Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley – Game Review

Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley – One of the most famous children’s book characters in the world, besides Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck or Robot Cat Doraemon is family Moomin and friends, written by Finnish author Tove Jansson.

Round, adorable, easily recognizable white characters, with adorable gestures and a colorful, family-filled world Moomin instantly became a favorite among both children and adults.

Beautiful, lovely and humane, family Moomin has been the companion of many generations of children around the world, from Europe, North America to Japan, Korea, appearing in all mass media, from television series, movies, live-action children’s shows, comics, coloring books, dolls, stuffed animals,… but strangely… family Moomin very rarely appears in the game!

Except for a few “blood-sucking” mobile games and low-quality minigame collections, fans of the Moomin family never had the opportunity to fully experience Moominvalley… until Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley debut!

Developed by a team Hyper Gamesa small but experienced independent game studio from Norway, they promise that this is the “most complete” game about the Moomin family and Moominvalley, with an extremely interesting and exciting adventure. imbued with the spirit of the original books by author Tove Jansson.

So can the Hyper Games team bring a complete Moomin game experience as they promise? Good Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley Will it continue to be forgotten among countless other failed “follow-up” games?

Let’s find out with Vietgame.asia through the following review!

YOU WILL LIKE

Winter Passes, Spring Comes!

Melody of Moominvalley follows Snufkin, a close friend of the entire Moomin family, especially Moomintroll. He usually spends a lot of time with the Moomin family and friends, but will leave in the winter to avoid the harsh cold of Moomin Valley and let the Moomin family hibernate.

But this winter something unusual happened! When Snufkin returns in the spring, the once clean, peaceful Moomin Valley is now filled with trash, rude policemen and crowded signs – but worst of all is his best friend Moomintroll. was… missing! And Snufkin must use all his cleverness and superior musical skills to track down his best friend’s whereabouts, as well as return the inherent peace of Moomin Valley.

The most impressive thing the Hyper Games team has done with Melody of Moominvalley is to convey the very characteristic drawings of artist Tove Jansson in their own style while still retaining the spirit of the original work.

The game’s world includes soft, gentle colors as if drawn with fine gouache, with simple touches that seem to be drawn with colored markers to decorate the environment, the edges of details are also create a very distinct “hand-drawn” feel, making it feel as if they were colored with pastels, crayons or watercolors.

The character is then placed into the environment with particularly interesting animations, balancing a rough, hard and smooth feel, making the player feel as if they are at times watching an animated movie. Stop-motion is animated with colored paper, at times it is like reading a beautifully illustrated picture book, but still makes moving, solving puzzles, and exploring feel dynamic. and convenient.

These visual elements combined have created a Moomin valley that is incredibly poetic, beautiful and lively, but most importantly, it has not been “dissolved” into previous products. From Sniff Cave, the Bathing-House beach, the Moomin family’s house to the stream flowing at the foot of Lonely Mountain, both familiar and strange places of Moomin Valley are now open for players to explore freely. also expanded to locations such as the cave system inside the mountain, or interesting and completely new locations on Hattitafener Island.

The magical world of Moomin Valley is now portrayed in a very modern, unconventional way but still neat and respectful of the original.

And this modern, innovative spirit but still extremely respectful of the original is also brought into the plot and content of the game. Snufkin’s adventures will have him running throughout Moomin Valley, both searching for his friend Moomintroll and helping other valley residents like The Groke, Moominpapa and Little My on their own adventures. , and there seems to be no character more suited to this role than Snufkin.

Choosing Snufkin as the main character and not the Moomintroll “brand ambassador” itself was a pretty bold decision, but the Hyper Games team understood that none other than Snufkin was the right character to tell the story. of the game. The boy is a more flexible, more clever, and above all more “wise” character to solve people’s problems. His personality is also quieter, easily “immersing himself” in stories surrounding the adventures of Moomintroll and other characters.

And this makes the story that Melody of Moominvalley I want to tell it much more prominently. Although Snufkin is the main character, the story the game tells is actually more about Moomintroll and Moomin Valley, and it is through a special character like Snufkin that we can feel the extremely profound messages about Moomintroll. nature, peace, and friendship of the game.

Another thing that makes Snufkin such an effective protagonist is because of… his musical talent. With the ability to play the flute, keyboard, and drums to solve puzzles in the game, Snufkin also contributed significantly to the “construction” of the game’s music, making the game’s music always seem to match what was happening. that Snufkin is experiencing, making the atmosphere and game world more enchanting and attractive than ever.

Snufkin also contributed significantly to the “construction” of the music in the game, making the game music always seem to match what Snufkin is experiencing, making the atmosphere and game world even more enchanting. , more attractive than ever

YOU WILL HATE

Simple, simple.

Although the picture, sound and content are excellent, Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley There are still some shortcomings in terms of gameplay. The main gameplay of the game revolves around Snufkin using three musical instruments, with different controls, to solve different types of puzzles.

This makes certain moments in the game more impressive and engaging, especially when the game’s music matches the notes that Snufkin plays in special puzzles and chase sequences, but it’s worth it. Unfortunately, the game uses quite a few of those interesting segments, but mainly just lets Snufkin play music when he gets a bit “lost” and solve very simple puzzles to pave the way.

Not only that, the game also has a very strange and redundant “upgrade” mechanism, forcing players to spend time collecting musical notes to “upgrade” the instrument and solve more “high-level” puzzles. , instead of placing these puzzles naturally parallel to the plot.

Another significant minus of Melody of Moominvalley This is a very short game. It only takes 3-4 hours for the player to complete the entire game, and collecting all the items in the game only takes the player about 1-2 hours more.

The journey to Moominvalley was so magical, but it ended so quickly!

The game uses quite a few of those interesting segments, but mainly just lets Snufkin play music when he gets a bit “lost” and solve very simple puzzles to pave the way.