding as they push you to revise your strategy and adapt to the situation. I found it useful to avoid picking up certain items in easily accessible areas if I already had enough health and ammo, allowing me to spread the limited resources over a larger amount of the game. The mechanics change often, providing new game-play variety in almost every new area while never abandoning the core experience of fps action.

The character design is loony and inspired, dripping with symbolism. The dialogue is sometimes blunt, playfully mocking the player while providing detailed instructions. Other times it's satirical, bordering on Kafkaesque, lots of humor, and folk sensibilities.
The world is simply gorgeous. Most areas are multifaceted with great attention to detail. A layered lock and key system makes backtracking rewarding and there are plenty of useful items stuffed into the nooks and crannies. The music is at once grand and subdued, buzzing bass and cutting synthesizers are paired with eerie sounds of the forest and melodic chanting. Unfortunately the audio mastering leaves a little to be desired. Although the mix sounds great with headphones; through my speakers the music was barely audible over the sound effects and ambient noise and the only option in the settings is to reduce the music volume!
Although some players might find the level of polish unsatisfying (there are a couple dips in quality throughout the massive world map, and occasionally you can get stuck in the ground, forcing you to jump up a smooth incline), the game is clearly not made by a large team with a budget; those who appreciate a handcrafted experience will find a lot to enjoy in this game. Highly recommended!

Lambda
Lambda

Wow. Just wow. What a game.
Don't get too much into spoilers or what awaits you. Just play it. It's 10 bucks extremely well spent. Clearly a passion project, with a LOT of effort put into it. Game has a a very expansive world, a great variety of enemies with clever tactics that make playing through every zone unique, and a cast of characters that are downright deliciously weird.
Only actual cons that I can think of is that the game has a super ugly death screen, some typos here and there, and the occasional backtracking isn't great.
Everything else is imho great. You're probably not going to play anything like it.

Gatke the Lesser
Gatke the Lesser

Embark on a first person adventure where you'll kill everything from spiders and mosquitos to bears and trolls with a variety of ranged weapons including a sling, crossbow, throwing axes, and more.
A great effort from a solo dev that managed to capture the feeling of an actual journey with interesting and engaging level design. Between the character designs and enemy designs you'll probably feel like you've lost your mind. Learn to enjoy that.

Crito
Crito

I highly recommend this game to ANYONE who even remotely enjoys first-person adventure games. The atmosphere, artwork, writing, and game play is all phenomenal. This game is everything I love about indie titles. Weird, charming, engaging. Risks that no AAA studio would ever take. Starts easy, becomes challenging. Never too hard, but makes you work for it. I will absolutely replay this game again.

Outstanding. BUY THIS GAME!

edward
edward

This game is the epitome of "Don't judge a book by it's cover"
I bought this game expecting to be put off by the unconventional art style and quit after a few minutes, and at best get a couple hours of gameplay from it. But this game thoroughly exceeded my expectations, the art style merges perfectly with the dark and creepy theme of the game. The characters, the dialogue, the enemies, the world, the ATMOSPHERE, it all comes together so nicely.

It's kind of like an Elder Scrolls game, except instead of a true open world, each zone is basically a level that you have to progress through. This game is linear, you move from one area to the next, and seldom come back unless you missed something. Every nook and cranny is intentional, if something looks like a secret pathway, it is a secret pathway, every little cove and side path you explore will reward you with a valuable pickup, exploration is always rewarded.
Side note: All weapons are ranged weapons, so no melee combat.

Orbleflex
Orbleflex

A truly delightful game, highly recommended for people with fears of one or more of the following:
- Spiders
- Heights
- Small spaces
- Deep water

Oof
Oof

An amazing passion project, with so many charming and unique moments to take from this and appreciate. This game has beautiful set pieces and genuinely scary/trippy moments, along with a weird world full of strange enemies, characters, and environments that are unlike any other game I've ever seen. I recommend it to anyone who likes retro-styled shooter/adventure games, or people looking for a strange and unique experience.

Give this game a chance it's a hidden gem!

UrbanSLUG
UrbanSLUG

One of the most atmospheric games I've ever played. Mindblowingly much content for being made by one guy. Can't wait to see what's next for Slid Studio.

Puckish_Rogue125
Puckish_Rogue125

In just my three hours with it absolutly. There is something so charming about his journey. I cant really put my finger on what it is. It doesn't bog you down with exposition, and the mechanics of the game itself as well as exploration are interesting on their own. one thing that drove me crazy initially was the way the character gets stuck on the simplest of inclines but you eventually get used to it.

GLUE
GLUE

Made by a single developer with such a great passion, that captures such an unique atmosphere that no game has done it to this day. The music is mesmerizing, the gameplay is great, the secrets are neat, everything is unique.

Believe me when i tell you, this is one of the best games that has ever graced the PC.
It can compete on the levels such as Thief 1 and 2, Deus Ex, System Shock 1/2 and other titles. While not an immersive sim, it's certainly immersive to you pull into the unique world of combat, story, puzzle solving and non-linear maps.

Few games managed to capture an atmosphere within a forest and such vast open areas, and as the title suggests, it's certainly a journey you won't forget any time soon.

And did i tell you about the price? It's only 10€.
The developer is certainly very talented, very creative and releases bug fixes constantly, or rebalances where most people would abandon the project or make empty promises. No Early Access, no waiting for content. Everything you pay, you get up front.

While this might slipped up the radar on every game journalist or reviewer, it shouldn't have.
Few games dare to make such risks such as this one, when playing safe is not an option.

With no coverage, it is spread mouth to mouth, or text to text, such as back in the old days. Devs from devs, and so forth.
Like buying black metal cassette tapes not knowing what you will get back in the day, then hearing that one thing that is great and you tell your friends about it, and they tell their friends about it.

I can go on for more, and more. But it's certainly not needed. I write very few reviews, sometimes as jokes, sometimes when i want them, or to help the community.
But this one is for the developer, and for the people who are on the fence of buying it. BUY IT. DO IT. He deserves respect and all the money he can get. It's also his first game.

Hell, if you don't believe me, believe in David Szymanski who made DUSK. And we all know how good DUSK is.
He praised the game, and he knows his stuff by proving himself on DUSK and Gloomwood and other titles he did.

Sylvonik7
Sylvonik7

I unironically like this game more than Elden Ring

Northern Journey was made by a single person, and yet the level design is on par with DS1. It can get a lil janky for sure, but look past that and you will find a fantastic game.

9/10

JangleCat
JangleCat

Crazy game. I love the goats, they're the most terrifying enemy I've ever encountered in any video game, ever.

𝕾𝖔𝖈𝖐𝖊𝟞𝟝✌
𝕾𝖔𝖈𝖐𝖊𝟞𝟝✌

this game comes with a little, non-game breaking jankiness... nonetheless the depiction of nature is adorable, level design is top-notch with charming norse mythologic elements. if you don't need a video game to hold your hand and if you like exploring how a game works on your own (at least partly, the way it used to be a long time ago) then this is for you. the fact, that only a single developer screwed this together, makes it outstanding. ...aaaand: you can save in most places (as long as you're far enough away from any interaction) whenever you like, which is always a huge plus in my book. [edit]: ah, and i forgot to mention: it's also non-abandoned so far.

big bargiler
big bargiler

It's a lot of fun. If you're any familiar withe the whole quake-like pattern then you'll get the hang of it pretty quick. It's easy to get really absorbed in the atmosphere. Almost makes you want to not go so fast.

Sir Mansel of Macsen
Sir Mansel of Macsen

This game is one third Acid trip, one third atmospheric work of Art, and one third Norse Mythology crash course. I love it.

The Bard of Balmung
The Bard of Balmung

This game is a fantastic little creature that I've stumbled upon. I found out about it through a message board which described it as a walking simulator, and the screenshots/gameplay of the store page had me very much attracted to it. I've done two playthroughs now (one where i got all the collectables and killed everything) and I still haven't had enough of this game.

As someone who values the effort that goes into the creation of games, I'm floored by what the creator alone has managed to achieve with this. To start a playthrough in Northern Journey is to immerse yourself into a well-crafted and beautiful world with its only agenda being that you go on an adventure.

And that's truly all that it is. Northern Journey is an adventure, plain and simple. Even with its rough edges and overall simplicity, that pure sense of adventure never leaves the game and from beginning to end you're going to enjoy the proper ecstasy of traversing the world itself. The locations, whilst not far from each other, are so varied and built on atmosphere that they end up being quite memorable. The story isn't cinematic or overbearing, it's an excuse to get lost in some fjord in the top of Norway and get swept into the shenanigans of woodland creatures, and that that is refreshingly simple. There's barely anything to criticise in it, even the bugs are routinely worked on by Slid. Some parts might overstay their welcome, and perhaps some things are repetitive, but honestly any issues with this game are probably going to be in the eye of the beholder rather than objective. This game gives what little it promises.

However, the greatest thing about Northern Journey is the fact that it's the result of one guy and Unity. Slid has gone through so much effort just to create this world and adventure because he enjoyed the idea enough to bring it to fruition. The fact that a lot of it is based on his own experiences gives everything in the game even more value in my opinion (being Scandinavian, I'm sure he knows what fighting trolls and nixies is like XD).

All in all I really do recommend giving it a try. Northern Journey is just this nice, comfy adventure that you can play with zero expectations or background and just sink into. It's awesome. The only thing more awesome is the knowledge that Slid is making something else, and it would be great to know that even more people than those currently know about the game will be there when the next project drops. Just spreading the word about this inspiring little game helps, get people into it by all means.

Clasy Jones
Clasy Jones

This game is wonderful, it's trippy and engaging. Incredible soundtrack, beautiful landscapes, everything is a treat. You get lost in it. I've honestly been blown away.

Serious Sam
Serious Sam

This is a hidden gem. It's one of those games where, after beating it, I wish i could go back and experience it for the first time again

Salvale
Salvale

3 minutes in greenslit: man this music is getting annoying
3 hours in greenslit: WEEEEEEEEEEEDAIIIIIIOOOOOOOOOOO WEEEEEDAIOOOOOOO WEEEEDAIIIOOO WEEEEEEEEEDAIIIIOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

GimmeYourKidneys
GimmeYourKidneys

I absolutely adore the first 3/4 of this game. The scenery is GORGEOUS and is complimented by its upbeat unearthly soundtrack to make a fantastic overall atmosphere. The gameplay is slow and tense, every inch of progress you make needs to be fought for with the limited resources the game gives you. The aesthetic of the characters is super interesting, they have these decrepit alien like features which is contrasted by there unapologetically expressive movement and dialog. There are mysteries and fantastical events spread though out the games duration to further depict how majestic and foreign this strange world truly is.

If the game kept that level of quality through out I would honestly consider it one of the best games I have ever played, but sadly it doesn't, the last 1/4 of this game is miserable. The scenery in most levels is made up of the same 3 dull textures and the games aesthetic really suffers without any of the vegetation. There are no more events or secret mysteries, instead its all focused on the frankly lacklustre fetch quest of a main story. The gameplay turns into a series of short challenges where you are forced to rush through poorly designed parkour platforms all while being chased by unkillable enemies and there is a god awful level where you have to pass an underwater, maze-like cave system with little to no visibility whatsoever and yes it does play just as painfully as it sounds.

Even with all of that said I would still easily recommend Northern Journey, especially since your getting about 7 and half hours of fantastic content for only 10 bucks, the only problem is that I just cannot vouch for the 2 and half hours of mediocrity that fallows.

get me out
get me out

the middle part of the game was more open-ended than the other parts, which were mostly linear

weapons feel very differentiated from one another, and are clunky in a fun way. combat just dragged on sometimes however

good sense of humor

some annoying bugs, getting stuck on terrain, got softlocked once but the save system is lenient (except for where it lets you save, later on)

if you can enjoy the combat enough, playing to explore the world is 100% worth it. it is a pretty huge game all things considered

7ckngBad
7ckngBad

Masterpiece. Been a while since I've been in such an immersive world. I love the environments and enemy designs. Even more impressive that this was made by only 1 guy.

Wren
Wren

25/10 my favorite game I played this year! Highly recommend to anyone who doesnt have phobias of snakes or spiders, or general wildlife based phobias. I am in love with this game, even as someone who cannot stand any horror games. This is an immersive adventure I'd recommend to anyone who can handle light horror!

ChocoboSlime
ChocoboSlime

This is the best damn game I have ever played. It is way better than the $120 shlock major companies are putting out nowadays

Seda145
Seda145

Loving every second of this. I wish I heard about it earlier! Found this gem only because of a youtube video of someone trying random "souls-like" games. I'd describe this as a beautiful surreal dream. The graphics creates vibes similar to Pathologic (Classic), The Void, or Dreams To Reality (DOS). Please share this game with those communities (Reddit etc.). The music is unique and the sound design is very well done. Maps reward exploration and are interesting. Totally worth the money if you like surreal exploration games with a bit of combat.

EFG.Wenex ヽ(´ー`)ノ
EFG.Wenex ヽ(´ー`)ノ

This game is an experience. A very underrated one as well. It has so many elements in it, that it's hard to explain how great it is. Atmospheric areas, interesting NPCs, ... weird stuff ... nicely design boss fights, and so much more! If you like adventure type games with a little twist in them, you should buy this game right now and give it a try. Personally I haven't even noticed when I played the game for 5 hours straight. The shocking thing is, you can't even find a bad thing in this game. It just hits the mark on every aspect be it level design, sound, animation, story telling, pacing, it's just perfect.

Big recommended. 10/10

Anonymous
Anonymous

Really unique experience. I think it's probably not for everyone, but I had a blast with this game. I would highly recommend trying it out.

Gaboba
Gaboba

Very interesting and atmospheric game in the first half of it. Amazing scenery and quite compelling world that encourages you to explore. After the first underwater section the game turns into a linear hell and when you think you've reached the end, the game would throw another lengthy episode and it would drag on and on. The scenery and world are still amazing, but its the gameplay and level design that changes dramatically and feels like an afterthought.

