Hello again! I am once again commandeering the good ship Dean and Digipen, and intend to sail it straight into the depths of irrelevance. But before I do that, Douse.
Now, let me say this before I begin. I have (almost) never played a game where the story is the main, if not only, focus. I have never placed my hands on Dear Esther, I have never fired up The Walking Dead, I have never woken up the PS3 I don’t own to play a few minutes of Journey. But one thing I can do is respect a solid, engaging, engrossing game story, seeing as there’s so few that have one. It’s part of the reason why Bastion is basically my favorite game since ever. So I was thoroughly skeptical going into Douse. But enough of this rambling.
Douse is marketed as a 2D story experience, but mechanically is a bit more similar to a platformer. You play as a raindrop, using mystical raindrop powers given unto you by the god of Shut Up And Play, who walks through a forest bringing dead plants back to life. As you can probably tell, I suck at explaining these things.
Aside from that though, this story that I was mentioning. Now, you’re likely to say that there isn’t one. And in a traditional sense, yes, the game lacks a narrative in the traditional “characters and a conflict” sense. But it does convey an experience. It conveys the daily life of a magical raindrop goin’ about his business and helping regrow dead forest plants. And you know what? I like that. It’s fun, it’s engaging, and most impressively, it’s done without words. I felt connected to this little raindrop sprite.
This game has one of the best visual aesthetics I’ve seen in awhile. Everything is designed with this visually delightful pastel tone, and it's a blast to walk through. You bounce off of spiderwebs and mushrooms, you walk across leaves and branches and fallen logs. It's amazing just to go through, and it really made me sad when, fifteen short minutes after starting, I was told that the game was over. I wanted to see more of this world. I wanted to see a fully realized, extensive, explorable game world.
Musically, the game is fabulous. The world is permeated by this magnificently relaxing acoustic guitar track. But what really makes the music stand out is how it blends with the world. Bounce on a mushroom, spring from a spiderweb, soar through a cloud, you get a corresponding musical cue. When I first realized this, I was overjoyed. I spent a few minutes just bouncing from cloud to mushroom to spiderweb and back, trying to time everything with the in-game soundtrack. The last time I actually wanted to explore every nook and cranny of a game world and just mess with the mechanics was with Portal. That’s right, I just compared this little indie title to what Yahtzee called “the earthly manifestation of Christ.” Come to think of it, the only game I can remember doing something like this was Portal 2, when you step on an Aerial Faith Plate and are greeted by a corresponding electronic height-based crescendo, or when you go through the Excursion Funnel and get that relaxing-ass music that makes you feel like you’re swimming through a magical sea of happiness and friendship.
As for faults, there are two things that I am going to complain about. One is that it isn’t longer. Like I said earlier, I seriously want these guys to release a full version that I need to pay for and lasts for about an hour. Or two. Or three. Aside from that, the “hitboxes” on the plants are a bit wonky. Sometimes it takes just a tap with the mouse to let the rains fall and the plants grow, and other times I’m sitting here for thirty seconds waiting for the grass to realize that yes, that is rain and yes, please grow so I can keep moving and not feel guilty about leaving you dead.
All in all, Douse is awesome, and is definitely more deserving of some kind of IGF recognition than some of its peers.
Seriously, go play this.
So long and thanks for all the fish.
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Splish Splash: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=25890
Cool story, bro! Personally, I don't have the same opinion as my colleague here. I thought the game was anemic and pretentious and that the only thing it had going for it was the presentation, which was, let's not mince words, absolutely friggin gorgeous from start to finish. The aesthetic does not make the game, however, and once I looked past it, I saw nothing but a sub-par platformer with sticky controls. But hey, that's just my opinion. Plus, it's Luis's birthday, which makes his opinion like a million times better than anyone else's according to the laws of who gives a good gosh darn.
Thanks again for the review from the vastly more talented Luis Gomez. Check out his blog if you want some damn good quality stories. I ain't just saying that cuz its his birthday.
