Embracelet is the next game made by Mattis Folkestad. After the triumph that was the 2D point-and-click adventure Milkmaid of the Milky Way, Mattis Folkestad decides to go 3D for his next tale.
Coming-of-Age
Jesper is a 17-year-old boy who gets handed a mysterious bracelet by his grandfather. Jesper is told about the special powers the bracelet has and that the thing somehow ties in with the island of Slepp where his grandfather was born. On one of the last visits before his grandfather dies, he asked Jesper to take the bracelet back to the island and find out more about its origin. With more questions than answers, Jesper sets for an adventure of a lifetime. Slepp takes him back to the roots of his grandfather while also helping him grow up in the process. As he feels the bracelet’s pull getting stronger with each step in Slepp, he’ll meet a bunch of colorful characters.
While finding out more and more about the bracelet, Jesper also discovers the island’s fading beauty. With the island slowly being abandoned by the original families and almost getting annexed by an oil company, Jesper also plays a big role in “restoring” the island to its former glory. With the help of two younger kids (Hermod and Karoline) still residing on the island, Jesper will be able to reach for more than he initially intended. Jesper’s adventure in Embracelet will prove to have a huge impact on his transition from youth to adulthood making this a great coming-of-age story.
Narrative adventure
Embracelet is all about the narrative and developing relationships with the inhabitant of Slepp. There is some light adventure stuff to do here and there but all in all, this is all about the evolving story. This game might not be a game for everyone as there aren’t many actual game elements included. Sure, there are some puzzles you can solve with the power of the mysterious bracelet but these aren’t hard at all. They require you to press a button to activate the bracelet. Two moving circles appear on the screen. Pressing the button again when the two circles match, activates the power within the bracelet. Failing this timed mini-game results in you just retrying it without any penalty.
As pointed out by the game at the beginning of the adventure, you can’t fail in Embracelet. Your actions can only change the way a certain character reacts to you. The game actually tells you to explore the world of Embracelet at your own leisure and see how your interactions develop with each choice you make. This makes Embracelet a nice experience. The writing in Embracelet is “top shelf” in my opinion. The relationships you’ll develop are really well written and shine as bright as the powers in the bracelet.
Stylish
Instead of using the same 2D pixel style Mattis Folkestad used for Milkmaid of the Milky Way, he went for a lo-fi 3D style. Using low-poly 3D models is a bold choice but works like a charm for Embracelet. This was probably a cost and time effective method for a one-man company like Machineboy but at the same time actually emphasizes the story even more. Don’t get me wrong, the game still looks great but this time in a very minimalistic way as opposed to most 3D games.
Lack of sound
The only part I found lacking was the sound. Although this game is all about the story, none of the lines are spoken. Everything is text-based which made it fall a bit heavy on me. I know getting voice actors for each character might not be so cost-effective for an indie studio but I felt the story deserved more than those black and white speech bubbles popping up. The soundtrack could’ve used some more care too. It feels like it is intended to make this a calming experience that seemed to work a bit too well on me. The simplistic nature and repetitiveness had me almost nod off a few times.
Conclusion
Embracelet is a nice narrative game with great style but a lacking soundtrack. The writing is excellent though. The 5 hours spent with Jesper to complete this game will have a lasting impression for those into these types of games. Just don’t expect a lot of actual game elements or fancy puzzles.