Peppe Fears Satan
Peppe Fears Satan

This is AWESOME.
Great level and world design, amazing visuals and music. Truly a work of passion from someone extremely competent in videogame design.
Every level is interconnected in a non-linear structure, lots of shortcuts and most of all, every level has it's own twist, visually and gameplay-wise, that makes this game simply a joy to play.
Only problem is combat a bit lackluster, but combat isn't the only thing you'll be doing. There's TONS of exploration and some platform.
Overall an AMAZING game, it's a steal for 10 euros, we need more things like this in the world. Buy the fuck out of it.

UnshavenHobo
UnshavenHobo

This is a game that truly captures the feeling of playing a classic from a previous generation for the first time; where creativity, artistry, outstanding design, and interesting and fluid mechanics dominate the experience and pull you away from any technological limitations or jankiness. An absolute joy to play and experience.

Gunzelino
Gunzelino

A very surreal but great experience. highly recommend a playthrough

Stinger2u
Stinger2u

A real hidden gem. I really hope more people find out about this game. It's mysterious, creepy, atmospheric, great soundtrack... Can't believe this was made by only one man. Hope we get similar games in the future.

Linguni
Linguni

Spooky weird atmosphere and some charm. Classic video game experience

A Rotten Ill Wind
A Rotten Ill Wind

A huge surprise. Far better than it has any right to be. The one guy who made this whole damn thing is a mad genius and if he ever makes another game I'll buy it instantly.

Gothorn
Gothorn

Northern journey is an adventure through a foreign, beautiful, creepy, and engaging setting. Was a very unique and atmospheric experience.
I've never played anything quite like it. Just be warned, if you have arachnophobia you may not want to play this game. If you don't want to get arachnophobia you may not want to play this game.

Have fun :D

Snek!
Snek!

???????

Best game I've played all year.

huehuehuehuehue
huehuehuehuehue

1. Sometimes when you click, you don't shoot.
2. You get stuck on the environment way too often.
Those things are very frustrating, but those are my only complaints. I loved it. This game is really unique and atmospheric and terrifying at times. It really feels like an adventure in an alien world

Aetheric Games
Aetheric Games

a labour of love, with a lusciously moist art style and an offensively wide variety of spiders

Shaft★Lord
Shaft★Lord

A great experience in a strange atmospheric world filled with surprises, the kind of game indies should strive to be while being more than fairly priced to boot.

Christ Bronson
Christ Bronson

This is one of the best games I've ever played. A game, made by one person with a shitty computer, is somehow waaaaay better than a AAA game that was made by thousands of people and took millions of dollars to make.

Raikors
Raikors

Summary

Northern Journey is a first person action-adventure set in a northern wilderness with medieval and fantasy set pieces sprinkled throughout. Mostly through pure visuals and music it achieves a nice balance between atmospheric hiking through nature and folk horror-esque feeling of dread, with the occasional spikes of weird dark comedy.

In detail

Immediately after launching the game you are welcomed in with a forest scene and a piece of flute music playing in the background, which do a great job at setting a somber and slightly unsettling tone.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2861642627

Once the game starts you are dropped into this setting as a nameless outsider and quickly explained your initial goals. The story progresses through a variety of different looking areas in a mostly linear fashion, or at least you are heavily guided towards going to the right direction, which I think is refreshing in today's landscape of everything being open world. I maybe would've liked the guidance to be a little more subtle as currently you are pretty much straight up explained the situation and objectives without there being much subtext to most of it.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2861663894

The game's art style has a lot of indie charm to it and the brilliant marriage of visuals and music continues from the opening menu all the way through to the end credits. There was no area or section that felt like it was added to waste time without introducing any variety. Some might be initially worried about the simplistic user interface and especially the options not looking visually polished, but both are perfectly functional and there isn't that much you need the menu for anyway. You can equip up to four weapons at a time and those need to be switched through the menu, but that's about it. Everything else is prompted contextually as needed.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2861644396

Going along with different environments there is a nice variety of enemies unique the each area. All weapons in the game are projectile based, which makes it occasionally difficult to hit some of the flying ones that have slightly more erratic flight patterns. On the other hand, it feels satisfying when you manage to hit a moving target further away. Unfortunately not all of the weapons felt impactful to use, possibly due to their sound design not having enough punch or just that their reload times made them too cumbersome for most situations. Sling shot is the default weapon with unlimited ammo and I found myself using that quite a bit.

One technical thing I should also mention: The game hearkens back to the old PC gaming days in the sense that there is no auto-save or checkpoint system and the player is responsible for saving progress with quick saves and manually saving to specific slots. Once you get used to it and the limitation of not being able to save while in combat or when interacting with something, saving becomes quite automatic and you rarely lose progress because of it. Still, it might be something most are not used to.

Recommendation

If you're able to tolerate some minor inconveniences like the aforementioned lack of auto-saving, I would recommend trying it out. It is mechanically simple, but there's an abundance of charm and atmosphere that more than make up for any of its flaws.

MrVacuumBrainBimbo
MrVacuumBrainBimbo

This was a phenomenal experience. Bizarre and mysterious with white-knuckle combat, an off-beat sense of humor, and an ethereal soundtrack. If you want to try and recapture the elusive magic early 3D games had when you first experienced them, this is about as close as you'll get in 2022 by my barometer.

Hopefully this guy will continue creating games. He did a bang-up job on his first go at it.

LordRetBrick
LordRetBrick

Actually fucking amazing game, plus i had a softlock and the madman that is the dev told me to just email him the save file, he fixed it and then immediately released a patch for this obscure softlock.

Verginia
Verginia

Absolutely wonderfull game, it's amazing what one person could achieve. I definitely recommend it.

Frank Costanza
Frank Costanza

Do yourself a favor and just go in blind. Genuinely one of the most unique, atmospheric, and pleasantly surprising indies out there.

Varatos
Varatos

A really good palate cleanser type game, where you are essentially doom guy but for insects....It has charm in spades, tons of enemy variety and weapons to use, with a cool soundtrack to boot.

SL128
SL128

This is one of the best games I have ever played. The atmosphere, aesthetic and level design are fantastic -- I'm not sure any FPS games has had such distinctively different levels, including Half-Life. And despite being built around some of the most annoying enemies I've fought, they work in the context of the combat which is a lot of fun. The third level isn't up to the standard of the rest of the game, but once you're through that, it's all smooth.

big zook
big zook

There's a certain type of game that I would describe as "aggressively indie". These have an air of slight jankiness around them - perhaps caused by the graphics, the weird UI showing little regard for usability, lots of bugs or wonky physics, anything like that - and playing them feels very different from the ultra-polished sleek of AAA games. However, that doesn't have to be a negative thing. If there's one thing that's common with games like these, it's that they show the developers' unrestrained vision, and if that person or people's vision is a particularly good one then you end up with things like Northern Journey.

A curious fusion of explorative adventure game and boomer shooter dripping with atmosphere and charm, this project of one Norwegian solo developer takes you all throughout the Northern wilderness, on some kind of Journey to fight varied creatures and avoid dangers to the backdrop of atmospheric folk-synth music in an attempt to finally bugger off and get back to civilisation. It's been a long time since a game made me feel like a true adventurer that slowly presses onward and assesses threats, in fact it immersed me so much it unintentionally became one of the scariest games I've played in a long time. The behaviour of the creatures and even some NPCs you meet are sometimes very unpredictable, there are intense environmental hazards or bosses that appear out of nowhere, and plenty of the areas are not very hospitable to say the least.

Although as I played more, the scariness of this game definitely seemed more and more intentional. There's arachnophobia, claustrophobia and thalassophobia fuel on full display here (and in one section, all three at once!), with plenty of creepy crawlies, cave systems and murky diving missions all to freak your balls off. The sound design is integral to this and every insectoid chitter or skeletal rattle surrounds you on all sides as enemies approach, the noise sometimes being the only warning that you're spotted as the more stealthy critters blend into the environment or hide in tall grass.

The jank is sometimes undeniable, like when an enemy corners you causing you to very loudly take damage over and over until you squeeze out or die. Or the fact there is no air control when jumping, so if you know you've missed that jump by a pixel you'll be plummeting to your doom without the chance to correct it. You'd better hope you recently saved when that happens, because the game also won't be doing any saving for you whatsoever. Make sure to bring your Skyrim reflexes and autosave like your PC is up a hill in a thunderstorm.

Despite the minor flaws and some sections dragging on slightly, Northern Journey is still an excellent achievement, not just for one person but for atmospheric adventure games overall. I've never played King's Field but I can definitely see the influence here, and if those developers can carry on to create the Souls series, then all I can say is I'm pretty excited to see what Slid Studio does in the future. Marvellous.

grindcore104
grindcore104

This game captures a great ultra-specific vibe of old forest folklore adapted into a cartoon

Sir Trousers McPants
Sir Trousers McPants

This game took me by surprise, I found it through the "Interactive Recommender" system Steam added recently and I love it.
The artstyle reminds me of old bizarre fantasy art, especially Steve Jackson's Sorcery!, and the game feels so unique and stands out from other "boomer shooter" style games.
Despite being made by a single developer, the environments and design of the game is fantastic and perfectly paced.

However, while the boss fights aren't particularly awful or anything, they are very fun designs and the fights aren't explicitly bad, they can feel a little less well-done than the rest of the game. Fortunately, I didn't struggle against many of the bosses, beating most of them in one or three tries, so they don't really get the chance to get truly frustrating and are overall fun enough on their novelty.

Overall I would *highly* recommend this game to anyone who likes older games like Thief and the new wave of "boomer shooters" that have come about.

edit: I realize my playtime is not accurately reflected, I spent most of my time offline while playing, it took me somewhere along the lines of 12-14 hours to beat the game

zoltan1789
zoltan1789

A creepy, but never "scary" experience. Northern Journey is a shockingly good game, which I didn't fully appreciate going in. The folk horror-esque setting, in addition to a few funny moments that legitimately made me laugh out loud made the already satisfying FPS (without any modern weaponry) a joy to complete.

Kinkykitty
Kinkykitty

This game surpassed all my expectations.
If you are looking for a game to scratch the itch, then this is it.
Game devs take notes. This is how you make a fun game.

Cozy Pie
Cozy Pie

YESYESYESYESYES

this game is so cool!!!!!

the grainy, off-realistic graphics suit this amazingly well, setting up this kind of grounded, bizarre feel throughout the whole thing. The areas can be very vertical and it's a treat to explore every nook and cranny! I am yet to feel 'stuck' in the game, as while the areas look complicated at a glance, it is surprisingly easy to somehow wind up just where you need to be. You don't need to feel obsessive about going back and doing everything before you leave an area, cause winding up at the area exit is often the game telling you that you should leave and maybe come back there later. You'll leave the creepy woods and find yourself back at the hub town, where the villagers have some whole new shenanigans going on. I really do recommend talking to everyone whenever you return to town.

The implementation of weird surreal stuff is reallllllllly good in this game. so much subtle, trippy stuff goes on here. weird monsters that move around when you're not directly looking at them, mysterious shadow guys hiding behind trees, stuff like that!

very very minor spoilers here:

the mythology and storytelling here is a real sell for me. a lot of media goes all-in on their mythology and plots, like god of war and Thor in marvel, stuff like that. But I've always liked these tiny, weird, surreal, isolated little stories, where gods and mystical creatures read like they're just some unusual dudes, and where the conflict is just that some poor dude wandered into some wacky stuff. and this game is sooooo good at capturing this energy. there's so much weird stuff that just *happens* and there doesn't need to be a big deal about it cause it isn't LOTR or something. like, okay, a worm just ate a dog and went to hang out in a church with a demon. yeah, okay! alright, I can vibe with that hell yeah! or, a witch just tripped and fell off a cliff while trying to kill me for who knows why? and now her grandma is a flying snake with a human head? Great! sign me up! Even the central plot of the game is just the player deciding to go do some chores for some random guy they met. It's all totally inconsequential and it perfectly captures the style of story telling that I adore. Even the spooky parts fit into the whimsical(?) style of weird folk tales you'd read from a ghost book. I guess I like this type of story telling for the reasons that I like The Hobbit more than LOTR, though Northern Journey does a better job at staying on the lighthearted, surrealist side.

If i had any complaints, they would be that there's no option to remove the crosshairs, and that the movement speed is too fast for my taste. But! slid studio has told me why the weapons kind of *need* crosshairs for them to work, and tbh the movement has grown on me. play it now! right now (((:

VogueRogue
VogueRogue

Very unique experience. I would weirdly classify this in the "retro shooter" category due to how the weapons feel along with the health and ammo pick ups strewn about. Combat usually takes place in "rooms" or along set paths. Made by a single dev I have to say I am very impressed. It looks like an old RPG you would find on PS2 without trying so hard to do so. If you like exploration RPG games along with projectile based shooters, this game is for you. Please try it out, you won't regret it.

Joj
Joj

I have over 250 games on my Steam account and this instantly became one of my favourites of all time

Molasses
Molasses

Feels like a cancelled Dreamcast game, but in a good way.

Octanitrocubane
Octanitrocubane

pretty fantastic, while the game has loads of problems (probably all of them a result of 1 guy with limited time and money making the game) the best aspects of the game seem to shine though. Easy recommendation. (except perhaps to people with severe arachnophobia)

Go on a hike in Norway while fending off Australian arachnids with various flavors of slow clunky projectile weapons in this Indie drowning simulator.

