Reviewed on: Nintendo Switch

Like any other form of art, video games can be used to send messages. Whether to expose a social problem, to give a political opinion or position, or to bring a little-known culture to the public, our industry is better than all the others in its potential for communication, because interactivity brings engagement and involvement.
At times, NORTH seems to try to send a critical and serious message about aspects of society… But the communication is never clear, being clouded by an uninteresting presentation and obtuse gameplay.

Story: 8.5

The main theme of the game is a crisis of refugees and its implications. The story follows a newcomer to the big city of the north, an immigrant from somewhere horrible to live in the south. Lost, confused and even unable to communicate fully, the refugee must explore the city and understand what he needs to do to be accepted as a full member of society.

While everything you see and do seems incomprehensible at first sight, NORTH incorporates a quite interesting narrative device in the form of letters that the refugee writes to his sister, who has not yet fled their hometown. Through these, it is possible to unravel a bit of what is happening around you and get clues about your next objectives in the city. The writing is quite organic and convincing, and helps the player identify and connect with the refugee.

Mechanics: 4

While the story and theme still prove interesting, the gameplay seems to serve only as an inconvenience, an obstacle between you and the answers you seek. The controls are quite confusing, and the only constant is the dual sticks for moving and for moving the camera. Apart from that, you will often need to try pressing buttons at random until you find out which one must be pressed… Sometimes the game shows on screen a message in the format ‘Press A to do Z’, but these messages clearly don’t appear as often as needed.

The game’s progression boils down to finding the next place you must go and then interacting with someone or some object, unlocking the possibility of writing a new letter to your sister and advancing the story. There are some occasional “puzzles”, but these are not very clear and can easily become a source of great frustration. Sometimes the last letter written to your sister can provide a hint, but NORTH offers no option to reread letters sent in the past, which makes the game harder and only adds to the frustration.

Speaking of not offering features, NORTH is the rawest game I have experienced in a long time. Not only are you unable to reread letters already sent, but you can’t pause the game or even save your progress (!). Every time you start the game, you have to start from zero. Fortunately it is possible to complete everything in less than an hour, but it is still a strange and counterintuitive decision.

Audio and visuals: 5

NORTH has a unique and different art direction that matches well with the work’s cult style. The game’s civilization is monstrous and macabre, the city itself is obscure and looks like a labyrinth, and the society’s culture and activities seem completely alien, which helps a lot to create the feeling of being a foreigner.

But the praise ends there. The models and textures look like a video game production from about 2 generations ago, there is an image filter that constantly adds grain and makes everything so dark that you will have trouble seeing anything. The music is not very inspired, but it does help leave you unsettled, lost and confused.

Final thoughts

NORTH sets out to deliver a message, to criticize the current state of the international refugee crisis. Contemporary and relevant issues. But unfortunately the uninteresting presentation and countless small design and gameplay decisions keep players from feeling firsthand the whole drama of a lost and isolated person living off favors in a foreign city.

Score

Story = 8.5

Mechanics = 4

Audio and visuals = 5