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Little Orpheus review: an adventure that dazzles the eyesRuns Laika dream
Runs Laika dream
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It’s thematically appropriate, at least. Ivan is taking part in the kind of narrative swindle you see in books like Invisible Cities, where Marco Polo tells Kublai Khan about all the places he has been. But just as the Khan comes to realise every city Polo mentions is actually Venice, the player of Little Orpheus realises that, beyond changes in the astonishing architecture and stunning skylines, each new level is remarkably similar to the last. The landscape you see in Little Orpheus may change wonderfully with every episode, but what you do is always the same.
It’s a very short adventure, clocking in at three or four hours. Precisely the right call for a story like this. It’s smartly written as well (or maybe I just assume it is from the dozen references to Russian history and culture that went over my head…) I just wish the game’s slumberous design was as enthusiastic with its verbs as Ivan is with his adjectives. For parents, or maybe anyone burnt out at the end of the day, or anyone seeking the cinematic beauty of Another World without the accompanying teeth-gnashing, this tall tale of a tiny terranaut could work as a pre-sleep chill-out game (psst, it’s also out on Nintendo Switch, but you didn’t hear it from me). But for someone who likes their platformers with more oomph, with trials of dexterity or twisty puzzle-thinking, then its straightforward tale might make you a little snoozy for entirely different reasons.
