Lou’s Lagoon combines the free exploration of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild with the warmth of Studio Ghibli, then hands players a seaplane to roam the islands. Based on its Steam demo, it may even be worth a look for people who normally hate the very idea of crafting.

I approached Lou’s Lagoon with some hesitation. The reason is simple: I do not particularly enjoy games that go overboard with crafting. I think that is why I never truly connected with Fallout 4. Gathering materials and making items bores me to death because it feels incredibly clunky. It puts too many unnecessary steps in the way and significantly slows the natural pace of an adventure. That is a matter of personal taste, of course. I also get annoyed when you finish a quest in a JRPG and then have to return to the village just to report that you did it. It was already a nuisance getting your twelve goats back to the barn, so do I really need to fast travel back just to tell you that I completed it? Because of that, I started Lou’s Lagoon rather reluctantly, given the amount of crafting involved. Fortunately, the game introduces several ideas that managed to overcome that prejudice.

Lou’s Lagoon has a certain cozy charm. Since it is meant to be a relaxing game, it gets rid of tedious routines because everything is supposed to remain enjoyable. There is no digging here, and you do not have to fight with a shovel or a broom. The protagonist we control carries a cannon that strongly resembles the portal gun from Portal. She simply fires at whatever is in front of her, breaks it into pieces, keeps the materials, and then drops them wherever they are needed, creating bridges, opening doors, repairing propellers, and much more.

Honestly, thank goodness for magical technology! Playing Lou’s Lagoon is about moving nimbly through the environment, collecting things, and putting them back where they belong without anything breaking the flow. There is, naturally, a machine that refines materials into more useful and higher-quality items, but this is a video game where rhythm matters most. It wants you to play quickly, run, and jump, and that is a welcome change.

Because of this design, you quickly realize that the best thing about the game, and what it really wants you to do, is explore at a good pace. Double jump is available from the very beginning, there is no fall damage, and later you acquire further useful abilities for gliding and moving around even more efficiently. The weapon, called the Whirlwind, can also be used for other purposes, such as retrieving items stolen by an animal that occasionally appears to cause trouble.

Visually, the game finds its charm somewhere between The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Studio Ghibli, with a cartoon-like touch that, honestly, can probably already be called a chibi style. The Spanish studio has a strong feel for this visual identity in games such as the upcoming Bel’s Fanfare, one of the best-looking Spanish video games on the horizon. Lou’s Lagoon carries the energy of both influences. It has the free exploration of Breath of the Wild, even if that freedom is limited to smaller islands, and it also has something that I have not really seen in games inspired by Ghibli before. Do you remember the iconic line, “I’d rather be a pig than a fascist”? Lou’s Lagoon does not explore those kinds of issues, although that would be interesting, but it does hand you a fantastic seaplane for sailing across the sea. The Porco Rosso comparison is not being made for no reason either: the host who lends us the aircraft has all the energy of that wonderful character.

With the plane and the Rebuilder, we set off between islands, brave the storm, collect objects, and put them together at top speed. To keep things lively, the game also includes minigames. Naturally, there is the classic Superman 64-style ring-jumping activity as well, because its rings are everywhere, even if many people call it a bad game. The carefully crafted skies and biomes are also much appreciated. The game is not a technical showcase, but it makes excellent use of grays, blues, greens, oranges, and reds, making the discovery of new islands, or simply taking flight, incredibly satisfying. To personalize the adventure further, both the protagonist and the plane itself can be customized through a simple editor.

Lou’s Lagoon has a story, too. Our mission is to discover what happened to Lou and why he disappeared. That is what really made the game click for me. I like it when a title clearly shows the core of its premise, and in this case that core is exploration. The plot pushes you to explore, as do the crafting systems and their fluid mechanics, and naturally the seaplane does as well. In short, I came away with a very positive impression of Lou’s Lagoon. That said, I do not think it will completely blow away hardcore crafting fans, because everything is heavily simplified in favor of flow.

While I like much of what I have seen, it is true that the game can feel somewhat slow, has too many markers, and takes a while before it really lets you play at your own speed. Aside from those smaller issues, the concept feels solid and interesting. If this sounds appealing, you can try it for free during Steam’s latest demo festival.

Source: 3DJuegos