Very well put together Metroidvania with exceptional quality of life features making it very smooth to play. Ubisoft have clearly taken inspiration from gems of the genre such as Hollow Knight and Ori (particuarly Will of the Wisps).

First impressions aren't great, with basic movement abilities, dull character work and a nothing-burger of a storyline. The title soon picks up speed though, with each new unlock offering interesting usage in both traversal and combat.

The map is large and full of optional platforming challenges and simple puzzles. Except for one late game area featuring a naval battle frozen in time, there is not much originality to the locations you'll be jumping around. The expected temples and forests give way to sewers and mountains respectively. Each area would have benefitted from a few more traversal or combat tweaks specific to the locale.

It is refreshing seeing AAA studios tackling a genre that has been predominantly served by the indie scene in recent years. I hope both Ubisoft, with Lost Crown, and Nintendo, with Metroid Dread, see enough success to greenlight sequels.

A nature documentary visual novel with beautiful art and music that evokes a keen sense of place, firmly submerging you in its aquatic alien world. Following a new-born whale over the course of it's childhood years, the narrative is both touching and informative. The world building here is excellent, offering just enough intricacies and tangential information without overwhelming or distracting from the core tale.

The entire run-time is about an hour, and crazily it's also free, so I would strongly recommend anyone gives it a try. One of the most engrossing pieces of video game world-building I've experienced, and certainly the most I've connected with a visual novel. I can't wait to see our whale calf mature into adulthood in Part 2.