Pros:
some of the best level designs in any game I've played. Some of the levels had a really impressive sense of scale to them without getting boring and ugly.
Combat was interesting to say the least, it isn't everyday you have a stone tossing sling in an FPS
A lot of gameplay for a 1 man indie game
Without a doubt the best spider enemies in any video game. Which is good, because there are a lot of varieties of them.
A story that tells you enough to keep you interested without telling too much.
Great soundtrack
Hard to describe but the game seems to have tons of charm

Cons:
For a game with mostly enemies that want to run up and murder you, a melee weapon of some sort would have been wonderful.
An AoE weapon of some type would have also been wonderful in parts with swarms of erratic enemies coming at you.
The UI is frankly quite bad, I understand why it is bad, I just wish it wasn't.
The save system is very finicky, the conditions it requires can be challenging to find in some levels.
Lack of stereo sound, something you take for granted until you are fighting enemies and can't tell where they are coming from. It was a tradeoff the dev had to make, but unfortunately it is one of those things you never get used to the entire time you play.
Some of the levels, particularly late in the game suffer from landscapes made up of seemingly the same texture. Which can make judging distances difficult and many times enemies tend to blend in with the palette

Avery Corvoidae
Avery Corvoidae

Incredibly surreal and feels incredibly earnest.
There's a dreamlike quality to how the story is presented.

Combat is rough, the physical mapping is weird and bumpy. Fights and encounters can feel out of nowhere and unfair, full of circle-strafing and missing shots that seem on target. Trying to even figure out where to go can also feel obtuse at times.

But at the same time, this game is incredibly compelling. Incredible atmosphere, incredible variety of gameplay/settings, really feels like anything can happen and be grounded in the mythology of the world. Just alot of charm.

ProxyOne
ProxyOne

You deserve to play this game. This is your treat for existing in this time period.

Kisoku
Kisoku

Great game. The environments, the music and the gameplay were well done. This is very atmospheric game well worth the play.

reese
reese

a guaranteed memorable journey

Pagliacci the Clown
Pagliacci the Clown

Very interesting. I was surprised by this game. The areas are varied and beautiful. From green forests, to swamps to isolated and dark glaciers to the very depths of the earth. The levels are well designed and have a good flow, with some elements like elevators and lifts making sense by having counterweights, it just makes sense. I was surprised at the things that you encounter, like the Nokk, and even small unique ideas such as a bridge in the mountains that lead to the glacier being seemingly miles long and curving and swaying in the wind. It was visually impressive. The game is a classic linear adventure. It isn't too hard, being mostly easy with some difficulty spikes. Usually with a horde of enemies you need to kill, which can be slow when all your weapons are ranged bows and crossbows. The weapons are cool, being variations of different crossbows, and your basic weapon being a sling which can get a pleasant upgrade.

Small complaints being the +1 max hp flasks. While hidden well in some areas, some other spots seem like they're buried in the level geometry where I'd have never seen them if i didn't pick it up by accident. Also, some geometry, usually rocks or ledges, can block you while you're running and end up pushing you or making you slide off a cliff to your death when it shouldn't have.

The music in each level, and general ambiance, is very pleasant and gets you immersed very well. Only in one or two areas, can the noise of the aggro'd group of enemies be very loud and jarring.

All in all, a very fun game to go through. All the more impressive that it was made by a single guy, if what i've seen is correct.

Minim
Minim

A hidden gem to be sure. There are some flaws and missteps, but this is a rare breed of game that we don't see a lot of nowadays, and one I have never seen from an indie studio - let alone a one man team. A level driven immersive sim fps. The emphasis of this game is on exploring the road ahead and overcoming various obstacles while trying to retrieve certain somethings for your employer all while coming to grips with the strange world you've been plunged into and its unsettling inhabitants.

The graphics are low poly, but it does what I wish more games would do: it takes the power saved in detail and puts it towards an absolutely insane scale. This allows the game to make self contained levels with breathtaking vistas and really lends to the uncanny valley feel. Another bit of praise: while this game has tons of enemies, I never saw one that looked like a reskin. This is especially impressive when you consider just how much this game likes spiders.

If I have a complaint, I'd say the weapons are underwhelming. Particularly the secret one as it takes so long to reload and is generally out performed by the Bear Crossbow. Most weapons feel like side grades of eachother - which is useful in so far that ammo is limited. The game does have more exotic weapons, but they are usually isolated cases of use and disappear after.

I have a few smaller issues as well, though they don't really detract from the experience. The Trollhole is more hole than troll. Sourwood makes you crawl like a tick. The lamb head makes me sad, as it reminds me of my pet goat :( (personal issue, don't take that too seriously). There need to be more harpoons in Drowned Vein. You don't need to spell out every plot twist dev, some things we can piece together. There are a few too many bosses with the theme of "run at you fast". And I'd turn the timer for the thief down to 60 from 130 and crank up the spawn rate.

I think that's about it. Most of my complaints are very small and don't detract from the overall experience. In fact I will be eagerly waiting to see what this dev makes - Slid Studio has catapulted itself to the top of my favorite dev list and I can't wait to see what the dude does next.

10/10 Would sink my boat again.

Skell
Skell

This game strikes the very feel of a child's imagination of wondering in the wilderness where you fight giant bugs and ward off witches and creatures alike.

Earthquake Poor
Earthquake Poor

A fun, well paced adventure game!

Big Rizzle
Big Rizzle

This game is infused with soul.

mtgninja
mtgninja

This game, if you can get over the jank, is one of the best adventure games I've ever played.

Hey, look at that drum m8
Hey, look at t…

Most accurate depiction of Norway in any piece of media

Saatanansieni
Saatanansieni

Was fun to play as a mindless summer game.

Kaern
Kaern

Amazing Environmental Work
I caught myself just marvelling at the grand environments in Northern Journey. The surreal atmosphere reminds me of the early days of Core Design's Tomb Raider, Warcraft and Drakan (specifically 1996-2004).

Soundtrack
10/10 all the way through. From the sounds of it, it's ambient/drone/experimental. It even has RAVE music for certain events. Weird right? It just works somehow.

Unique Character & Monster Design
There's a varied bunch of monsters in this game. Usually I get bored of the same type being used. But here? There's at least six types of spiders of varied shape and size. They're skin-crawlling good. The ugly characters in Deadwell are charming, I would have liked more dialog from some of them though. I was expecting the guy in the stocks to change over time. God dammit though, I am still mourning the dog.

Controls & Collisions
There's something up with swapping out weapons and loading them. It feels like there's an unresponsive delay sometimes. You can easily get stuck on collisions as well which gets extremely infuriating during the boss fights.

Recommendations
1). Controller support.
2). Make the grain setting more clear. I didn't realise you could even toggle this feature. The glacier regions were a LIVING NIGHTMARE for me as I have Autism and Visual Snow Syndrome. It was a disorientating pain.
3). The red potion on the rope in Greenslit should probably be moved closer. I didn't realise you could walk on that rope and spent HOURS going in circles there. I felt like an idiot once I realised my mistake.
4). Add a red and orange potion list to the quest log and map menu. I'd be interested in seeing how many are in each region.

I 100% recommend this game. I'm looking forward to future games.

DampDolphin
DampDolphin

very charming game with goofy graphics

Tcorn
Tcorn

Playing this game felt like playing Half Life 1/Black Mesa for the first time. The game is DRENCHED in a gorgeous and distinct atmosphere, and has an incredible soundtrack to back it up. Each area is somehow more unique and interesting than the last. The game truly shines when you aren't really focused on an objective, and are just exploring your surroundings. Not only are the areas all distinct, but so is the enemy variety. No two areas ever had an enemy that overlapped or repeated, and each enemy/boss has their own uniqueness when it comes to dealing with them. With how open the game feels, at absolutely no point did I feel lost in what I needed to do or where I needed to go.

While the game does have a few flaws when it comes to certain parts of specific segments, they are mostly negligible compared to how great the rest of Northern Journey is.

Northern Journey is an absolutely phenomenal game, and I VERY much look forward to seeing what other masterpieces this studio will put out.

ahaha.wav
ahaha.wav

Really unique and well constructed indie adventure game with striking visual design, great pacing and incredibly varied mechanics. This sort of thing would be impressive for a decently sized team, let alone a lone developer. Highly recommended.

Sid Meier's Wallpaper Engine
Sid Meier's Wa…

I wanna kiss this game on the mouth.
The characters and their dialogue are charming (I support water bomb witch forever). The music is phenomenal and adds to the game in a way I didn't expect. Even the film grain was a pleasant surprise that really emphasized that old-school nostalgia feeling. And the environments! Oh boy! At least one hour of my gameplay was dedicated to exploring the scenery and sitting there appreciating it. Sooo many screenshots; I fell in love with Granite Gash instantly.
I wish I could forget Northern Journey just so I could play it for the first time again and rediscover everything. I hope the dev had as much fun making it as I did playing it. I love this game.

xRqdioqctive
xRqdioqctive

most fun I've ever had exploring in a game

Thagomizer
Thagomizer

This is a very conditional recommendation.

The game was made by one person, and the love that he put into every aspect of it is obvious. However, it leans hard into a combat system that is, frankly, awful. You will be swarmed by enemies that move erratically, you will get stuck on geometry constantly, your shots will miss for no apparent reason, and enemies will hit you from off-screen with zero audio cue. Then you will fall off of ledges you didn't know were there, slide down terrain that you thought you could walk on, and drown over and over and over again. It's awful.

But, you will also experience a moody, atmospheric journey through a hauntingly beautiful land. You will unravel a mystery that is both fascinating and deeply unsettling. You will journey over, around, and under a massive interconnected world that is patterned off of an imagined Norwegian fjord.

The combat almost drags this game down into a "not recommended" but if you can suffer through that aspect of it, the game is absolutely worth your time and money. Just do yourself a favour and put the difficulty slider down all the way and remember that you don't have to fight most enemies.

Fred
Fred

A woefully underrated FPS / Adventure hybrid brimming with creativity and charm. While the narrative is a little underdeveloped and the game's final two hours feel bloated (espeeecially the last diving section), don't miss out on this hidden gem.

PS: expect spiders. Like a lot of spiders. In fact, this might be the most spider-iest game ever.

Gewaldrikuma
Gewaldrikuma

This is just a really good game. There are one or two parts that made me feel frustrated, but overall the game is filled with beautiful and silly things to find that fit well into the crusty/atmospheric aesthetic. The gameplay is solid. All enemies have unique weaknesses and strengths, so the difficulty consists in learning the best means to beat them. Well except bears. Don't mess with the bears.

DonLakonchinno
DonLakonchinno

I've been trying to write a review for this game for a bit now and I still can't express myself in a sufficient manner, because this game is surely one hell of an experience. Yes there is jank and flaws but it does so many things, some interesting, some original, some just insane, that I was entertained throughout the whole playthrough and it never felt like "filler", always coming up with something new or reusing what it already has in an interesting way, or just giving you time to appreciate the views in peace.
I'm cautious about straight up recommending it to anyone and everyone, but I'm confident in saying that it's worth giving it a go and trying it out to see if it *clicks*.

not a toasty spy
not a toasty spy

Greatest game on steam. Amazing

Blackburn [29th ID]
Blackburn [29th ID]

It's an adventure. I got immersed in this game for the 11 hours it had and while it doesn't have much replayability for me, it is well worth the price. Easily one of my favorite games.

vesumbra
vesumbra

This game is an absolute blast, I mean seriously the humor, the level design and atmosphere just are all fantastic.

This is a 10/10 for me, I love this game and I can't wait to see what the developer makes next.

files
files

Great game about the horrors of living in norway

Warden's Mustache
Warden's Mustache

An incredibly unique experience

WSlord
WSlord

In sling do we trust. A journey like games of old. A very explorative game and medieval fantasy shooter. Hard in that old-school sense were every ammo and potion hidden around the corner means life or death. I applaud the one man development team. It does feel very much like a great PS2 game. Heart and soul put into everything. Also a rare came that excels both in moments of peace and beauty and tension and fear with its environs.

Pros:
Lovely world and level design. One you can usually stop in and stair for hours at the horizon.
Great sense of exploration and journey.
A plethora of weapons to get your hands on.
Top notch sound design: Everything has great crunch and weight.
Beautiful synth music.
Most potatoes can run it.
Difficult but rewarding combat shooting mechanics pacing wise to learn and master.
Well put together, few glitches.
Wondrous diverse enemies
Price to play time Ration Perfect for a single player game.
Creator understands animation of things very well providing a sense of living world and physics for this games engine.

Neutral:
Old school difficulty sense may not be for everyone.

Cons:
Enemy kill doors serve little purpose and slow down the game.
Breaks some tenant of good game design most of this very late game and mostly with final bosses.
The final two hours are a slog that keeps pushing the game on and on in which some areas could have been shortened and cut.

GloriousSir
GloriousSir

Name of this game speaks true. It is a true journey, you should experience it yourself.

Morkyg
Morkyg

This game ticks all the boxes for me.
Retro style fps combat with ranged medieval weaponry and a variety of enemies? Check.
Beautiful and distinct natural biomes mixed with elements of folklore and horror? Check.
Self-paced story with interesting level design that rewards exploration? Check.
Dark brooding atmosphere, with quaint synthy\folk soundtrack and crazy characters? I was enthralled from start to finish.
All these elements combine into something rarely nostalgic that I can't quite put my finger on, that fine edge between jank and brilliance that just tickles me so.
This game is testament to the fact that even with simple visuals one person's artistic vision can create unique memorable journeys.
Thanks to the dev, and I hope you continue weaving stories!

