Welcome to our review of EQQO, a game that got on my nerves at first and ended up really growing on me.
Unravel the threads of a poetic and meaningful puzzle-adventure inspired by nature and mythology. The heartening tale of a mother, a blind child and an Egg – voiced and captioned in many languages. A multi-layered story full of symbols and metaphors about hope, love, nature and everything that connects us. Four to five hours of exploration and puzzle-solving in sacred lands and monumental temple rooms. 25 hidden parchment scrolls to find and reveal new parts of the legend.
Music composed by Nicolas Bredin and played by the world-renowned Prague Philharmonic Orchestra. Spectacular sceneries and an immersive “360-degree cinematic” experience supporting the use of the gyroscope. Items and architecture inspired by Ethiopian mythology and traditions such as the pilgrimage to the Rock-Hewn Churches of Lalibela. The possibility to plant your own tree, both in-game and in real life, with the DLC #EQQODonation
Parallel Studio, the developers: “We aim to craft immersive and artistic games focusing on emotions. We hope you will enjoy EQQO and connect with the different layers of its story.” – Ronan Coiffec, founder of the Paris-based indie dev studio.
Nakana.io, the publisher: “We gather games that share a strong experience to remember. We try to grow real changes from the seeds of their message, like with the #EQQODonation tree-planting DLC” – Mikaël Bourget, founder of the publishing label.
When I started playing EQQO, I went straight to TV mode and my trusty Pro Controller, despite a very cool looking game, I could not get into this marvelous game at first, it just borked on me completely, mostly due to how to control EQQO. I will say the controls in TV mode are rather oversensitive and I kept either moving too far left or too far right. It really took me a while to get used to the controls and the fixed camera approach.
You can just find a spot in the sky which opens up the next view. I know it sounds strange, but it just works really. Find the place, solve a puzzle, shake of those pesky shadows and protect the egg. That about sums up your first hour in the game, but it does not stop there. EQQO is basically one giant puzzle that flows from one screen into the other. Solving puzzles by taking a new approach on the genre. I must say this game really grew on me after around the 20-minute mark.
Up till then, I was getting truly annoyed by the mechanics and not being able to solve the first puzzle due to a real-life distraction by my cats. Once I figured out how to get across the gap, spoiler alert that other tree, I just kept going. Found the egg of the snake god, went into the temple and just completely lost track of time.
EQQO is a game that will do that, grab you by the hand and immerse you into its story. Despite a very slow pace, EQQO is not boring at all. It is all about finding that one clue to get you to the next part and at the same time delve into the story. A very coherent story with great gameplay and some mighty fine puzzling.
In conclusion, EQQO is a great game. I do not see myself playing it a second time anytime soon, the pace is to blame for this one, but it just works. A nice harmony between the three pillars of gaming: Story, Graphics and gameplay. I do wish the controls would have been less jerky.
