Wasn’t expecting this were you? The most appropriate thing for a Halloween special, a review of a game I haven’t mentioned before! In truth, I only realised that Keeper had been released on the Xbox Game Pass very recently by chance as I hadn’t heard anything about it since it was initially announced. Double Fine are known for creating some of the finest gaming experiences, so does this strange concept for a game meet their lofty expectations? Time to get stuck in and find out!
Story-wise this is an interesting title as it proudly proclaims about the fact it is a story told with no dialogue, and that is most certainly true. You play as a sentient lighthouse who after gaining the ability to walk thanks to some convenient tree roots becomes friend with a bird creature that has just recently arrived to your island. Together you embark on a mystical and mind-bending journey across the island in the hopes of reaching the mountain peaks and reuniting the bird with its flock. It’s a nice and simple premise for a game such as this, though of course there are layers to the narrative that aren’t explicitly told. In fact, lore about the island and the inhabitants of it are told through achievements of all things, containing blurbs about the island’s past and objects of importance that are unlocked by rebuilding statues found within the world. It’s a novel storytelling method and really rewards those who stray off the beaten path to find more content, and trust me this story can get very dark. From contextual clues about previous civilisations to a mysterious, omnipresent ‘wither’ plaguing the island there’s a lot more to this narrative than meets the eye initially, and I for one am very happy it went the direction it did despite the adventure not lasting too long. It was cute, it was intriguing and I was hooked the whole way through.
Presentation is probably this game’s strongest aspect as the game looks absolutely gorgeous from a visual standpoint. The art direction is top notch, each new area you visit is interesting and dynamic and the design of all the characters you meet and interact with are unique and fun to witness. It really reminds me of classic Pixar movies from the smooth way the characters and environments animate to the usage of humour and whimsy the characters protrude. I really enjoyed seeing everything that the island had to offer, even its darker parts. The music too is nothing short of magical. It absolutely sounds like the soundtrack you’d imagine a game with a sentient lighthouse as a protagonist would have as the weirder parts of the game give way to psychedelic tunes and happy, upbeat soundscapes. It’s nothing absolutely revolutionary, you probably won’t find me listening to the OST album over and over, but it absolutely fits and every track works for where it should. Overall then this is a fantastic looking and fantastic sounding game, one in which I hope Double Fine develop for future titles, they clearly have a lot of talented artists working for them.
Gameplay is where this title may be divisive for some people, it can be best described as a walking simulator with light puzzle and platforming challenges. Now for someone who enjoys narrative and artistic experiences such as myself this isn’t an issue as I knew exactly what I was getting myself into and enjoyed my time for it. However for those who are wanting a more traditional style of gameplay this may be an issue for them. There was a section fairly early on where the game felt a lot like a QWOP-like with the protagonist being a difficult to control being focused all around keeping them balanced for traversal which may have made for an equally interesting main gameplay gimmick, however I feel this may get annoying over time and distract from the lovely visuals and atmosphere, so I understand why this was dropped. The puzzles and platforming parts themselves were nice, challenging enough and contributed to the fairly relaxed atmosphere of the game overall. As such, even though this may ultimately be a walking simulator, I found myself engaged enough and enjoying my walkthrough.
Now aside from the gameplay being essentially a walking simulator with extra steps the only other notable negative I can think some people may have with this title is the length of it. The game is only around 4 hours long with no real replay value, which for me is absolutely fine as I think there should be more artistically inclined, experimental but shorter titles as usually those can leave some of the most impactful experiences. However, this is a rather expensive title for the length you will spend in it, and combined with the fact that it’s a walking simulator you may feel as though your money hasn’t gone very far. This is why I again applaud the usage of the Xbox Game Pass as these types of games are exactly what that kind of subscription-based model are best for. Shorter experiences that you play, finish, and can safely delete from your system knowing that you had a nice time with them but probably don’t need to play again. Truthfully, I don’t know if I would have paid full price for this game to actually play it, but then again you can’t place a truly accurate price on art that makes you feel nice things. At the end of the day the choice if you want to actually buy this title and if you feel your money was wisely spent is up to you, though I would again highly recommend playing it on the Game Pass as your money will go a lot further.
Overall then I had a great time with Keeper. Yes it was expensive for what it was and yes a lot of the game is just walking around an island looking at cute and creepy things, but it’s clear this game was made with love and care from the developers and it truly shines in showing off the talent at the studio. This was clearly an experimental side project from Double Fine that they wanted to try out and give their artists a chance to pour their passion and love for the medium of games into an experience that, yes might not be for everyone, but for those that would appreciate it they will find a charming, well crafted experience that may leave you wanting more, but overall appreciating what you got to experience. Sometimes a nice game is just nice to experience, and that’s all I can really say on that.