Fortunately for those with tight schedules, Eastward isn’t a hundred-hour epic that requires months of commitment. The answer to that question is naturally going to vary significantly depending on the player. RELATED: Stardew Valley Fan Points Out How Much Sandy's Shop Looks Like Peppa Pig and You Can't Unsee It
As such, many are wondering how long Eastward takes to beat. However, not everyone has time to dive into a long game, no matter how good it is. So far, the game’s seen an overall positive reception from critics and fans alike, enjoying an 85% on Metacritic and a Very Positive user rating on Steam. The pixel-art RPG adventure follows expert miner John and a mysterious young girl named Sam as they explore the dangerous but verdant world on the surface. The game takes place in a dystopian future where toxic clouds forced most of humanity to flee underground. Will Eastward be able to reach some of those same heights? I'm looking forward to digging into more ahead of its final release in September, but right now the signs are looking very promising indeed.Indie Developer Pixpil and S tardew Valley Publisher Chucklefish released Eastward on September 16th. Eastward won't be the first game to pay tribute to his beloved run of RPGs, but it does bring with it some of its own sensibilities - there's a grit, charm and warmth in Pixpil's subterranean world that earn it a place alongside the likes of Undertale. While the wait for the release of Mother 3 in the west seems fairly indefinite, it's a pleasure to get a game so clearly in thrall to Shigesato Itoi's particular brand of magic.
That latter game provides some obvious inspiration here, and Eastward's worlds are similarly busy and tangible, but of course it's another GBA classic whose shadow looms large here. Maybe it's something to do with the machine being Nintendo's last predominantly 2D console - and arguably the last mainstream hardware more concerned with pixels than polygons - but there's a fulsomeness to the likes of Advance Wars and Minish Cap quite unlike anything else. Nintendo's 32-bit handheld always sat a little oddly with me (partly because I had to sit a little oddly in order to get a decent view of that appalling screen on the first gen hardware), mostly because there were too few proper bespoke games for it - but looking back that seems a bit silly, because the ones that were served up were absolute bangers, all with an aesthetic that's entirely the Game Boy Advance's own. There are modern techniques at play that give Eastward a certain dynamism - 3D lighting helps sell an atmosphere that's post-apocalypse by way of Studio Ghibli, a charming blend of the magical and melancholic - but underneath it's pure Game B
EASTWARD METACRITIC FULL
I don't particularly want to go into too many specifics, because there's not that long to wait until the full and final thing - Eastward has been confirmed for release in just over a month on Switch and PC - but just take a small moment to appreciate the artwork that's perhaps the game's strongest suit. In the short section I played there's a cooking mechanic that lovingly lifts from Breath of the Wild, a jeep racing mini-game and between all that some finely tuned dungeon crawling. You can also split the team apart to solve certain puzzles, and then bind them back together.Īnd from that foundation Pixpil is able to extrapolate a lot.
There's a certain twist provided by the dual character mechanic - miner John has a trusty frying pan to hand, and brings explosives into the mix, while young Sam has access to an energy blast that can light the way forward while also stunning enemies, with both switching in and out of the lead role at the touch of a button.
The action is stripped back and there's a neat crunch to the combat, while the puzzles involve plenty of pushing of crates and bombing of rickety old walls.
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