Lopper
Lopper

A very interesting and wacky game. Graphics aren't too bad but some bits do look a bit strange although I think that's what they were going for. Its a lot of running around killing enemies and finding quest items and stuff, quite fun at times although the combat can be quite annoying especially when enemy hitboxes are so bad sometimes. Also a lot of the time you can get stuck on geometry and end up falling off the map which is also very annoying. Lots of parts where there is enemy spam too which I'm just not a fan of. There's also no autosave so you gotta just keep remembering to spam the save button. Some parts of the game just feel very tedious and annoying. There's also lots of parts where the game has to explain everything to you to make sure you know what to do and where to go which is just like ehh maybe it could have been designed better then. Quite a lengthy game though, lots of levels and different things you have to do here and there so its got good variety. Overall a fun little game but very frustrating at times, would prefer enemies and geometry to be less of a pain to deal with. 7/10

Frozer
Frozer

Wonderfully strange game with a world that is a joy to explore. The weapons are varied and different from most other first person games. At first glance the glance the game seems quite ugly but despite the dated seeming graphics the game is quite pretty at times.

I am not a huge fan of boss battles but none of the boss battles or other fights in the this game become annoying.

The Nokken
The Nokken

Genuinely one of the most heartfelt, inspired games I've played in a very long time. The atmosphere is completely enthralling, steeped in fantastical elements from Germanic/Norwegian mythologies blended together so well. The entire game is so cohesive, with the music--ambient electronic mixed with more traditional instrumentation--conveying the feeling of every area so well; it all just fits.

The journey north is strewn along such a winding road that it feels like a fever dream, but in the best way possible. I'm continually in awe as one area leads into the next, so cohesively, while still transitioning towards a very different landscape, each with it's own distinct perils and set-pieces. It's such an amazing feeling to exit a dark troll cavern system or underground trilobite tomb and be greeted with a jaw-dropping view of the bright grey skies and lush green cliffsides.

The combat is simplistic but still fun enough with the vast assortment of weapons you can find (as well as a very nice upgrade for at least one of them).

The characters present mostly paint the picture of a blissful la-la-land among such an otherwise bleak and hopeless region, and while many have only but a few things to say to you, they still bring so much to the game's world.

There is some backtracking after recovering items but it's a nice feeling to return to a place that's already been visited, especially since it usually entails extra exploration because new paths have been opened up that were previously inaccessible.

Honestly, I've never been happier to play what is essentially a walking simulator (with some combat and puzzle-solving). It's just such a unique handcrafted experience and a complete breath of fresh air in a time filled with procedurally-generated roguelikes and soulless algorithm-made games.

Oh, and I hope you aren't too afraid of spiders. There are a few of them throughout this adventure.

Orc
Orc

True Goblin-Core, true Gnome Realm.

Only whites can comprehend.

Daemons leave.

DonGheritch
DonGheritch

10 spiderlegs out of 10 flute solos. Would journey to the troll hole again. Can recomend to all the enjoyers of spiders, forest rave, shrapnel facial readjustment and good old DEMENTIONAL VIOLATION.

Rudi
Rudi

This game is nightmarish, but in a cool way.
FUCK trollcave

Alitox
Alitox

This game deserves so much more attention. The world is dark, atmospheric and wonderfully absorbing, go play it!

Thomas the Gank Engine
Thomas the Gan…

The games strongest points are its aesthetics and sense of exploration. The visuals are simple but used extremely well along with some excellent sound design, making every new location a pleasure to explore. While not as big a strength the weapon designs are interesting, with each weapon having a very deliberate feel to both it's firing animation and trajectory; very few if any weapons are straight forward to use and going from struggling to hit anything with the rock sling to being able to snipe flying bugs in the distance is extremely satisfying.

Combat in general, particularly the enemy designs, is a mixed bag. Enemies sometimes have odd hitboxes or difficult to read animations, and aside from a few notable exceptions challenge often comes in the form of either very tanky enemies charging you, or a swarm of weaker enemies charging you. Although the weapons are interesting it isn't always fun to be put on awkward terrain with clunky and difficult to use weapons, while enemies with janky animations are thrown at you. With some practise it's mostly fine but there are definitely some frustrating encounters (particularly a couple of the boss fights) that will test most peoples patience.

The games biggest weakness is that past a certain point it changes from a semi-open game with some satisfying exploration to a purely linear FPS, which wouldn't be so bad except for the issues with the combat mentioned above.

Overall I definitely recommend the game, it's a very different kind of experience that gives off a sort of 'hand crafted' feel, it might be rough around the edges but the devs creativity makes it more than the sum of its parts.

Leath Soma
Leath Soma

Steeped in a dark yet never oppressive atmosphere, Northern Journey manages to be a brilliant adventure game because it is just that: An adventure. You head by your lonesome into the dark and forbidding northern wilderness, fighting off all manners of creepy creatures with an array of differently balanced slings, bows and magical weaponry.

While story light, the inherent lore and natural rhythms of each distinct biome create a mesmerising trip deeper into their darkest depths. The enemy variety is phenomenal and each quite different from the last, making each combat encounter different and unique to the last. Enchanting music, twisting yet intuitive level design and a humor to the story that keeps pushing you forward. Fantastic stuff.

There are only two real issues here:
1) The combat combined with a limited scope of movement: no dash, dodge or double jump if you start to fall into an insta-death pit for example. Some area fights, particularly the Skeleton fight, can be ridiculously difficult through their lack of safe points, cover or even space to reload or take a health potion. Boss fights in this game, on that same note, can vary from challenging but fair to insanely RNG-based, especially the ones that have bottomless pits in.
2) A lack of variety in boss fights. The bosses in this game are fun but can be boiled down to two archetypes: Big melee attacker or flying projectile user. This isn't neccesarily a bad thing but the latter flying bosses in particular can be very hard to land hits on, considering that all of your weapons are projectile based with travel times (some even having wind-up times and a limited time you can ready the weapon for) which makes the latter bosses very difficult and not very fun either.

These issues however are relatively small; For every annoying fight you come across, there are about five more great encounters that keep you wanting more. This game's scope and depth is impressive, doubly so considering it's all done by one developer. There are sections to this game that could have been their own titles yet Northern Journey integrates them beautifully in-between the bouts of FPS gameplay, giving much needed variety to keep the game fresh.

An underrated but overwhelmingly good game!

SpaceWalrus
SpaceWalrus

great game, great music and great atmosphere. 10/10

PyramidSwim
PyramidSwim

Great game. I'm only 2 1/2 hours in. It respects player control as much as Half-Life did. Very few games commit to that level of total player freedom even though it was a revolutionary idea at the time (more of a rediscovered idea, but it's still not catching on).

It may be similar to Half-Life in overall design philosophy but it doesn't play like Half-Life at all. Northern Journey has more open (but not open-world), interconnected levels, where backtracking will be necessary. This game is gorgeous, with a bit of a lo-fi graphics style pulled off really well. The atmosphere is added to further by the great soundtrack. Add witches, trolls, lots of creepy enemies and the game lands a horror tone of exploring a grim-dark fantasy, haunted Norwegian forests/caves, and you got yourself a stew goin'. Support games like this please.

zexal733
zexal733

A beautiful underrated gem. All in all a lovely and completely whacky journey. A Northern Journey, if you will

Grayscales090
Grayscales090

A very weird and wonderful journey.
This is a real hidden gem of a game right here. It's a little rough around the edges and sometimes does get very frustrating, but what you have is a truly unique adventure full of beautiful music, freaky characters, wonderful sights, and at times downright spooky atmosphere. I won't ever forget it.

A bit of warning though: If you really really hate giant bugs and spiders you should know that this game's enemies comprise of like 85% weird bug monstrosities.

sam porter bitches
sam porter bitches

One of the freshest games I've played in a long time. Fantastic level design, very imaginative the whole way through. You never know what's coming next. The game has some tough challenges but it's also not afraid to let quiet moments breathe. Likewise the game has some great humor that coexists with moments of unsettling horror. At first glance you might think the visuals are crude, but look past the surface level and you will find them charming and often beautiful - every level is evocative and there are some actual jaw-dropping set pieces. The music and sound design is excellent, a sort of ambient synth folk style that I've never heard anything like before in a game. It's astonishing that this was made by a single person.

Midnight77
Midnight77

Holy cow! The amount of work/length put into the game with such a small team was quite impressive. Game took me back to the old Arx Fatalis days when Arkhane Studios was just starting out. Worth a play through!!

Grungle the Dung-Collector
Grungle the Du…

The kind of game you play through, love, and then spend the next decade looking for another game to scratch the particular itch again, and never find. What's achieved here is just fantastic, a bizarre, creepy, sometimes intense, but beautiful experience (and all by a one-man dev team).
Gameplay wise, it's mostly based on exploration, with very deliberately-paced FPS combat. As the game progresses, it gets more linear and combat-focused, and depending on your preferences that can be a pro or con (I felt it was a reasonable progression that prevented potential tedium of going through too many maze-like open areas), but the atmosphere and overall vibes never stop.
The story is straightforward, but still plays off all the weirdness here, and overall gets the job done. You're not gonna be crying or pondering your own life by the end, but it works.
Visuals are another strength, with a variety of impeccably lit and shadowed environments that are a joy to traverse.
I'm barely scratching the surface here, but I really cannot recommend this game enough.

Kshatra
Kshatra

This reminds me Unreal 1 - utopia with beautiful landscapes and views, but filled with deadly enemies at the same time. Very atmospheric music. Wonderful game.

Aenthran
Aenthran

The world needs more games like this

moo
moo

One of the most unique experiences, the world is beautifully crafted, and the music/characters/art all comes together so well.

Combat can be a bit of hit and miss, and there are some collusion issues with the terrain that will send you to your death, so use that quick save button and use it lots.

Disappearing Salami
Disappearing Salami

One of the most interesting indie games I've ever played.

Only downside is that it is missing some key ambience things, I would like some more random events and sounds for example when walking over a bridge, that it would creak or groan at times, or wave a bit.

Things like that elevate and make the world feel alive, also this already feels like a horror game at times, so those elements would make it more immersive.

Kendorikku
Kendorikku

Chock full of character and creativity. I would highly recommend. Great job mate!

killhappyyy
killhappyyy

Great game with an incredible atmosphere, it also has a really impressive amount of different ideas and content too.

Avion
Avion

This game was a beautiful experience. the NPC interractions are absolutely cursed as hell.
Soundtrack is bomb, combat feels good, and he is passionate enough to keep polishing this gem. 5/5 peperoni would reccomend

mossfan1
mossfan1

Melancholic dread

I duly truly want to love this game, but it's so freaking boring & tedious.
From the moment I saw game-play from this game I was intrigued, I thought this was going to be some beautiful STALKER-like game with a medival Norwegian setting, and having almost Dark Souls 1-like visuals. I was instantly hyped to play it!!!

Then I played it, and yikes...
At first I loved it, but then I realized how boring it actually is. I was doing nothing, just objectives & the occasional punctuations of combat. And with such an horrid pacing it gets even worse, you'll jump between 15 minutes of exploration, then 15 minutes of combat, then 15 minutes of exploration, and then 15 minutes of combat -- it's just so blatant & straightforward. It feels like an extremely 2D game-play-loop.

And doesn't help that the UI is confusing & cryptic, creating a big questionmark over my head for whenever I had to do something in the menus. It's such a bad UX!

Also, the combat is tediously slow & stupid. It's just slowly shoot at some speedy enemy, step away, shoot, step away, shoot, step away. It's too simplistic, this game deserves better. I'm not asking for some extreme 'Breath of the Wild' tier combat-system, but I just want something which doesn't suck ass. I hated the combat, I think it may be the worst part of it.
With your slowly reloading shots it creates extremely annoying scenarios for whenever more than 3 enemies appear at once, as it then turns into a slog-fest of slow attacks. I started running past enemies, dodging as many as I can, just to avoid as much combat as possible. Besides, running past enemies are 10x more faster than killing them all individually, and there's no true set-backs for doing so too.

Conclusion

I got so bored that I cannot not even imagine returning to this game, I do not want to play any more of it. Maybe it gets better in like 2 hours more of play-time, but I want to have fun 'now-now'.

I loved the visuals, I loved the animations, I liked the controls, I adored the music; but it's not hard for me to admit that the game itself is kind of bollocks.
I know that a lot of passion has went into this game, its aura wonderfully gives that off, but I don't want to sugarcoat my feelings just because of that.

3/10

J4MESOX4D
J4MESOX4D

Northern Journey is the absolute pinnacle of a hidden gem and a game that deserves way more exposure for what it offers. It's a wonderful adventure game that resembles the beauty of Skyrim and the feel of a classic 90's game like Heretic supported by a fantastic soundtrack.

The game takes a more linear approach with a fairly minimal story, quests that flow nicely as you progress and a gorgeous world that isn't too big or bloated. The combat is really good fun and some of the enemy types are fantastic - I haven't seen giant spiders or wasps done this well for decades!

It's amazing to think this game was crafted by a single person and it really champions all the quality aspects we used to get with games of this nature without all the modern content bloat or simplistic and forgivable mechanics. An absolute bargain even at full price that offers 12-16 hours of gameplay.

Ryan__H
Ryan__H

Once in a blue moon a game like Northern Journey comes along and fully immerses you into its grotesquely beautiful world

minor spoilers below

This game hooked its claws into me quick.
Upon booting up you are greeted by disjointed flute playing and a cold lonely backdrop, luring you towards the uncertain journey ahead.
Within an hour you will be acquainted with a peculiar cast of characters, equally ugly and charming. Each bringing you closer to understanding the chaotic nature of this world.

Combat begins as simple as it can, with a rock and a sling. A certain level of depth in how you let loose your stone is provided, amassing more damage with each rotation.
Your arsenal grows from here, eventually collecting enough to supply a small troop of medieval soldiers.
Each weapon with unique purpose and situational use, though none find to be as mechanically interesting as the sling.
Combat encounters prove to be a good challenge with a large variety of creatures, quick dodging, changing trajectories, and rocky terrain all playing a part in your struggle.

Once the creatures are slain...

It's time to go for a walk

Northern Journey comes into its stride, for me, in the quieter moments. As you realise no enemy has spawned in the last five minutes. Your journey continues through winding passages, under hill and over hill, on well laid treks with impressively good pacing.
The music creeps back into the foreground as you realise the beauty of the gritty art style.
And oh, the music.
Right when it wants to it will set you to peace.
And in the next moment it will set you dancing.

