Review: The Great Grove of God

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Words have weight, so I wave them around carelessly and carelessly. I’m not sure if that’s it The Great Grove of God is unless you take it literally. Rather, it is about identity, authority, communication and disagreement.

This is a sequel Smile at me by Limbolane. But while these two games have similarities, you may miss this relationship by looking at it. In one game you’re buried in a mental hospital, while in the other you’re repairing relationships between gods. However, what they have in common is nodding their heads and staring at people.

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Screenshot by Destructoid

The Great Grove of God puts you in the role of Godpoke, who, as far as I know, is some sort of courier. Honestly, I’m not sure about a few concepts. For all I know, Godpoke could just be someone who wears a poncho. You reach the titular grove just in time to see the gods close a giant rift in the sky that threatens to end the world. The problem is that the gods are not really interested in saving the world. They are too busy with their problems.

Before your arrival, the last messenger of the gods, the mysterious King, sent letters to all the gods. The letters are an obvious attempt to drive a wedge between them, but since King had always been a trusted friend and reliable enough to be chosen as the next god, they took the words literally. Nothing is right in the grove now, even though it is a crucial time for the entire world.

Before you even reach the grove, King’s trusty mail cannon, Megapon, lands right in your lap. With this device, you can suck the words out of one person’s mouth and punch them in the face of another. Or just go back to them. This happens sometimes.

Being the sharp person you are (or maybe just because it’s a linear narrative), you set out to correct King’s mistake. You are immediately assigned by Inspecta, the God of Leadership, to lend a hand their lackeys, the Bizzyboys, figure out what happened to King and why they decided to hurt everyone’s feelings. However, the leader of the Bizzyboys, Capochin, only wants to please his boss, while the rest of the members are completely incompetent and hapless. So it all depends on you.

Largely, Great Grove of God resembles a point-and-click adventure game. You can’t absorb any sentence or group of words you want; only specific, highlighted things that characters say can go into your Megapon. In this way, they function like any item in something like Secret of Monkey Island. You find clues in the words of the people you talk to and provide them with something that will get them to do something for you, even if it’s just stepping aside.

There is a bit of a learning curve. In the first area I didn’t pick up any clues, but after the second I was able to act somewhat purposefully. I haven’t disconnected very often, but I have to wonder if this will be the case for everyone. Great God Grove has an unusual design language built around a central hook, and I’m not sure gaming literacy will be as crucial here as actual literacy. I’m not sure if every player can adapt, or maybe I’m the weird one because I had some problems in the first area. I can only speak from my own experience though, and in my experience I didn’t have any major issues for most of the game.

Each area of ​​the grove is home to one or two gods. In each of them, King spread some disinformation to create chaos, and your overall goal is to neat up the situation and restore the status quo. It sounds effortless, but being an adventure game, it takes more than an apology to solve the problem.

Great God Grove, two puppets biting a hoagie.
Screenshot by Destructoid

Which really elevates Great Grove of God there is a wealth of style hidden above the typical adventure game. It combines 2D characters and objects with a 3D world Paper Mario-style. It is based on Day Lane’s distinctive, sketchy and expressive style. Although the animation is meager, each character has a huge range of positions and emotions that flow into each up-to-date dialogue box. This can be quite addictive.

Many of the gods are rendered in full 3D, but are stylized in such a way that they are challenging to recognize. Like humans with 2D graphics, the gods jump from position to position, occasionally adding more classic animation to spice things up.

There are also live-action puppet vignettes that can be watched for no real reason other than enrichment. These usually just involve Bizzyboys giving advice and general information about what’s going on in the world. As it turns out, I really like dolls that eat sandwiches.

There are few things that look like this The Great Grove of God. The style is executed so consistently and with so much force that it’s unbelievable that only a handful of people put it all together. There are so many aspects of his visual style that look like they could be very challenging to pull off, so the fact that they didn’t go the easier, more conventional route is impressive. It pays off because, if nothing else, the look of this game will be burned into your eyes.

The woman from the Great God Grove mindlessly sips her coffee.
Screenshot by Destructoid

The Great Grove of God has a lot to say about identity and the way people trample on others just to be recognized. The gods themselves are not much different from ordinary people. They simply exist on a less accessible level of existence. Therefore, even though you can approach them and talk to them, their followers seem to simply believe what they hear and speculate about what they may think, which often leads to misunderstandings. Disinformation is common and people are taking advantage of it.

Humans seem to be programmed to climb. There is a fear that our lives will lose meaning or be forgotten, so we strive for recognition. To gain recognition, we often trample on those below us. We want to wear stomping shoes, and a decent person can become terrible the moment he puts them on. You encounter this often Great Grove of God.

At the same time, it is a very positive game. Thanks to your intervention, the troublemakers you encounter see the error of their ways and express their desire to atone for their actions. Call me cynical, but I’ve noticed that most people are more willing to become defensive when faced with the consequences of their actions. People stick their boots into the ground and look for excuses for what they have done. Maybe I just need a stronger word cannon.

The Great Godswood prepares the offering.
Screenshot by Destructoid

Gameplay-wise, I can honestly take it or leave it Great Grove of God. It has great dynamics and a unique approach to the adventure genre, but I find the situations in which it is used generally unexciting. Not too mundane, but I think with a more diligent focus on threat and more unsafe situations, the dialogue would have had a better chance to shine. But it’s already shining quite brightly.

Great Grove of God it’s an incredibly polished and precisely crafted game, and that’s what’s most impressive about it. The pace and aesthetics are perfectly refined and there are no loose threads here. A little more dynamics and the narrative would have been perfect, but it provides a lot of depth to delve into. It also features dolls biting into a giant hoagie. Really, what more could you ask for?

8.5

Great

Impressive efforts, and a few noticeable issues holding them back. It won’t surprise everyone, but it’s worth your time and money.


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