You follow Mimi as she returns to her late grandmother's house after many years away. She has no memories from before her final visit, but Grandma has left her some notes and memorabilia that starts to jog her memory the more she looks. It's obviously something happened during that last summer, but what?
Unfortunately, the story wasn't that interesting, and I felt like all of these little nuggets of information never really came together in a cohesive way. None of it built up to the main event, so it felt like a waste of time.
Visuals
Dordogne has an absolutely gorgeous watercolor artstyle. It's done in more muted tones, with lots of greens and browns and reds. The main location is Mimi's grandmother's house and I felt like it looked great, lived in but not cluttered. You move around in 3D, but items and backgrounds are 2D, which gives it a distinct look.
Sound Effects + Music
Dordogne does have voice acting, which I enjoyed. It's mainly Mimi's narration and some cut scenes. There are also some cassette tapes you can find and play feature other characters like Mimi's grandfather.
The music is soothing and relaxing, but it is repetitive. I know it doesn't make sense for such a short game to have a wide variety of music, but I wish there had been more. The sound effects are fine; there aren't too many of them.
Gameplay + Controls
I initially dismissed Dordogne despite it's gorgeous artstyle because I wasn't sure of the gameplay and story, but since it was on Game Pass, I decided to give it a try. I hated the controls immediately. You have to complete a bunch of tedious actions like opening Mimi's bag, lifting out papers, turning keys, closing drawers, etc. And it's not just a matter of clicking on them, you actually have to do the correction motions. I almost quit after dropping the key twice while trying to open the front door! But I stuck with it to see what else was in store. Well, it was more of the same.
I did switch from my controller to keyboard and mouse for Chapter 2 to see if those controls feel better. Not really. It's still awkward, but there is a bit more control with a mouse than a joystick. However, either way there is an odd delay between selecting an object and the action. For instance, when Mimi is opening the windows, there's an oddly long pause between me clicking on the window and her actually opening it. She just stands there for a moment, then sloooowly opens it. I wish it had been more responsive.
You control Mimi in the present (2002, actually) and the past (1982) as she wanders around Grandma's house. Some objects can be interacted with, which is how we uncover a memory, which in turn is how we get sent to the past. There you move through the memory, taking pictures, collecting words, and earning stickers. You'll also be creating pages for Mimi's scrapbook using these collectibles, which was actually pretty fun. Unfortunately, the main actions are far more tedious than fun.
Replayability
I would absolutely not replay Dordogne. Once was frustrating enough. Although to collect everything you would need to play multiple times, since you can't get all of the choice-based collectibles in one playthrough.
Overall
Dordogne was a fine game. I like narrative driven games, and I love unique artstyles, but my initial hesitation about the gameplay and story were correct. I'm glad I gave it a shot, but I should have followed my instincts.
Unfortunately, the story wasn't that interesting, and I felt like all of these little nuggets of information never really came together in a cohesive way. None of it built up to the main event, so it felt like a waste of time.
Visuals
Dordogne has an absolutely gorgeous watercolor artstyle. It's done in more muted tones, with lots of greens and browns and reds. The main location is Mimi's grandmother's house and I felt like it looked great, lived in but not cluttered. You move around in 3D, but items and backgrounds are 2D, which gives it a distinct look.
Sound Effects + Music
Dordogne does have voice acting, which I enjoyed. It's mainly Mimi's narration and some cut scenes. There are also some cassette tapes you can find and play feature other characters like Mimi's grandfather.
The music is soothing and relaxing, but it is repetitive. I know it doesn't make sense for such a short game to have a wide variety of music, but I wish there had been more. The sound effects are fine; there aren't too many of them.
Gameplay + Controls
I initially dismissed Dordogne despite it's gorgeous artstyle because I wasn't sure of the gameplay and story, but since it was on Game Pass, I decided to give it a try. I hated the controls immediately. You have to complete a bunch of tedious actions like opening Mimi's bag, lifting out papers, turning keys, closing drawers, etc. And it's not just a matter of clicking on them, you actually have to do the correction motions. I almost quit after dropping the key twice while trying to open the front door! But I stuck with it to see what else was in store. Well, it was more of the same.
I did switch from my controller to keyboard and mouse for Chapter 2 to see if those controls feel better. Not really. It's still awkward, but there is a bit more control with a mouse than a joystick. However, either way there is an odd delay between selecting an object and the action. For instance, when Mimi is opening the windows, there's an oddly long pause between me clicking on the window and her actually opening it. She just stands there for a moment, then sloooowly opens it. I wish it had been more responsive.
You control Mimi in the present (2002, actually) and the past (1982) as she wanders around Grandma's house. Some objects can be interacted with, which is how we uncover a memory, which in turn is how we get sent to the past. There you move through the memory, taking pictures, collecting words, and earning stickers. You'll also be creating pages for Mimi's scrapbook using these collectibles, which was actually pretty fun. Unfortunately, the main actions are far more tedious than fun.
Replayability
I would absolutely not replay Dordogne. Once was frustrating enough. Although to collect everything you would need to play multiple times, since you can't get all of the choice-based collectibles in one playthrough.
Overall
Dordogne was a fine game. I like narrative driven games, and I love unique artstyles, but my initial hesitation about the gameplay and story were correct. I'm glad I gave it a shot, but I should have followed my instincts.