Reviewed on: Nintendo Switch

Do you kno da wae? You should!

I didn’t know what to expect when I picked up The Way to play and review… But now, with the adventure complete, I can say it’s a rare product, offering a perfect balance between atmosphere, narrative and gameplay.

Narrative: 10

The Way tells the story of a space explorer who loses his beloved and chases clues to the secret of eternal life, hidden by an alien civilization. It’s the journey of a lifetime, and its presentation is quite engaging – almost personal.

The opening scene is quite shocking, but it draws curiosity and holds your attention. As you begin to understand what’s going on, new mysteries are introduced. The game never lets you lose focus, and there is always some mystery that keeps you hungry to continue.

It’s hard to say much about the narrative without spoiling the surprises, but I can say that it is well structured, fluid, interesting and completely different from anything you’ve seen in a game.

Mechanics: 8

The Way leans on two pillars to deliver its gameplay experience: Puzzles and 2D Platforming.

Many of the game’s puzzles aren’t even presented as puzzles, but as objectives that need to be achieved to progress the story. As you advance the objectives become more complex and cerebral, and you may not even realize that all this time you’ve been facing and solving logic problems – such is the quality of the work in developing its difficulty curve. Closer to the end of the game some puzzles may be considered a bit more complicated than acceptable, but they can be solved with a little patience and a few rounds of trial and error… Not ideal, but it doesn’t stop players from pursuing the story’s conclusion.

On the Platforming side we have a game that demands more precision than its controls can offer. There are passages that may frustrate impatient players, and there is no way around the problem – you’ll have to take a deep breath, concentrate hard and maybe count on a little luck. The overall experience is good, especially for the satisfaction of success, but this is still clearly the weakest aspect of the game.

The Way introduces and discards countless different mechanics as the adventure unfolds. Both puzzles and platforming sequences are recontextualized when you acquire or lose some important ability, and this helps tremendously to make the game more dynamic and less repetitive. The weapons and abilities you gain (and lose) are certainly one of the high points of the gameplay experience.

Audiovisual: 8

As with so many other indie titles, The Way has a somewhat retro presentation, with pixel art visuals and chiptune music.

Despite sticking to this cliché, the game presents impressive visual quality. The scenery is colorful and varied, everything is quite detailed and the overall experience remains convincing and engaging. The style simply seems to make sense, it’s perfect for what The Way sets out to do.

The music isn’t especially memorable, but the work is competent and manages to intensify the emotions and sensations of each scene.

Final Considerations

The Way is a gem hidden in plain sight, lost in a sea of so many other interesting indie games that at first glance seem more interesting… But don’t be fooled. Don’t underestimate the quality of its narrative or the ingenuity of its mechanics. The Way Remastered deserves to be experienced by everyone, and is definitely a must for anyone who likes a different and engaging story.

Score

Narrative = 10

Mechanics = 8

Audiovisual = 8

Worth the 15 dollars? For most, it’s worth the investment. But avoid the game if you aren’t interested in science fiction or have trouble dealing with difficulty and frustration.

Overall: 8.7

Played on the Nintendo Switch version