Europa Review – Humanity Will Survive?

Coming into Europa, I had no idea what to expect. Indeed, before I mentioned in a chat with other Wccftech folks how I like to cover indies, and I was going to look for one to give a bit of coverage, Europa wasn’t even on my longest distance of radars. Unlike the Europa around Jupiter, the Hubble Telescope would have had little chance of picking this up. It would have been a shame, too, because you can tell the passion of developers Novadust Entertainment.

Europa is inspired by Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli’s aesthetically and thematically, which certainly works in the game’s favour. This is, without any doubt, a gorgeous game; the environments are splendid to look at, and the art style is similar to that of a watercolour painting. Adding to this is a strong soundtrack, understated when it needs to be and picking up at other moments. For the most part, it complements the game perfectly,  with only a few moments when a track draws too much attention to itself (even if the music itself is excellent).

In keeping with the Ghibli theme, Europa’s story could be out of a Ghibli movie. I think it would make a better Ghibli movie than a game, if I were honest. Without giving any spoilers away, you are Zee, live on Europa, and are on your way to a giant floating island where the settlers who came from Earth are. What you’re doing there, I won’t spoil it for you. Why you’re going, and the path you’re taking is a spoiler.

Well, that, and I’m not entirely sure I understand it. The story is vague, and the ending is wide enough open to fit a whole dreadnought through. The overarching theme is about humanity and not wrecking our environment. Even if we got to Europa or another planet, we would likely only end up wrecking the place like we have Earth.

This is quite hands-off, through quick text and dialogue when you pick up diary pieces. Some questions will naturally flag up as you get to understand a little more of the world. You may wonder why, when attacked by one of the mechanical beasts of the game (the gardeners), it doesn’t kill you – and why some of them are simply friendly. You will most certainly wonder what the ending means. I’m not sure if there’s a special ending if you collect all 40 gems, but there’s a reason I won’t find out. Still, I’m not looking to spoil any more of the story. It isn’t bad, but a little too vague.

Now, let’s get to gameplay. This is where I find Europa has missed its mark a little. The biggest issue of the game is that there is no failure state. The only way you lose is when you’re stun-locked by an enemy; you get annoyed enough to throw something at your PC or console and break it. One could say that it is masterful storytelling on the futility of anger, and actions taken out of anger will inevitably only harm the person taking it. One could say that if they weren’t talking out of their arse.

So yes, there is no failure state. If you fall off a ledge, you pop back. Take fifty bombs and energy blasts to the face, put a few stars around your head, and walk slowly. You’re flying through the sky and hit a mine. There’s no problem here; keep flying. The decision genuinely took me out of the game and made a few points tedious rather than engaging. I don’t think every game needs combat, and this certainly doesn’t need combat – it’s part of the theme – but when it gets to the point you can quite literally put the controller down and it’s playing itself because there are no consequences, I’m going to do just that.

The same goes with the stun-lock enemies. There was no worry of them hitting me because I couldn’t lose or be sent back. The only feeling was annoyance because you could get stun-locked into oblivion with more than one around, slowly trudging to a bit of cover. The only time I ended up going back to Europa wasn’t through damage; it’s because in one part where the only choice is meant to be “walk forward”, I walked backwards and fell through the floor.

If there is one other sin Europa commits, it takes away your jetpack (It’s called something else, but it’s a jetpack, so I’m calling it that). I’m sorry, but when you give me a jetpack and some of the most gorgeous vistas I’ve seen in at least twenty minutes, I want to fly around them. Even though I knew there was nothing to do – not a criticism, sometimes just exploring a lovely painting is enough – I was looking around. There are 40 gems to collect around the game levels, and you can also collect other gems which increase your jetpack’s fuel.

Far too often, Europa has flying fish that zap your fuel. Or you’ll get to the determined “you must do some platforming” or “here’s a simple puzzle” section, and boom – pink crystals or force fields zap your fuel. The fish are the worst because they’re often in an area where you can refuel if you trudge for around twenty seconds. It never added challenge, it just annoyed. It’s particularly annoying because going around on the jetpack was fun. I smiled, simply flopping around, aiming for the little blue circles to refuel mid-flight and taking in gorgeous sights while hunting for the few collectables and exploring every cranny to ensure I hadn’t missed something.

When the fish and crystals stopped this, and the annoying stun-locking started, I decided, “No, I’m not exploring any more; it’s time just to finish the game”, and I started just pushing through levels, start to finish. Maybe there’s a secret ending if I collect all 40 gems, but the annoyances later mean I don’t care. I can’t help but think I would have adored this if they had toned that back just a little so it didn’t kill the exploratory, harm-free game they put forward.

What makes it more annoying is that the puzzles and platforming it kills your jetpack for are basic at best and, due to the lack of failure state, offer nothing to the game. I don’t feel like I need to solve them; they’re just something put in my way to grind the fun and story to a halt. There’s no real narrative explanation either, unlike the blast monsters.

There’s something almost meditative about the best parts of Europa. It’s reminiscent of Flower, which concerns me when I realise I bought it on the PlayStation 3 fifteen years ago. I’m getting old. Though yes, the style of movement with your jetpack, the gorgeous vistas, and the way the story is told against what is an idyllic backdrop, Europa has a lot to offer and a lot to say about itself. Still, I don’t doubt some flow-destroying missteps will irritate others as they have me.

PC version reviewed. Copy provided by the publisher.

Europa

Europa looks to offer a meditative experience, as you explore gorgeous vistas backed up by an outstanding soundtrack, and it can offer this, only it is piecemeal. Far too often it trips itself up by killing the traversal and exploration, and throwing things at you that are never challenging, and only annoying,