Starting off as an ASCII-style game where you are just moving around inside a computer, The Last Snow then takes you into a beautiful, open 3D world where something is just…off.
This ASCII puzzle is just a dream – soon, your character wakes up and has to face the real world. The Last Snow is very cinematic and produced almost like a movie is, as the developers – Loeding – actually have created short films in the past.
You’re given a bit of backstory as a mother character until she receives a phone call. In it, she talks about how her son has been having weird dreams, like the dreams you were just playing. Then, your focus switches to the boy. It’s winter, everything is frozen and covered in snow. In your head, you can hear someone, and they have given you a time limit to play around within the world of The Last Snow. This narrator says they are finally able to speak to you through their mind – that the experiment now works and you’ll both be working together.
Unsure of what they really want, you get given small tasks that can be done through exploration. You can also find side quests or mini-challenges through a bulletin board in the center of the town. In the tech prototype of The Last Snow that I played at EGX, I didn’t actually get to that much of the gameplay, instead seeing the general vibe and feel of the game.
The mix of ASCII and hand-crafted 3D is quite amazing, blending together well through the premise of dreams. The voice acting is professional and brilliant – the general feel is there and the concept is very good. I really like the games that Loeding is working on, and this is one that is going to be another knock-out. I can feel it.
The Last Snow is currently in development, but in the meantime, you can follow its creation on Twitter.
About The Author
