Grotto

released on Oct 26, 2021

Grotto is a mystical, narrative-focused experience. You are the Soothsayer. The one capable of talking with the stars and unveiling their messages. In a time of turmoil, the tribe of the valley turn to your powers of divination and come to you for guidance.


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there's a concept here I'm in love with

the exploration of language as being malleable to interpretation is an exciting idea - especially for what is extensively a visual novel within a 3D environment

there's an enjoyable interplay between your unreliable constellation linguistics and the incomplete information villagers offer

you know as much about the outside world as your visitors know of the stars you parse for meaning

Wittgensteinian

I'd love to rate this higher, but I'll be honest that it started to lose its grip on me in the middle half. It got me again with the bug tribe, but It overall felt a bit overlong for what it was trying to accomplish - I'd love to see this mechanic expanded even further though

Despite what the rating might suggest, I DO recommend

"Let's imagine you say blue and there are three individuals. The first one, who lives by the sea, reckons you're talking about water. The second one, who lives on a mountain peak, thinks of the sky. And the third one becomes sad. Just because."

You are a soothsayer, a silent sage with the power to read stars and give constellations to those who ask for their guidance. Each one has its own meaning, but the way people are going to interpret it is entirely up to them. You'll interact with a variety of individuals and get directly - and indirectly - mixed up in affairs ranging from trivial (such as the color of someone's scarf) to life-defining ones.

You can get as involved as you want in these choices - which the game will make sure to remember you of - but if you want, you can very much play as an actual diviner. What if instead of picking the options you personally feel are better, you let fate pick them for you?

That's precisely what I did. I tried guessing constellations based entirely on abstract concepts, or feelings I was experiencing at the moment. I let the stars speak through my fingers. I cast away the mantle of the main character.

And boy if it wasn't one of my most memorable gaming experiences. By willfully relinquishing agency, you become quite literally another character inserted into that world, being at the mercy of the stars themselves and adding another layer of complexity to the narrative: now you, the player, must also struggle through the subjectivity of language and its meaning. And live through its consequences.

Without getting into spoilers, but playing the game that way makes some of the latter parts of Grotto truly special. The game continuously wrestles agency from and back to you in some shocking turn of events that left me reluctant to advance the plot, because it would mean I'd have to bear witness to the consequences of my actions... or inactions.

On the background, a disembodied voice talks with the seer, but might as well be talking to the player. It operates as some entity beyond the fourth wall, someone who sees through the charade. And as it says in the beginning of the game: make no mistake - this is a story about failure.

Last but not least importantly, Brainwash Gang deserves praise for their completely unique take on a fictional culture. Much of the game takes place with you interacting with individuals of a society known as the Brutes, genderless and anthropomorphic animals with a completely warped sense of community, justice and parenthood. Although it bears some similarities to our real world counterparts, it feels completely alien at the same time, enriching the experience.

Grotto is the reason I play indie games. Cool premise, unique world, very thoughtful story and gameplay, great characters, made me feel things (both good and bad things!), surprised me, neat art design, etc. All of the things I want from a narrative game. I'd recommend it to anyone who likes the genre and is up for the vague choices entailed by being a soothsayer.

Sights & Sounds
- The game looks great. I'm a fan of the unique character designs
- Not much else to look at besides the characters
- The music is serviceable, but the voice acting is a little strange

Story & Vibes
- I won't spoil anything about the story. It's really good and worth experiencing without any foreknowledge
- The game is pretty grim, but there's a few nuggets of humor
- I'm not sure if I got the "best" ending, but I got a pretty hopeful one

Playability & Replayability
- There's not much in the way of gameplay. You walk around a cave, talk to people, give them star signs, and occasionally replenish your stars
- If you're playing it, you're doing it for the story anyway
- You're mostly playing a decision-making simulator where you're working with incomplete information and hoping for a desirable result. Don't sweat mistakes too badly

Overall Impressions & Performance
- The game ran well and was totally bug free, but there were a couple of typos that took me out of the experience

Final Verdict
- 7/10. It's a pretty good story in a 3-5 hour (depending on how much agonizing/repeating you do) game that looks cool, if a little weird. Would have appreciated some more branching paths, but it's still solid

One of the few videogames I know that represent communication as an unpredictably realistic process, where subjective emotionality related to specific signs decides the flow of the conversation. Sometimes you won't be able to properly convey your thoughts or feelings to the many characters that ask for your advice throughout the game's 5-hours run. But that's how coding and decoding's chaotic give-and-take works in real life.

I'd love to see an expanded take on these ideas with a more nuanced use of mechanics in order to represent language's unending peculiarities, but just as it is, Grotto is nevertheless a very rich experience.

Loved everything about this game. Art, music, characters, it sucked me in and didn't let me go.

Probably the best achievement it had was demonstrate how "choices" in games are usually so fucking badly implemented, and how characters reacting to your choices should be handled in EVERY game instead.