Keeper review – the latest example of video games that lack playable graphics

Gaming is an amazing medium because it can support a whole range of action-packed titles such as Call of Duty AND Super Mario to playable videos with little player involvement.

Guardian definitely falls into the latter category. The latest title from Double Fine Productions and Lee Petty, this Xbox Game Studios title shines by bringing to the fore the beauty of its diversity in the market. Unfortunately, in my opinion it pales in comparison to similar titles, even if games like this feel as necessary and essential as ever, made by established studios like this.

Lantern of lightweight in the gloomy

Guardian The playable characters are a lighthouse and a seabird (seriously) embarking on an adventure to save the flora and fauna of their world from an unspeakable plague, and all of this can be unraveled simply by playing the game. Thanks to the lighthouse’s spotlight and a few buttons on the Xbox controller, the entire story is told through gameplay, context clues, environments, and a few cutscenes between sequences. There is no spoken dialogue. It’s definitely a relaxing game, but maybe a little too much so.

Guardian it feels like a playable art exhibition with a surreal aesthetic and a strange world full of inanimate objects that comes to life, and the main form of gameplay is exploration, traversal and very lightweight puzzle solving. The game holds your hand in many areas, with on-screen button prompts (which can be turned off), but even when it doesn’t, the puzzles are shockingly linear and can be solved without much thought. This bodes well for many players to try it out, but I missed out.

Within Guardian a stunningly low runtime, basically everything is done with a few buttons (left stick to move, right stick to aim the spotlight and RT to focus it, X to utilize the bird, A to interact and some other skills), and the puzzles are solved just as simply. I’m usually not the biggest fan of puzzles because they start to frustrate me after a while, so I didn’t mind the ease of utilize, but I still wanted a little more of a challenge or work to do on my behalf to complete the game because most of the time everything felt very good.

The main challenge I found within myself Guardian controlled fixed camera angles, which are meant to enhance the beauty of the game but are often cumbersome or annoying, especially when combined with having to point the spotlight at odd angles as the camera direction changes as you move through the environment.

The journey is usually the part you remember

Guardian is not alone in this genre as it can be compared to such titles Abzu, Gray, Or Tripalthough I definitely prefer these. It doesn’t mean that Guardian there are no enjoyable moments as I enjoyed a good portion of the overall experience, but it pales in comparison. Something’s missing – whether it’s character, excitement, or perhaps a more overt message, I’m not sure.

I sit and remember the events of Guardian right after I finish, I have difficulty remembering many specific passages. The lighthouse and the bird team up to perform a variety of good deeds during the low game’s events, but none of them seemed too remarkable outside of the time travel segment, where you have to go back and forth between the past, present, and future to clear obstacles.

The less you know about it Guardian before we get to that the better, so I won’t give away many of the game’s events or irrelevant plot points. Ultimately, it’s just too plain, which some may appreciate, but I have a feeling most players will be left wanting more once the credits roll after a few play sessions.

I’m done Guardian in about five hours and for the most part I enjoyed the experience. If you’re a fan of playable rides like this or have an busy Game Pass subscription with a few hours to kill, I suggest you give it a try. But when it comes to $30 games in 2025, your money is definitely better spent elsewhere.

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