When I first saw the Steam store page for Veilia I was intrigued. I love a good casual game and the game promised puzzles and adventure. It also mentioned being about exploring and offering players a challenge, so I decided to take that challenge. However, I will say this right now that I disliked this game very much, however that does not make this a bad title. But, full disclosure, there is a lot of walking and wandering around with long spans of time where you will be doing nothing but exploring, if this doesn’t sound fun than I caution you.
The story starts off with the player controlling a nameless person who is in jail for murder with no chance of escaping. That is until Veilia shows up, a floating spirit who needs your help to regain her body. She helps you out of the jail and then you go on a journey to find shards that have been scattered around different realms. Find out the secrets behind these mystical realms and prepare to battle the sorcerer who cursed Veilia in the first place.
Credit: Gawkfish StudiosGameplay is where I had the biggest issue. The game thrusts you into action without much of a tutorial or any help whatsoever. You have no map, no hint system, nothing at all. Your only solution is wander around and try to discover what’s around you. If you enjoy doing this then you’ve found a good game but it’s not for everyone, myself included. I will say, there are things I wish were included to make the lack of direction bearable. The game works with a keyboard and mouse setup, you use the WASD keys to move forward, space to jump and the perspective is first-person. My main issue was since you spend so much time just walking that there was no way to run, I found myself just sitting here holding down the W key and staring off into space. I will admit, there might be a way to run but the game doesn’t have a tutorial on what keys did what except for the WASD, jump and flashlight.
The graphics in the game are good -if you force players to explore the world for hours, then it better look good for them. However, I started in the desert level and I was met with a world of sand, nothing but sand. Anything that wasn’t sand felt miles away from each other and the game cycles between night and day, during the night everything is just too dark and even harder to explore. The game’s soundtrack isn’t bad, it’s simple and does not distract from what you’re doing. The characters don’t speak, they have a sort of tone-ish sound instead. Veilia’s sound his high pitched reminding me almost of a certain blue fairy from the Zelda series while her personality reminded me of a certain sardonic imp from another entry in the series.
Credit: Gawkfish StudiosJust because Veilia wasn’t the game for me doesn’t mean it won’t be for you. I do feel controller support would help a bit, as well as some options for players who need help. I don’t mind exploring but from what I’ve seen there is more empty walking space than mystical wonders to find. Journey through different lands, solve challenging puzzles and have fun getting lost. This title also offers Steam trading cards and achievements to collect as well. I found this game to be promising but because of the aim to avoid a “hand-holding approach” with gamers it threatens to alienate part of its audience.
