Very Retrouvaille

Gourd Clae Reviews

~Prenote~ (Feel free to skip this)
Very Retrouvaille is a witty little game that takes place in a small town of, well, they're either animals that are like humans or humans that are like animals. Luckily, the game doesn't really go into the details, so it definitely helps the cuteness of it all. Another game I'd recommend playing and finishing though it's still not nearly as charming as Melon Journey. *Not so obligatory spoiler warning here* There are a few things in this game that aren't the most love-able things in the world, that detract from the game for me. Like Comb Bear. Oh god, Comb Bear...

Anyway, let's cut open the forest guard! And hopefully literally ~<3

~Gameplay~
Exploration Puzzles: In VR you run around your little green tinted town and forest for the most part doing errands and looking at things. I appreciated the cute little pieces of dialog you threw in here and there like with the mailbox sides, the "Your Love" option at the little shop and only being able to say one thing during an option point were nice. Especially when the forest keeper wanted a second pie - needless to say I was ready to ~lovingly~ spill its guts on the ground until that one little piece of humor made me feel a little more level-headed. A complaint I have though is that sometimes what I need to do isn't too terribly clear even with the hint sisters three throwing help at my face. Particularly at the stump part and the flowers/winter segment. Being able to name one of the random NPCs was a nice touch, added a certain flavor I think. I was a little at a loss for Lamb's door puzzle (had to use the walk-through), you may want to make the answer a little more clear, especially since I still don't fully understand why it was the number it was. More for exploration, there's a cemetery you don't ever have to go to which happens to have some nice atmosphere to it.

My only real pet peeve is you never really feel good about progressing, it's only worth it when you get items and the game breaks out into love mode.

3.5/5


This is what happens when I get to name things. Because I'm classy and original.

~Graphics/Mapping~
The green style works for this game well enough, and the character sprites look nice too. The mapping makes sense for the most part, but in certain circumstances I couldn't tell where I could leave a map. The character portraits for inside the houses looked a little scary to me at times. I think maybe it was the weird looking eyes? You could tell what everything was, so that's always good too. Also, if I accidentally read the side of the mailbox it's kind of annoying - the mailbox thing was only really funny once.

It's a nice looking game for sure, though I don't think it quite got the effect it was going for.
3.5/5

Don't mind me, I'm just screaming because I love you Comb Bear...you're not scary at all...

~Music/Sounds~
Probably one of the things that was implemented the best in this game were the sounds and the music. The creator is very sure the player doesn't get bored of the music, and its volume is just so as to dissipate into the back of your mind. The music sets the tone very well for everything that's happening. This includes getting solemn when by the graveyard and being sure there's enough variety in the more silly, cutesy songs that play in the town. I also enjoyed the scene with the piano music very much; a very welcome reward! As for the sounds, those were enjoyable too, of course. The footsteps you heard when walking were nice, and the rain sound later on was very relaxing and nice.

Since I barely recognize sounds, I guess you must have done something right.
5/5


I'm having horrible flashbacks to playing Slender.

~Plot/Story~
Le spoilers ahead~
Hm, well, there's not really much story to speak of other than "you're looking for a rabbit". I like the simplicity, but the reason I really don't think I liked this game as much as Melon Journey or similar games is THE RABBIT IS DEAD IN THE END. Now, this probably shouldn't have gotten to me like it did, but I was just very unhappy with the ending. I literally punched a wall. Maybe that's what you were going for, but I don't see how making the player angry is really helping the plot. I think what I really didn't like about it is that everything that you did in the game was bringing you farther from your ultimate goal of finding your bunny. And whose responsible for a majority of what you do? That stupid forest guard! I think you see what I'm getting at. Another thing that seemed very out of place for the general mood of the story was the little girl in the woods who basically got kidnapped. And I don't know who those people by the cabin she was in were, but they're so creepy. It even seems like the protagonist is a little scared of the place since she won't even let you enter. These were just too out of place!
(The creator has informed me that I misinterpreted this - it's not creepy. Relief~<3)

So I guess, in short, I wasn't really happy with what the end of the game was. Sorry, just my opinion!
2/5

~Prelude~
So, on the whole I enjoyed this game! I wasn't impressed in the end which probably left a bad last impression on me, but it was still a very pretty game with some nice atmospheric music. Hope this helps if you ever decide to renovate this a little - maybe an alternate ending? Please?
3.5/5