The main flow of levels is as such: You discover a new area, you are told to find certain things within said area, you complete these objectives and carry on to the next.
I found there to be some nuance missing when I was given my third shopping list, all so neatly laid out and exact.
It is within these levels, however, that there is much nuance to be found.
A constant hum in the atmosphere as tension builds around you. A creature jitters on the edge of your vision, vanishing before you can turn to look. Something dark lies ahead, but you are clueless of what or when.

The set pieces that you build towards, many with very well executed horror elements, provide a lot of variety and intrigue on your journey.
Each comes with a surprising but welcome change of pace and tone. The originality and attention to detail really is charming. These are the moments that I feel will keep me coming back to experience again.

If there is something to be improved it would be the ground geometry and save mechanic, my only sources of frustration.

There is no auto-save and so this must be done manually.
Saving can only take place outside of 'interactions', these moments are very well signposted with a red dot in the top left corner.
When this dot is gone you can now save the game if you are standing on 'safe/level' ground.
In later levels 'safe' ground can be quite sparse. More often than not I found myself doing a little dance every few minutes to find a 'safe' spot before continuing.

The geometry underfoot, while nicely moulded into natural platforms and spiralling branches, can be very awkward to walk on, certain levels more than others. Quite often I would find myself caught on a corner that otherwise looked smooth to pass over and took a tumble over the edge. Emphasising the need to save often.

Summary

Northern Journey captures everything I love about adventure games.
A truly immersive experience packed full of original ideas, quirky characters, and fun challenges.
The world design, atmosphere building, and tonal shifts into deeper levels are masterfully executed.
While there is a small amount of polish lacking, this certainly is a journey to be remembered.

Brackhar
Brackhar

Impressive solo dev game that gave me echoes of playing Half-Life 1 and Morrowind at various times. This is an odd one, but if you suspect that this game is for you you'll likely be correct.

a man of culture
a man of culture

A wonderfully refreshing game, awesome and unique atmosphere. This is a hidden gem - highly recommend.

ccfireball
ccfireball

A real gem of a game. It wasn't what I was expecting, but once I got a handle on it I had a good ride through and through.

The atmosphere in this game is a real achievement which the music does a great job to help create. Despite the characters looking pretty polygonal I couldn't help but be immersed in its norwegian inspired landscapes.

Speaking of the characters they're certainly strange but charming in an odd way that made every encounter with one memorable. They really make up the bulk of the comedic aspects of the game as opposed to the hostile lands.

The combat is generally good. You may have expected some kind of melee action like myself but its actually all ranged combat with the signature weapon being the humble slingshot. Once you get used to the sling it feels great to use (especially if you're good enough to snipe with it) as after 3 rotations of swinging it will one shot most enemies you'll encounter in the beginning. It also always stays relevant too due to its infinite ammo pool. You'll slowly acquire an assortment of weapons as the game progresses. Form crossbows to throwable axes and spears. My only complaint is that some of the really cool weapons you get later in the game are only used for a specific boss fight and you lose them afterwards. There's also a reason why this game is all ranged combat, and that's that enemies have a tendency to get inside you and damage you multiple times in a row so you definitely want to keep your distance with enemies.

Another great thing about the combat is the wide array of enemies to fight in this game. It was exciting entering new areas and curiously wondering what new creeping or strange creatures would appear (probably a spider). The boss fights where enjoyable for the most part if rather frantic encounters as opposed to the more thought out sniping I would usually do. They do a good job and changing the pace.

Exploring the world this game offers feels great too. There's your typical health and ammo pickups to find, but there are also elusive permanent health and ammo capacity increases that make exploring worthwhile. This combined with the fact that killed enemies don't respawn gives a great sense of carving your own way through the hostile lands in order to make exploring and traversing it safer for yourself.

If I had to complain about something it would be that the underwater segments are not particularly fun as I wanted to leave them the moment I got in them since you find out that you can't save during them so I couldn't explore like I wanted to. Although these segments do give off an eery "You don't belong here" atmosphere in part because of it. Also they don't give you nearly enough ammo for these segments late in the game which was a bit annoying.

Other than that this game has weird saving criteria where you can't save on uneven terrain and most steep slopes. It's something that I just got used to but its worth knowing about.

Honestly there's a lot of moments I would love to talk about but I don't want to spoil it so its best that you experience the game for yourself. Overall Northern Journey is a strange but charming fps with a unique spin on the genre that I can't say I've seen before. At the very least I would encourage anyone to at least try the game out to see if it catches their curiosity like it did mine.

Henry IV of France
Henry IV of France

Each area has unique lush visuals, music and enemy varieties which constantly keep you on edge. The fact that all of it was done by one man shows through its unique journey and I'm very grateful to have experienced it.

The Glorious Potato
The Glorious Potato

This game feels like some kind of 00's immersive-sim shooter thing that's somewhere between Half-Life and Thief. Also made by a guy who loves really loves bugs.

Probably the most charming thing I've played in the past 10 years.

Root
Root

This game is such an un-expected journey! The kind of weird looking indie game with janky mechanics that just... works so well.

The game looks wonderful, especially in the larger outside areas. There are so many surprises, so many great set pieces to discover.

In my opinion, the strongest part of the game is the middle. Greenslit, Nokkpond and Sourwood are large and complex areas that are very fun to explore. I love scaling narrow ledges on cliffs. I love using weird mechanical elevators to get new areas. I love the ziplines tease as you explore Greenslit and knowing you'll be able to find so much more later.

However, the game is not very accessible. First there is a big content warning for big bugs and spiders. But also the game is very hard, and it gets much much harder as it goes on. So much that I don't know if I'll get through the last boss. I really wish the game had an easy difficulty so more people could enjoy this journey.

Anyway, 10/10. Super wacky, stop comparing this to Skyrim please.

bylan doyter
bylan doyter

Expected Nordic Stalker. This shit sucks so much ass. Kill 300 identical spiders. The swimming section after dreadwell fucking broke me. Wasted probably 5 minutes of my life watching the animation for putting on the diving suit. It felt like some primordial timekeeping god was eeking little seconds of my life force away every time I got in and out of the fucking water. Do not understand the positive reviews at all; the charm is lies dead in the water after the first time you die to 300 insects.

North Of Earth
North Of Earth

This game was made in another dimension.

Wessy Messy
Wessy Messy

A fantastic handcrafted adventure! :)

ThatShawnGuy
ThatShawnGuy

A norse saga of your own. A complete game with some really fun weapons and surprises around every corner. Just play it.

StrongestNerd
StrongestNerd

Rough around the edges, but a definite adventure experience.

whisper
whisper

Impressive game made by one crazy Norwegian. The environments are huge, beautiful, and vertical, and really satisfying to explore. Combat is... not great, but that's really not a problem until the end of the game which leans into it too hard and leaves a bit of a bad taste. Still easy to recommend.

Dwailing
Dwailing

One of the best games I've played in recent memory. An absolute must-play!

ponkey
ponkey

Amazing hidden gem of a game. It has it's small issues, but in the end it's still an insane journey with an unbelievable amount of gameplay and environment variety. Top-notch music and atmosphere.

Shockwave
Shockwave

Its going to take you back to the past! Game is total amateur hour.

Remember some of those 80/90's games where you had no frames of invincibility after being hit, so enemies could stay inside your frame sprite until you die? Well here we are again.

Also saving? You do that all yourself, no auto saves, no check points, if you don't hit that save button yourself you loose progress.

Also hope you like seeing bubbles on your screen, you are going to see A LOT of them, dev really loves water traps, you think your jump made it fine? Well no, you are kind just at the edge of where you needed to land, so if you try to jump forward more, its into the water with you.

I know we are suppose to give a thumbs up because “IT WAS MADE BY ONE GUY” as all the other reviews say and that IS impressive but it takes more then that.

Still though I look forward to see what Slid Studio comes up after this, hopeful learning from any mistakes.

Still stuck with it all the way through, wish could give more of a neutral rating.

Overall 4/10

Lex
Lex

This is what you have to do to go to Lidl in Norway.

Maggerama
Maggerama

Parts of the review will probably look like gobbledygook to some, but I saw no other way to accurately depict and share the emotions incited. First, let me give you a feel of how this charmer plays. The first hour or two.

I come to my senses on the river bank, limp up the serpentine and arrive at a town. The locals are freaks, and some witch threatens to bite off my fingers. Away from her, to the woodland! Where foaming creeks stream from the cliffs, nurturing the soil covered in rust-crusted foliage, and toxic green moss enfolds the crags looming over black pools. Hypnotised by the inky surface, I barely evade the grasp of a pond Kraken that tries to drag me beneath. I flee up hill and down dale, across the ravine, and the landscape around me changes. The trees have withered as the skies have turned to gloom. A flock of mosquitos forces me to hide in a tomb where the chanting and humming of the frigid stone sound angelic after all the deafening buzz. Oily water drips from the ceiling, echoing in the humid blackness at the base of the winding stair. I wonder where will I draw my last breath. Back on the swarming surface or in the obsidian lake below? Nothing ventur... I trip over a step, going down gurgling and waggling, unable to resist the pull of the deep. Mercifully, all I see is bubbles.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2836759091

Sitting It Out

I live again and delve even deeper, travel the flooded plains to climb higher and higher up the mountains, riddled with devious paths. Roaming these slopes in awe, I slip and slide to my doom relentlessly due to the wonky collisions. Luckily, it's only true for the rocks. Ropes and planks are reliable but can be rather narrow, building tension without being frustrating. Northern Journey is the first game that made me fear its heights, although this feat was but a drop in the ocean. Fittingly, the impressions it made on me came in waves. During each session, it had something wondrous to reveal. Often it was an image so beautiful or a gimmick so clever that, overflowed, I had to turn the game off. To sit it out, absorbing this handcrafted world. I lived most of my life in the neighbouring latitudes, so these lonely vistas scraped especially hard at my heart's door, providing a certain aching feeling. A feeling that gets miraculously imposed on anyone who plays the game. Take it in slowly, your first-time experience can't be reproduced.

Don't fret, it's a hefty chunk of time that will get you busy roaming the interconnected wilderness. Looking for resources, fighting a diverse set of foes over endless MacGuffins, opening shortcuts, and finding permanent upgrades in a plethora of hidden nooks. The hellish joy ride sports your usual range of fundamental Metroidvania elements, but the unorthodox design won't let you traverse its premises without challenging your expectations. Only the menus look amateur. In every other aspect, Northern Journey goes beyond what its peculiar pedigree might suggest, throwing thought-out curveballs left and right. For one, there's no map! At least the one I'd call useful. However, it doesn't kneecap navigation since every location features prominent landmarks to get your bearings. Combing an area that shook things up with unpredictable ploys or struggling with a tense encounter, I was always thrilled with my predicaments. Frankly, I would be excited to explore for the views and horrors alone, but this game's flow doesn't hinge on mere idle wandering.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2833672682

Fairy Tale Massacre

Keep your eyes peeled or risk letting the claws of folklore creatures and the mandibles of countless insects sink into you. And heed my warning, if you aren't an arachnophobe already, this game may turn you into one. I love spiders, but these swarms made me feel uneasy. Northern Journey also features some of the funniest animals ever designed. Endearingly cute! Until they ambush and f*ckpile your ass. Don't expect a non-stop barrage of enemies, but brace yourself for getting caught off guard on narrow bridges and cornered in claustrophobic tunnels. The numerous boss fights are brutal but never drag for too long. But boy, are they scary. The rare friendly inhabitants also look like they belong in the Evil Dead. I often asked myself if I've ever witnessed characters as bizarre before in a game. In the forgotten artifacts I touched, the uncanny designs usually stemmed from technical limitations. While here, the imaginative appearances are eerily precise. These are but estimates of living beings, entities from one's dreams.

Like any dream I had, this game curbs all expectations for firepower. At first glance, the Medieval arsenal of projectile weaponry seems intentionally unwieldy to boost the difficulty. But after getting used to it, I say it's very effective for the tasks at hand. Even the slingshot is formidable and has infinite stones, to boot. Of course, being raised on Resident Evil, I rarely holstered it from start to finish. Was the self-imposed challenge worth it, considering heaps of projectiles for other weapons scattered everywhere? No, it's a disorder. Besides, I got so used to its plunging fire that, paradoxically, met with complications when switching to more straightforward weapons. Okay, it somewhat paid off by the end, to my surprise. Either way, the hitboxes are reasonable, if not generous, and the weapon reticles were devised specifically to help you aim, depending on the distance to your target. None of that made shooting easy, but mastering the skill was a rewarding ordeal.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2830634829

The Eldritch Bog

To indulge in a stream of memories is an organic way to express my fascination with the game and explain why its sights don't appear fantasised to me. One young Siberian fall, me and my friend got lost in a faraway forest. Intentionally, because we both had a death wish. Now, imagine days of pushing past ramparts of thorny thicket in a solemn woodland where the ground slurps under the crumbling boots and the spider silk is so dense you can wrap it around your fist like cotton candy. In these parts, when the daylight dims, one sees a chyort in every stump. Walking the path to nowhere, we were lucky to avoid such entities. Our biggest problem was the remnants of an ant army, crawling inside our backpacks after one careless camping incident. Exhausted by the scramble, we finally saw what could've been a meadow peeping through the ancient growth. Something to provide respite and possibly wild berries. Before we had a chance to celebrate, a foul smell entered our nostrils. It wasn't us, for a change.

