Bramble: The Mountain King Review
Bramble: The Mountain King
Publisher: Merge Games
Developer: DimFrost
Genre:
PEGI: 18
Comments:
Bramble: The Mountain King first got my attention after seeing a few TikToks highlighting some of the gameplay. To me it looked like a blend of Little Nightmares mixed with fairytale like story building. Once it hit consoles and was available to play on Game Pass I figured it was time to check it out. What I experienced went from a heartwarming and quirky fairytale and turned into a dark, macabre, and nightmarish experience I won’t soon forget. This makes Little Nightmares seem like a Saturday morning cartoon.
Players take on the role of Olle, a young boy who must embark on a dangerous journey to save his sister, Lillemor, after she gets abducted by a grisly troll. What begins as an innocent late-night jaunt through the forest evolves into a treacherous rescue mission. Olle encounters an assortment of creatures from Nordic mythology, ranging from loveable gnomes to hideous trolls. While some monsters prove to be friendlier than they appear, most will spare no time in beating Olle to a pulp if given the chance.
Bramble is narrative-driven in a literal sense, as the story is conveyed through fairy tale books that Olle finds on his journey. Each storybook recounts a tragic tale that gives context and informs how each creature came to be. The books are read aloud by a narrator who also occasionally chimes in during gameplay to provide additional narrative details. The game is very much get from point A to point B, but along the way you have platforming, stealth areas and lots of puzzles to solve.
The boss creatures are utterly terrifying and only get worse and worse as the game goes along. Most bosses require you to use the stone of courage, the only weapon you have to take them down. Bosses also have levels to them as they battle goes on, they adapt and introduce new attacks and mechanics to worry about as you go along. The story isn’t terribly long but it is rather engaging. The first couple of hours will have you riding on the back of a hedgehog and playing hide and seek with Gnomes, the last couple of hours will have you stabbing a shapeshifter in the face repeatedly and trying desperately to prevent a ritualistic sacrifice of an infant. It gets REAL dark folks, sorry.
This game is definitely worth checking out, the graphics are great, the sound engineering was done superbly especially when playing with headphones, and alot of the set building and camera angles are staged perfectly. If you are a fan of Little Nightmares this one is a no brainer, and if you aren’t but this still catches your attention, check it out on Game Pass if you have the option while it’s still there.
Trailer
Article By Kevin Austin
Kevin Austin has been in gaming journalism in one way or another since the launch of the Nintendo Gamecube. Married and father of 3 children he has been gaming since the ripe age of 6 when he got his first NES system and over 30 years later he is still gaming almost daily. Kevin is also co-founder of the Play Some Video Games (PSVG) Podcast network which was founded over five years ago and is still going strong. Some of his favorite gaming series includes Fallout and Far Cry, he is a sucker for single player adventure games (hence his big reviews for Playstation), and can frequently be found getting down in one battle royale or another. If it's an oddball game, odds are he's all about it.
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