Squinting from the coral shimmer of the paling Sun, we stepped out to the edge of a vast eldritch bog. The scenery was deader than dead, not a frog to make a sound. Nothing but lethargic crows, bellies filled with fat gnat, watched us silently from the tops of beheaded trees. Their lifeless trunks stuck out of the muck like the bony fingers of a drowned giant. No post-rock cover art would be able to reflect that dreadful splendour of true desolation, even if each song on the album was about torn blisters on wet feet. While Northern Journey does it with confidence, giving an authentic glimpse into a reality so grounded, yet so divorced from everything we agreed to consider earthly. Discovering it, I appreciated the places which made me say "I've been there". And double that for the ones I never dreamed of beholding. After beating this gem, I came to a conclusion: the title is misleading! Nowadays, a "journey" is when some family guy from reddit tries a weak psychedelic for the first time. No, you are looking at a legendary saga of unparalleled excellence for the price of twelve bucks.

My curator Big Bad Mutuh

SnakeLordJelly
SnakeLordJelly

King's Field's odd Norwegian cousin crossed with a boomer shooter. Northern Journey is a one-man labour of love filled with vibrant scenery, a charming art style, a mysterious plot with equally mysterious characters, enemy variety that puts most AAA titles to shame and enjoyable mechanics.

This game has exceeded all my of my expectations and has earned a place among my favourite titles of all time. I am boundlessly excited for what Slid Studio has in store for the future.

ᴡᴏʟꜰ ✦
ᴡᴏʟꜰ ✦

SPOILER-FREE REVIEW

Northern Journey is a really strange and unique game that deserves more attention. It's gotten a pretty minimal amount of exposure on YouTube and Twitch and has a fairly small fanbase but I could see this game being pretty popular if it gets more attention at some point.

This is a wonderfully atmospheric exploration game with a really weird sense of humor. The combat is all right, albeit a little rough and janky at times, and some parts feel a little dragged out, but that hardly matters when the environment is just so on point. Throughout the entire game I was consistently curious to see where I would end up next.

The soundtrack is great as well, haunting dreamlike ambient tracks that really enhance the flavor of the different locations you find yourself in.

Everything about Northern Journey is just so different and creative. It crafted a completely unique experience for me that I doubt any other game would be able to replicate. It's definitely not perfect, but I still highly recommend picking this one up if you want a one of a kind exploration game and can handle a bit of jank.

Odinsmana
Odinsmana

A great game with unique look, a ton of variety and amazing atmosphere. Highly recommended.

Mars
Mars

This is the kind of game that makes me wish there was a button between recommend and dislike. The game has so many elements that I find enjoyable but eventually gets wrapped up in sub-par gameplay and shooting.

The graphics, environment, and atmosphere are all top notch but after 10 hours of rather clunky and slow shooting I was ready for the game to be finished. You will die a number of times waiting to reload while an absolutely absurd amount of enemies just bombard you from all sides. You'll fall off cliffs and ledges with a regularity that is almost hilarious, if it wasn't for the pure frustration it elicits.

As for the positives, it really is a testament to the skill of one man. As a single developer he does so much and pack the game full of variety, but it doesn't change the fact that it's still got a fair amount of jank holding the whole thing together. I would recommend the game as long as you know this is what you're getting into.

A atmospheric and beautiful game with rather janky game play that it manages to stretch on for what felt like far too long.

JJ
JJ

Top tier game. great for the feeling of exploration

pee
pee

An obvious passion project. every part of this game is oozing with love, and the first half of this game (up to the end of sourwood) is probably one of the most memorable and fun experiences i have had in a very long time.

heroshotgun
heroshotgun

Solid game, great atmosphere, creepy stuff

Overall good game

Bonezones
Bonezones

Northern Journey is a wonderful experience through a beautiful mountainous land full of witches, insects, and other hazards. I was genuinely impressed with the variety of landscapes and gameplay I encountered. The natural beauty of the world is captured quite well by the charmingly blocky graphics. The combat is a bit rough but there are many heartpounding and memorable battles. I would highly recommend this game to anyone who wishes to go on a captivating single-player journey.

Dunko, Destroyer
Dunko, Destroyer

Fantastic game, I wish there were more friendly creatures but I also like how hostile the landscape is.

?Syntax Error
?Syntax Error

FINAL REVIEW

Look, I mostly give first impressions on a game. This one came out of nowhere since it popped up in my recommended list. So I decided to buy it because of positive reviews.

I'll add one more positive review to that. What I have played so far seems like really strange, like a fever dream game but in a good way.

While the visuals to my standards seem pretty low budget(or are just meant to be retro), the game does get that feeling of being in the open mountains/forests and other environments right.

And it helps the performance of course, I think anyone with an older computer can play this game. Judging by the fact this is an Unreal 4 Engine game that is pretty Impressive work by the Dev(s).

As far as sound goes,, there is no voice acting for any of the characters you meet(One of the only cons I can give this game). The music really fits the weird and twisted world you are in. The OST is great.

I would highly recommend. If you want some kind of mythical journey coupled with acftion and exploration.

Da Biggest Brained Ork
Da Biggest Bra…

good but weird game
lots of bug enemies
love the ost
SPIDERS

enigma/rebel
enigma/rebel

I finished this game in a period when I'm gorging myself with competitive games and such to have a direct motivation to play something and spend time but my oh my, even though I'm playing through this game for like two months or so, I finally took a deep breath and finished most of it in 2-3 days. It even made me want to write this review and broke my writing hiatus.

This game is absolutely brilliant and is a shining gem! For a long time I haven't felt this immersed in a fantasy world, the world presented here is the definition of the word "authentic", you can feel the cold breeze on your neck, and get nauseous when you are looking down from a hill, scream over the giant snakes and have your palms sweating over a nightmare sequence. It was such an emotional roller coaster, from a game in which I only expected trippy levels, boomer shooter mechanics and a good soundtrack. I am so delighted to be able to experience this game and I highly, HIGHLY recommend this to everyone who can tolerate a little jankiness in the mechanics but want to immerse themselves in a sometimes wacky, most times exhilaratingly beautiful world.

And the developer who made this game only by himself, YOU ARE A LEGEND KING!!!

maraman
maraman

Fantastic quirky game that has you go on a wild, weird and sometimes creepy journey.

Despite the low poly models and wonky animations there is some very nice looking visual moments to be found in this game. Walking through mist covered mountains, damp swamps and icy cliffs, the game really provides the feeling of going through an adventure. There are all sorts of small little details that help sell these areas and it seems like lots of love went into crafting this world.

Combat is similar to games like serious sam or shadow warrior where you strafe numerous enemies in a arena and whittle them down with your ranged weapons. The overall pacing and balance between combat and exploration make for a great experience.

The only thing holding this game back from a gameplay level is your character getting stuck on random pieces of geo. If the floor colliders were more properly placed or player collision less strict I would have died less. In fact, I only ever did die because of being hooked on a cliff or sliding down a ramp leading into an abyss. Being able to influence my character in mid air would be a nice addition. This is especially the case when getting hooked on random pieces of geo. When you do get stuck on a piece of geo, very often you will be forced to jump to get unstuck. Except whenever you jump from a standstill, you will only move an inch and can sometimes be forced to jump multiple times to get out of some weird crevice.

Overall, Northern Journey is a great game that provides something unique for those looking for it.

hazzmati
hazzmati

Excellent game. The world is very immersive and I liked the music. The visuals are just gorgeous but the humanoid character models have some room for improvement. It made me feel like I was partaking in an ancient Scandinavian saga. I wish could experience this game for the first time again. Highly highly recommended for people who like fantasy adventure type of games.

Nontimetis
Nontimetis

Awesome game.
Unique hand crafted world, with loads of content for the price.
Quite challenging combat as well.

Cavou
Cavou

Uniquely weird and worth your time.

camo_tnt
camo_tnt

Awoke my blood memories. Very beautiful and fun game.

Torgo
Torgo

What a wild ride. The size, scope and ambition of this game is shocking, given that it was a one-man dev team. Unlike a lot of indie jank you find on Steam, with Northern Journey you can tell that so much love and attention to detail was poured into every aspect of this experience. Every texture, model, every encounter, the story and characters, and every piece of atmospheric sound and music.

The game is truly unique, a visionary experience, unlike anything else I've played except perhaps Miasmata. It's like if an alien AI was given the task of making a mini-Skyrim for the PSX. Given the colossal scope of the game, there are definitely some moments where the clunkiness and awkwardness is unpleasant; certain extremely irritating enemy hitboxes and boss encounters, or certain portions that felt a little long or unbalanced. But these are really just an acceptably small fraction of my time spent with the game, most of which was a joy.

I really enjoyed the pacing of the experience. For much of the game you're just wandering these vast atmospheric environments of great variety: from spooky forests/swamps, windswept mountains, eerie caves. The game has a certain beauty and stillness at times, a tranquil meditative quality. But then at other moments you're hurled into unforgiving battles with surreal bosses or creatures, where I'm sweating and chugging health potions and barely surviving.

Be prepared for a truly arduous journey with moments of surreal terror and haunting beauty. By the end of it, you'll feel like you've tumbled through an unearthly fever dream, dripping with sweat, blood caked under your fingernails, and you'll be changed forever.

Manky
Manky

Who needs UE5 when your game can look like this?

Absolutely fantastic leveldesign and enemy variety. Soundtrack is also dope. everythign else is just jank in just the right way.

Except flute-playing. I didn't liek playing the flute.

justurbabybug
justurbabybug

Let’s go right into what no one says: Everything is seemingly designed to annoy: Sound design, sound track, enemy movement, weapon progression, level geometry, obtuse direction and map, font selection, death screen, even character interaction and ui

The best way I can describe this game is dishonest cruelty squad; cruelty squad pushes obvious medium standards but does so that in a way that is not only honest about its intent but is consistent in its delivery. Northern journey seemingly used all the same tricks as cruelty squad from eye aching visuals to frustratenly obtusely designed enemy movement or effect. The diffrence being Northern journey hides this under the pretence of “oh look pretty view” often coming in waves of walking sim nothingness with admittedly beautiful visuals to making your ears and brain bleed 0 to 100.

Spend more money play cruelty squad or an art solo project with better executed intent like munduan.

painkiller addict
painkiller addict

an underrated gem, simple as that.
soundtrack, visuals and even the simplish though surreal story is phenomenal and intriguing, whereas you get surprised with the quality of the game the more you go on. it's polished, well planed and even if the design of the areas get confusing sometimes, it's very easy to see that it was made on purpose for what the game is about: a weird, puzzling and surrealistic story that tries to get you closer to feeling uncanny while you get through its mysteries. everything goes so well together you can sum it up as an art piece both in music and visuals.
looking forward for the next game from this dev!

Shlump Fish
Shlump Fish

Northern Journey has got to be one of the single greatest solo game experiences I've had for quite some time. Everything about this game is oozing with passion; the music, the characters, the art design, everything. All this becomes even more impressive when you realize that Slid Studio is a SINGLE developer! I can not express how amazing this game is with words, it is simply something you have to play for yourself.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you are thinking about buying the game and reading through the reviews right now, I urge you to buy it and give it a shot. I bought this game at the full price of $11.99, and it was worth every penny. I was able to complete my first playthrough in just about 8 hours, and enjoyed nearly every minute.

There are some segments near the end where the game felt like it was moving at a snail's pace, (cough cough underwater cave) but levels like sourwood, Darkthroath, Marebog, Granite Gash, Haunted Glacier, and the Underworld completely overshadow this small stain.

This game is oddly beautiful. I know you might think it crazy from looking at the screenshots, but something about it grows on you while you play. During multiple zip-line segments I found myself getting lost in the landscape and taking in the beauty of the vastly different areas. No area looks the same, they all have their own color palette and atmosphere that distinguishes them from the rest of the game; making every area feel new and exciting.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
That's all I will say about Northern Journey, wouldn't want to spoil to much.
In short, play the game. You won't regret it.
Really, you won't.
~~~~~10/10~~~~~

Ricky Slugface
Ricky Slugface

Unironically don't buy this game if you're an arachnophobe, over half of the enemies are some variety of spider. Video games tend not to set me off, but the sneaky brown spiders in the Nokk swamp had me feeling things I don't particularly want to feel.

The gameplay itself is hit or miss, with enemies that zip and skitter all over the place with no regard for momentum (not good when all your attacks are projectiles), combat encounters that are just the same enemy copy pasted thirty times, and levels full of irregular and pokey geometry that's going to kill you more than any enemy will. The majority of my deaths were running into a weird bit of ground or rock, getting launched into the air, losing all control over my character (because there's very little air control), and then plummeting down a cliff or into water. It's not necessarily a difficult game, just one that's very regularly annoying.

However, Northern Journey has bucketloads of character and a strong aesthetic that doesn't get all that much representation in video games, and for all its flaws there's a novelty and charm to the game that's hard to put into words. So much so that I'm willing to forgive the game for the underwater sections. But only just.

Pox
Pox

its a good, kinda creepy, hidden gem

wet compound
wet compound

Only the spiders implementation gets this game a strong recommend from me, the best in the business. The great game comes as an extra

It's Morbin Time
It's Morbin Time

man... that was a blast.
i found out about this game when watching a random stream and it piqued my interest a litte.
after playing for 10 hours and ending the game, i have to say that i was fun, creepy, scary, engaging and entertaining.
we almost never feel defensless, our character is chad mc thundercock and he aint scared of nothing, but personally i shat my pants a few times when a random enemy jumped on my screen. as an arachnophobe i had a lot of trouble with crossing a few sections filled with spiders.
also the scenery is great, we have a lot of times where we can just look around the whole map with a calming soundtrack.
i obviously recommend this game and the only problem i had with it, is the amount of times we need to quicksave, there is a chance that you will die from a single wrong step and there is no autosave, so spamming "5" to do a quicksave is something every person that played it did.

G-Prime
G-Prime

A wonderful solo project that really feels like an adventure. There's something new around every corner, and all the weapons and enemies are pretty inventive. Nice creepy vibes too. Love this game.

Plank
Plank

Beautiful, janky and weird passion project adventure fps set in a folklore norwegian land.

Cisar
Cisar

Every level is new fresh hell, almost all enemies have high "nope" factor. Thank you for showing me phobias, I didn't know I had.
Game is little biy janky, but it doesn't damage enjoyment. I've got stuck sometimes on floor, but that happens even in bigger games.

In summary, this is indie game gem, that you don't find so often. I recommend this to everyone, who doesn't mind bit of jank and likes weird game. Also it helps if you don't have arachnophobia, entomophobia, thalassophobia, ...

Chivvs
Chivvs

After I beat it, I tried looking for games that are similar to this and I really couldn't find anything. That's how good I thought it was. The art style, the music, the ENVIRONMENTS are incredible. I really need more games like this. Like way more games.

Martin Ignacio  Gonzales 3rd
Martin Ignacio…

I love this game.
I love the atmosphere and the weird looking characters. I love this game. I really like the mist n shit it very nice.

TreePyro
TreePyro

There are games that are weird, there are games that are jank. This game is both and it's honestly one of the best games I've played in a while. (And oh my god the soundtrack is amazing)

wolfgangeric1
wolfgangeric1

Am I the only one who's reminded of Unreal (1998)?

Whatever the case, this game is the first game I've ever left a review for on here, that's how much I enjoy it.

Vexidious
Vexidious

You can tell a lot of love and effort went into this game. It takes you on a wild adventure through a wide variety of locations, dripping with atmosphere. The combat is also a lot of fun. I highly recommend it! However, if you have bad arachnophobia, this may be too much for you.

Dani Filth
Dani Filth

This is a highly atmospheric FPS/platformer with a focus on exploration, and it is the explorwtion aspect which I find the most interesting — there are health upgrades hidden around the levels like secrets in classic FPS games, and the weapon mechanics seem to have been crafted to facilitate and encourage exploration — ammunition pools start off very limited, which increases the value of ammo pickups found around the maps, but there are ammo capacity upgrades on each level, making sure that you get progressively more capable throughout the game, assuming that you bother finding them. The levels generally lack a clear direction, and end up relying on the player making their way through and exploring the stages to achieve their objectives, even if the way to achieve it was not initially clear

This sense of exploration also extends to the game's direction on a macro scale, as the game frequently switches gears both in terms of tone, taking on a more mysterious and unsettling tone in the beginning, and leaning towards comedy by the end, and gameplay, as there are not only frequent boss fights and level gimmicks, but also completely new sets of gameplay mechanics being introduced in certain levels. This made the game a joy to play through, as it never let any one aspect of it get stale or boring, and frequently switched things up.

Speaking of switching things up, the game's environments are mostly distinct, with the game's unique look being expressed through many varied environments; Whatever environments might look similar, the game's excellent soundtrack (coupled with the aforementioned gameplay gimmicks) will be sure to set each area apart in the player's mind. The game is quite frankly beautiful, and though I do wish that the game had baked-in lighting, so that I might see what that would look like, I cannot deny that the flat lighting does wonders to make the game feel more dreamlike.

This dreamlike atmosphere also extends to the story, with every character having exaggerated designs and motions, and having very expressive and memorable dialogue, whilst maintaining the surreal feel of the whole setting.

This last point brings me to my one real point of contention with the game — the story. While the atmosphere builds itself up as mysterious and surreal, the story itself is played quite straight, and there is no real poignancy or insight to be found — to be honest, I dare say that it kind of feels like the whole journey was pointless, a point which the game itself seems to lampshade. Whatever the case, the story is not all that important since the atmosphere and exploration are clearly the draw of the game, but the inclusion of philosophical discourse could have elevated this game to something I could truly recommend to everyone in my mind.

Finally, the FPS gameplay. The game features an interesting projectile system, where all of your shots arc in a realistic way. This makes aiming slightly more engaging than simply using a hitscan weapon, but frankly, I didn't find the actual FPS gameplay to be all that exciting — I spent most of the game circlestrafing whilst shooting enemies with my sling, because the stingy ammo limits made me hesitant to use the ammo at all. There is great enemy variety both in terms of appearance and attack patterns, but the sling was simply too versatile for me to have considered using other weapons unless I was surrounded, which is a shame.

Overall, if you think you'd be interested on the game based on the screenshots — go for it, it's actually more interesting to play than it might look. If the atmosphere of the game does not immediately appeal to you based on the screenshots, then you might not be the right audience for the game. I myself found the whole experience thoroughly enjoyable, but I was immediately interested in the game from seeing its page on Steam.

zelosdomingo
zelosdomingo

Really cool game. Reminds me a bit of Zelda, a bit of something like Demon's Souls.

Pat
Pat

One of the most beautifully designed and detailed worlds I have ever seen in a game. I could see the gameplay unfortunately getting repetitive for some, but if you can look past that, you have a fantastically unique and gorgeous adventure game ahead of you.

Arlie
Arlie

Generally unsettling in a fun way, if that makes sense. Gets very weird and can be surprisingly funny. Atmosphere is really good, aided by the excellent soundtrack.
I could do without so many spiders, though, as that was getting a bit much for me and I've rarely been bothered by spiders in video games.

Rido
Rido

Very happy with this game. The aesthetics are great, the experience memorable. My biggest nitpick would be when you kill what is down in the lake. Sure, the experience is different, offering a fresh twist on the gameplay, but that part definitely feels very simplistic and janky at the same time. That is a small complaint in comparison to the overall game. Invite your neighbour to come down to the trollhole too.

Professional CringeLord
Professional C…

Absolute hidden gem.

Love the creepy atmosphere and the old ps1 or ps2 style graphics, gave it a nostalgic feeling. I also probably cured my arachnophobia throughout this game.

My only complaint is that I'm guessing this game is going for an older game feeling like a demake, but it could have accomplished that without the elements of older games that make them frustrating, that being the manual save feature. I like to get immersed in the game, especially one as atmospheric as this one, but when I'm forced to save the game every minute or two it makes it difficult to stay immersed. I either couldn't get immersed or found myself getting TOO immersed, forgetting to save then losing a very considerable amount of progress when I die. I think there should be an auto save feature implemented into certain milestones with the option to manual save, that way it allows players to actually get immersed into the game without being punished for it, while still maintaining the old manual save mechanic.

Otherwise, fantastic game.

TheBarbaryGhost
TheBarbaryGhost

So I'm about halfway through the first major quest in the game (about to fight some Witches in a swamp), but I feel like I've played a sufficient amount to write this glowing review. Buy this game. It's just fun, and interesting. And really, really heavy on exploration. Which is honestly my favorite part of most Adventure style games.

This game was made by one dude up in Norway, with ZERO game dev experience. I've been avoiding trying to make a game because I have zero experience in development (other than working in QA for twenty years), but I have to say that Slid Studio's is a true inspiration. This game is gorgeous, even with it's old school early 2000's look and feel. This one-man developer has so many great and imaginative ideas. I can't wait to finish this and flesh out my review. Excellent job sir, I hope you consider creating more games in the future.

Go to Youtube and search Northern Journey Dev, to find a great interview with Slid Studios.

Sweaty Dungus
Sweaty Dungus

Cozy little adventure FPS that spirals into a surreal folk horror trip without ever playing its full hand too early. Meet the local freak inhabitants of Deadwell before heading off to explore gorgeous hand-painted vistas across massive varied levels. See the sights, jump the gaps, collect the trinkets, unlock the shortcuts, and squash populations of bugs as you tease out the interconnected world. You'll slowly scavenge up an arsenal of crude weaponry before the game starts peppering in arena shooter gauntlets, at which point the full forces of Scandinavian Heck are unleashed upon you. It all unfurls at a balanced pace to never leave you fatigued or bored. If you told me this was a long lost PC gaming classic from the 2000s, I'd believe you.

faf
faf

Great game really took off on the second half.

NarrowSpider
NarrowSpider

While there are some issues with hitboxes and moving around the geometry. This game is filled with so much charm and mystery (not to mention being a one man dev team) that it held my interest the whole way through.

finalsphinx
finalsphinx

Amazing experience. I've not been so immersed in a game in a long time.

If you've ever wondered what it would be like to be spirited away by elves, this is it. The game hooks you with enchanting environments that feel so interesting and alive in a way I don't think I've seen before. The story and music are great too and add a bunch to the atmosphere. Everything comes together in this jaw-droppingly beautiful way. By the end, it really felt like I'd been on a journey.

I don't know what games to compare this to. Sometimes it plays like Quake or some other simple FPS, but other points are like wandering freely in Skyrim, and other times, when solving simple puzzles, it can feel like an older game with similar tasks. Almost like Banjo-Kazooie or something, where you have to explore to figure something out.
Thematically it's like The Hobbit, or maybe Spirited Away, with the emphasis on adventure and folklore with an obviously mystical yet familiar setting.

There's a few issues. I got stuck on geometry several times and had to jump my way free. There's also a couple fights (mostly near the end) that leaned more towards frustrating than fun. But nothing ever broke and no battle took me more than three attempts. But these small problems aren't enough to keep this from probably being my game of the year.

Highly recommend. A must-play.

The Messiah
The Messiah

This game is a masterpiece. It is unreal this was created by 1 person. The level design, environments, soundtrack, ambiance, enemies, and combat are top notch. There is much more than meets the eye in Northern Journey. It is a brilliantly and delicately crafted RPG without all the fuss. No talent trees, no complex menus/maps, no side quests and it's a better game for it. It's just you, your bow and an adventure that spans a continent with so many different biomes. The levels are created in a way that makes you want to explore every nook and cranny, and the eerie characters you meet along the way push the narrative along so effectively. Everything in this world is mysterious and not easily explained. It is an experience that anyone who considers themselves a serious gamer should experience. Hope to see more from this developer in the future.

Specter
Specter

This game is really unique and needs more publicity.
Having the Huntsman like Spiders hiding in the grass was a really cool idea. It's like actually being stalked and you really have to focus since they aren't above the grass.
That bottom gif doesn't do them justice but that's about happened when I walked to the lever and it scared me.

Jen The Poptra
Jen The Poptra

This is positively one of the best games I've played, period. The atmosphere is amazing and the music is so entrancing and catchy! I love everything about this game, I couldn't recommend this game enough!!!

girejorenh
girejorenh

this game felt real and it was horrifying

JuicyTunes Broad Spectrum
JuicyTunes Bro…

Honestly one of the best games ive have ever played. Im only 2 hours in so far but im really enjoying it, the graphic is not the best but it doesnt has to be, they really made the best they could with this type of graphics and it even suits the game somehow alot. This game gives me som strange vibes i havnt felt in a long time, there is a mix of populous the beginning, black and white, and other old school games over this' without being anything like that or has any similar playstyle at all. This is a gem no doubt, one of its kind.

Its a mix of puzzles, pve, horror, mystique. Tbh this game made me jump a couple of times in fear, situations that seem safe and friendly suddenly can turn into something quite horrifying and unexpected fast.

I myself have always dreamed about making something like this, but not exatcly like this as i would never had come up with this, the dev (devs?) must has a brilliant mind and i urge him/her/them to make sequal or more games like this.

Its been a long time since i enjoyed a game this much for its mystique, horror, etc. Last time i enyoed myself this much when gaming was with Noita got released on steam. Please try this game and support the devs for their brilliant work here, i can almost gurantee you that you wont regret it for this price, it could easily have cost 80% more of what they are asking and it would be fair.

Masterpiece.

no perc
no perc

scuffed but hype first person legend of zelda in a dark souls-like interconnected map and lots of giant bugs. its crazy how the terrain looks almost photo real sometimes, even with the wonky unlit foliage.

pizzafly073
pizzafly073

If you have a tolerance for jankyness and a lack of QA I'd recommend this whole heartedly. Impressive for what I understand is a one man undertaking.

Emphy
Emphy

This was so good. Just buy it.

Dum000
Dum000

Given this is a one-person project, I was continually impressed. The atmosphere, visuals, and sound design are stellar. The game cycles between fast-paced combat using unconventional weapons and long walks through beautiful and complex environments. Heavy use of the QuickSave/QuickLoad feature is required here.

If you are interested in being challenged, lost in a dreary and picturesque landscapes, and fighting all manners of spiders, trolls, and giant mosquitoes you should try this surprisingly long (13 HR) indie title.

BEWARE: Lots of spiders

Laıne
Laıne

Please remove spiders from nokkpond.

XXXMATUS
XXXMATUS

XDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD nostalgia to games i never played

Kodah
Kodah

This game gives me a weird feeling, Saudade I think its called, like I'm in a dream of some kind.

Tombstone Jack
Tombstone Jack

Words cannot do this game justice.

RageQuitJimmy
RageQuitJimmy

Dude, ATMOSPHERE! Holy poop dude!

Blips0r
Blips0r

I just have to comment on how awesome this game is. The atmosphere in the game is amazing. From closeup the graphics are at times extremely pixelated, and yet it's strangely detailed as well, when you look at scenes from a bit further away it's a real work of art. All the foliage is very well done. The characters are just so basic and plain ugly, to a point they are scary looking and that too works somehow. The gameplay is basically exploring a more or less open world (with very short load screens), finding new objects that allow you to open up new areas. You're doing a lot of first person platforming, fighting enemies with crude long range weapons that are usually not that easy to use/aim/reload and every once in a while there's a boss fight but it's quite different every time. Recommended for everyone who likes adventure games and can appreciate these kind of graphics. Oh and the soundtrack is very trippy, love it!

Katanalevy
Katanalevy

Up there with the best atmospheric exploration games I've played. There is so much variety and creativity on display. Visuals are staggeringly good for an unlit game giving such a unique look. Sound design and music are also extremely creative with ethereal qualities. I'm personally not the biggest fan of the combat and would have preferred a version without it or if it could be circumnavigated with exploration. But that is just a personal preference and a small gripe in what was otherwise one of the most interesting games I've played in years. Highly recommended!

Pudding Quest
Pudding Quest

Northern Journey is a great singleplayer FPS, It is very quirky, somewhat janky and I have never played anything else quite like it

Cray
Cray

A really weird, janky, strange looking but surprisingly good game! The level design is top notch, the artistic design is SURPRISINGLY really good, like, even though the game has like 5 polygons the areas look gorgeous. The game's actually quite big, too, many different unique areas to traverse. It's suuper janky though, so know what you're getting yourself into first, but if you're ready for a bumpy ride, then you have a mystical journey ahead of you.

Aki The Moth
Aki The Moth

I have bought this game purely on the whim of the name and extremely lush greenery it promised me. And boy, I wasn't ready for the absolute treat this beautiful piece of art truly is.

So, what is Northern Journey anyway? To put it very bluntly, it's medieval, Scandinavian Quake but that would honestly diminish its true value. This game wants you to approach it exactly as its title suggests. It's a JOURNEY! It's a beautiful travel from the base of the fjord at the village of Deadwell all the way to the forgotten peaks encroached in darkness to the very depths of the seas. Northern Journey never loses its steam, keeping the player highly invested with incredibly well crafted levels, constant change in locales, extremely minimal backtracking further diminished with amazing interconnection of its world and by god one of the best soundtracks I have ever heard in a videogame.

One of the main positives of the game is that it never tries to be something it is not. There are no gimmick mechanics, deep rpg elements, trendchasing, etc. This game really feels like an honest to heart passion project, a love letter to Scandinavian nature, folklore and many connected interests of its sole creator. There is no corner cutting, no easy way outs, no reskins or repeats of a handful of gimmicks but a competent, deeply mature and straightforward creations that plays its cards accordingly where it matters. The diversity of enemy types and their abilities is immense, with each enemy belonging exactly where it should be. Trolls are in the trollcave, bears are in their dens, etc. At no point will the game hit you with a reskin of an idea. Most enemies and mechanics are confined to one area where they belong, with no need to repeat them purely out of lack of inspiration.

Worth mentioning are also the soundtrack, which is included with the game (no, seriously, in the game files you have a directory containing the full OST album in MP3) and the combat. Soundtrack is, as I mentioned, simply stellar. Extremely dungeon synth inspired, if you are a black metal/dungeon synth fan, you will absolutely be at home here. The black metal influence in this game is IMMENSE. If you ever wanted to visit the worlds of early Burzum, Darkthrone or Emperor, here is your chance, an undeniable vibe.
Combat is very well done and if you are a fan of arena or boomer shooters, you'll be very familiar. All the weapons, however, are affected by the projectile drop as these are mainly things like crossbows, slings, throwing spears and the like. Each weapon has a unique way of usage and application, making each encounter require a bit of an intelligent approach. Just rushing in will probably get you killed very fast. The game is quite challenging and there are several moments in the game where you must apply all of your boomer shooter skills and properly utilize your arsenal and absolutely insane movement speed. Some of these encounters WILL feel straight up unfair so keep your quicksave at the ready.

To summarize, Northern Journey is a masterpiece and a game that has an undeniable passion, ambition and an incredibly talented and friendly developer behind it. If you are a fan of nature, black metal, palpable atmosphere, dreamy soundscapes and absolutely wild folklore and characters, this game is definitely a must. An absolute must play!

Nefariel
Nefariel

This is the first time I write a review in 17 years of being on Steam but I feel this game really deserve to be better known.
It'll be an entirely positive review because the flaws I could think of would be nitpicks. There's nothing actively preventing you from enjoying what the game as to offer.

This is an adventure game that plays a bit like an old school shooter because your character runs really fast and the combat can be very frantic when there are multiple enemies attacking you and all you have are rather clunky weapons but the game will make you want to take your time exploring and gazing at its environments. It's not that it's graphically very impressive but there's something about the way the game looks, feels and sounds that makes it extremely immersive and atmospheric.

Everything is weird but weirdly familiar, at least for someone with a vivid imagination who lives or lived close to nature at one point. At some points I could literally feel and "smell" the environments, the light wind, the damp grass, the thick air in the marshes. I bet it has something to do with childhood memories/nostalgia but that never happened to me in 20 years of gaming. It's very subjective but who knows, maybe some people will also experience something similar. The music also as that weirdly familiar and nostalgic vibe and is really nice.

The game feels like a real adventure, something a lot of modern big games struggle with. You'll find yourself in the middle of nowhere exploring fascinating environments, using old mechanisms to travel over obstacles, mountains and valleys, meeting some interesting characters and encountering the local hostile fauna. There are a lot of insects and arachnids enemies and they'll also give you that familiar feel because most of them feel like real creatures and not "video game enemies"if that makes sense.
There are very memorable sections be it deep in a cave or high up on a mountain side.
At one point I found myself on a mountain side gazing at a far away land across the sea wondering what was happening there. Were there people, villages ? It was clearly a flat image on the skybox. Talk about immersion.

After playing the game I think of the journey as "I was there" not "I played it" I think it's one of the best thing one can say about an interactive medium.

Waltzkon
Waltzkon

Think I had a feverdream like this game. Good gameplay, unsettling in the right ways, relaxing in the right ways.

Arachexplosion
Arachexplosion

Norwegian Pest Control Simulator

MagmaDragoon95
MagmaDragoon95

Amazing Game loved it from the start through the end

Tommy Jarvis
Tommy Jarvis

Hello reader,

This game i recommend you blindy because it is a real journey.
There are several things to consider before giving an opinion.

1. One Dev only.
2. UE 4 with minimal configuration, but also awesome features.
3. Splendid OST made at DEV's home.
4. Enviromental Satisfaction!
5. Stuck in a mysterious land with so much to go through.
6. Skyrim vibes.

Mix all previously things and you get a high volume, visual, stunning real journey: Northern Journey

Things you should do before start:

1. Be in a pitch black location.
2. Do not get interrupted.
3. Put on your best headset.
4. Release your mind.
5. Prepare to close your eyes for enjoyment in several locations throughout the walkthrough.
6. Finally press the play game button.

Seriously guys, this is a cool game. I hope you all enjoy it and best wishes for the DEV and his endeavours
Good journey all!

UBERMOSH_FAN_420
UBERMOSH_FAN_420

Great game, REALLY fucking good. Can't recommend it enough, go in blind and enjoy. This game is awesome. Yes, some parts are bullshit, but its the fun kind where you throw up your hands and laugh, and not smash your monitor to pieces

Great game. Had a lot of fun with it

Szabalaba Knickerbocker
Szabalaba Knic…

The most beautiful looking games I've ever played. While janky in some places, this is one of the most unique adventure games there are. I haven't gotten this feeling of wanting to explore since playing Gothic as a child. I'd whole-heartedly reccomend this to anyone.

Trapezoid
Trapezoid

Great game, fantastic characters, and an incredibly inspired setting.

TanukiSack
TanukiSack

I love this game and hope to see more similar to this. Also the soundtrack for this game goes hard on god frfr this bussin no cap

An Hero
An Hero

Fantastically surreal and weird adventure game with heavy Scandinavian influence. Reminds me of the low-poly weirdness of Morrowind, but more focused on puzzling and exploration than roleplay/questing.

Saint GoaM
Saint GoaM

This is a simulator of what it feels like to take hardcore hallucinogenic mushrooms in the Norwegian mountains. Sit back, grab something to drink, and have fun, because I promise you it is just that. Fun.

Atri (4)
Atri (4)

This game is nice and I don't want to be mean by leaving a negative review but the requirements seem like an insane mismatch for the visuals. It was utilizing like 80% of my GPU and getting me up to temperatures in the 100C on my 5700XT. Kind of unreasonable, indie game or not. But if this doesn't bother you, it's a very nice and atmospheric game that seems worth playing. I enjoyed my limited time with it.

mush
mush

spooky mountain, very pretty, bad geometry for movement at times.

Zambambo
Zambambo

Lives up to its name, this game really surprises you with its variety and immersiveness.

ObeseCatLord
ObeseCatLord

Northern Journey an extremely soulful FPS-adventure game. For a game made by one person it has a lot of content and shockingly enough doesn't recycle enemies. Each new area really felt new. The aesthetic and music are as good as they look. For the asking price it's a steal.

Dragonfang
Dragonfang

Great atmosphere and cool combat.
Will update the review after finish it, just wanted to give a positive review.

DeafWord
DeafWord

This game is the definition of a hidden gem. Everything it sets out to do, it does immaculately.

The levels are naturalistic while still managing to be engaging as a video game, fostering a real sense of exploration. Areas are sprawling without being exhausting to navigate. The atmosphere is well-realized, enhanced by the soundtrack and the setting which perfectly evokes cold, wet forests and swamps. The characters that inhabit the world are bizarre, but charming.
Enemy encounters are deliberately designed with the limitations of your weapons in mind, and is challenging without being unfair. The cast of enemies is extremely diverse, with each region containing at least two or three new enemy types that are not found anywhere else. The dev's dedication to constantly throwing bespoke assets for every situation at the player is commendable.

I am a pretty severe arachnophobe (I'm the kind of person who mods the spiders in Skyrim into bears). I'd estimate well over half the enemy roster is some form of giant, grotesque spider in just about every form you can possibly imagine. Some encounters had me breaking out into a cold sweat. If this game was not as good as it was, there were sections where I may have dropped it entirely. I believe it says something that I found this game so enthralling that I powered through despite everything.

I haven't felt this way about a game since the first time I played through Rain World. This is a truly unique experience, and a staggering accomplishment for a single developer. I would recommend this game at just about any price, much less the $9 it is currently running for.

Cryohydra911
Cryohydra911

If you told me this game came out 15 years ago and was made by a full studio, I would've believed it. Visually gorgeous, feature-rich, so many environments, a haunting soundtrack, and a simple but compelling (if bizarre) story pulling elements from folkloric roots. For the first time in a long while, I found myself binging this game, finishing it in around 16 hours over three days, even if I got stuck or frustrated with a particular encounter and needed a break. The fact that this is made by ONE developer is phenomenal. Especially one so receptive to feedback and who clearly loves what they're doing.
Would highly recommend for its bizarre characters, screenshot-worthy environments, and engaging exploration and somewhat unique combat gameplay. Love it.

3saster
3saster

A truly wonderful game for the 10-12 hours it takes. Gorgeous and visually rich despite being relatively limited technically, a very bizarre yet compelling story and characters based on Norwegian folklore, a surprisingly wide variety of areas and challenges to overcome, and a good sense of pacing and atmosphere. Some parts can be a bit rough, namely the sections where you are fighting dozens of enemies in something resembling an arena shooter, but these moments are brief and infrequent enough to never really bring down the experience much. This was made by one dude with no knowledge of any of the specifics to make a game before he started, so the fact that he was able to put together something this compelling and unique really speaks volumes to his passion, dedication, and talent as a game designer. This is a really cool and special game that anyone interested in an exploration-focused FPS should check out, it's criminal that this game is so unknown!

Filip Augustus
Filip Augustus

I cannot recommend this game in it's current state.

Excusablegold
Excusablegold

An incredibly charming one-man passion project. Northern journey sees you lost in a remote fjord, your rowboat having sunk, you are now indebted to a mysterious flute playing man who promises a way back home if you help him retrieve his stolen possessions.
The gameplay is satisfying and the weapons are all fun to use, the soundtrack is calming, the whole game is absolutely overflowing with atmosphere.
I won't lie, It can get bretty spooky at times, but not quite enough to categorise it as a horror game, I could compare it to Half Life 2 in that it certainly dips into horror at times (especially whenever you have to go underwater) but there is plenty of downtime in-between to balance out the mood.
My only real criticism is that it gets quite a bit more linear in the second half of the game, but the game keeps introducing so many cool new environments and mechanics at such a consistent rate that I hardly noticed.

All in all, probably the game I enjoyed most so far this year. Extremely excited to see what becomes of the dev's next project

Half Light
Half Light

For me Northern Journey feels like a compelling surrealistic interpretation of Scandinavian landscapes and folklore, and it certainly succeeds in that while retaining a beautiful depiction of nature and a charming yet sometimes haunting atmosphere.

The combat plays a bit like quake but with a slower and more methodical pace as every weapon is projectile based and you can often be limited on ammo.

There are tons of environmental interactions so the zones in which you play feel immersive and are fun to explore,

The storyline and dialogue are silly in all the right ways and the quests feel straight forward enough and work to progress the main story so there isn't any filler content or bloatware which is something i really enjoyed about this game.

I would recommend this to people who like weird games and are not afraid of a little indie jank.
Also, Northern Journey is made by one guy which is insane to me considering the size of this game.

god left me unfurnished
god left me un…

absolutely singular in its artistic vision. a theodor kittelsen painting you can play, basically. atmosphere so dense you can cut it with a magic throwing axe. combined with the dungeon synth soundtrack honestly reads like a dark fairy tale at times. you trudge through a legion of creepy crawlies, robert eggers-tier capital V VVitches, and eldritch pagan entities so old they aren't even in the prose edda. have never played an fps that has made me go audibly "oh, i have to go in THERE??? and fight THAT?? more than this.

ofc a bit of jank, some annoying platform geometry and a few unessecarily tanky endgame bosses, but nothing dealbreaking. arachnophobes, thalassophobes, acrophobes and claustrophobes stay far very away. can't reccomend it enough.

Mau5ron
Mau5ron

Phenomenal game, looks strange, is strange but it works! I could nitpick everything wrong with it, but for a one man dev team this is an amazing, well thought out and created game. Gives me big Unreal vibes in terms of the gameplay with a quirky twist to it, although I believe this is intentional, not lazy. A game like this is a rare sight in 2022.

PSA: this game does have a LOT of spiders/bugs in it, and some potentially claustrophobia sections, so keep that in mind!