You play as Olle, a young boy, whose sister has been kidnapped by a troll. He'll have to navigate the dark woods, filled with traps and monsters, in order to find her and return home. Maybe they should have listened to their mother.
Also, some content warnings including suicide and infant sacrifices. Yes, they're shown on screen. I was in emotional turmoil by the end of this game.
Visuals
Bramble is very dark and gorgeous and atmospheric, but I was not prepared for how bloody and gruesome it is. The first part of the game follows Olle and Lillemor through the woods. It's dark, then it's bright and lovely. Then it's dark again as night falls and the real game begins. But it goes from 0 to 60 in half a second, and suddenly there's blood and gore and nastiness everywhere! OMG Olle, what have you gotten into?!
It is 3D and quite realistic looking. Olle's facial expressions do look off at times, as does some of his animations. But it's nothing that's too distracting. What was a little annoying was the camera. It's fixed, and moves with Olle, but sometimes it'll jump from behind to the side, or vice versa. It's fine when it's a smooth transition, like when he's weaving down a path. But it's annoying when it happens during a sudden screen change, because Olle's momentum is going in the wrong direction!
Is it wrong that I found one of the bosses pretty hot? I kind of didn't want to kill her. Everyone else is scary. Except Lemus; he's adorable.
Sound Effects + Music
The music in Bramble is pretty minimalist. It's best described as folk music when there is any at all. Except during the boss battles, particularly the final one. That had me hyped.
This game is narrated like a storybook. I really liked the narration and felt like it added to the atmosphere, since there isn't any other dialogue. Olle and Lillemor just have generic laughs and sighs, but no voiced lines. The narrator speaks for them in the rare case they say something.
The sound effects are nice and effective at setting the mood. The only one that really got on my nerves was the gnomes, who laugh and cry like babies, which is not a sound I find endearing. For the most part, the sounds are unsettling and often downright creepy. The sound of squelching meat...omg. No. But the sound of bear traps snapping onto flesh will haunt me. A+ sound design, even though it disturbed me greatly.
Gameplay + Controls
Bramble is a narrative driven puzzle platformer, so you'll mostly be making Olle walk/run and jump. He climbs automatically if you walk up to vines, otherwise you'll need to jump to higher platforms. There are light puzzles to solve, mostly focused on finding objects, or moving things around to reach other areas. Of course, being a Horror game, there are stealth sections where Olle must hide from various monsters who want to kill or eat him.
I did appreciate that the game has glowing way-points on items you can interact with. The game is very dark, so sometimes it can be hard to see where you're going or what you're looking at. Those helped a lot at getting through some of the scenes. I still missed jumps at times from not being able to see where Olle would land, but then I'd know for next time. There's no penalty for dying, other than those horrendous noises; you just respawn where you left off.
The game did stutter quite a bit for me, even from the beginning when not much is going on, and during cut-scenes. It doesn't last long, but it's definitely noticeable. I also had one crash immediately following the gnome hide-and-seek. Luckily, the game auto-saves, so I picked up right where I left off.
The boss battles are surprisingly fun. They all rely on the same mechanics, so it might feel repetitive. But I like that, since I could easily memorize the patterns and focus on getting my hits in when it was safe. Olle fights by using this glowing rock he finds at the beginning. You just have to aim in the general vicinity (there will be targets) since the game is pretty generous, and throw.
Replayability
Bramble is a short game, and while I enjoyed it, I don't think I could stomach playing it again. It is really gross at times, and really dark, which made it a bit frustrating. It's also extremely linear, with no room for exploration or creative puzzle solving, so the only draw to playing it again would be to experience this wild story, or achievement hunting. Although there is chapter selection for the latter.
Overall
I loved Bramble, despite my complaints. The grossness isn't really a complaint though. I just wasn't prepared for it. The minor bugginess wasn't a deal breaker either, since most of the experience was smooth. And this is definitely an experience. I was a sobbing mess at the end.
Also, some content warnings including suicide and infant sacrifices. Yes, they're shown on screen. I was in emotional turmoil by the end of this game.
Visuals
Bramble is very dark and gorgeous and atmospheric, but I was not prepared for how bloody and gruesome it is. The first part of the game follows Olle and Lillemor through the woods. It's dark, then it's bright and lovely. Then it's dark again as night falls and the real game begins. But it goes from 0 to 60 in half a second, and suddenly there's blood and gore and nastiness everywhere! OMG Olle, what have you gotten into?!
It is 3D and quite realistic looking. Olle's facial expressions do look off at times, as does some of his animations. But it's nothing that's too distracting. What was a little annoying was the camera. It's fixed, and moves with Olle, but sometimes it'll jump from behind to the side, or vice versa. It's fine when it's a smooth transition, like when he's weaving down a path. But it's annoying when it happens during a sudden screen change, because Olle's momentum is going in the wrong direction!
Is it wrong that I found one of the bosses pretty hot? I kind of didn't want to kill her. Everyone else is scary. Except Lemus; he's adorable.
Sound Effects + Music
The music in Bramble is pretty minimalist. It's best described as folk music when there is any at all. Except during the boss battles, particularly the final one. That had me hyped.
This game is narrated like a storybook. I really liked the narration and felt like it added to the atmosphere, since there isn't any other dialogue. Olle and Lillemor just have generic laughs and sighs, but no voiced lines. The narrator speaks for them in the rare case they say something.
The sound effects are nice and effective at setting the mood. The only one that really got on my nerves was the gnomes, who laugh and cry like babies, which is not a sound I find endearing. For the most part, the sounds are unsettling and often downright creepy. The sound of squelching meat...omg. No. But the sound of bear traps snapping onto flesh will haunt me. A+ sound design, even though it disturbed me greatly.
Gameplay + Controls
Bramble is a narrative driven puzzle platformer, so you'll mostly be making Olle walk/run and jump. He climbs automatically if you walk up to vines, otherwise you'll need to jump to higher platforms. There are light puzzles to solve, mostly focused on finding objects, or moving things around to reach other areas. Of course, being a Horror game, there are stealth sections where Olle must hide from various monsters who want to kill or eat him.
I did appreciate that the game has glowing way-points on items you can interact with. The game is very dark, so sometimes it can be hard to see where you're going or what you're looking at. Those helped a lot at getting through some of the scenes. I still missed jumps at times from not being able to see where Olle would land, but then I'd know for next time. There's no penalty for dying, other than those horrendous noises; you just respawn where you left off.
The game did stutter quite a bit for me, even from the beginning when not much is going on, and during cut-scenes. It doesn't last long, but it's definitely noticeable. I also had one crash immediately following the gnome hide-and-seek. Luckily, the game auto-saves, so I picked up right where I left off.
The boss battles are surprisingly fun. They all rely on the same mechanics, so it might feel repetitive. But I like that, since I could easily memorize the patterns and focus on getting my hits in when it was safe. Olle fights by using this glowing rock he finds at the beginning. You just have to aim in the general vicinity (there will be targets) since the game is pretty generous, and throw.
Replayability
Bramble is a short game, and while I enjoyed it, I don't think I could stomach playing it again. It is really gross at times, and really dark, which made it a bit frustrating. It's also extremely linear, with no room for exploration or creative puzzle solving, so the only draw to playing it again would be to experience this wild story, or achievement hunting. Although there is chapter selection for the latter.
Overall
I loved Bramble, despite my complaints. The grossness isn't really a complaint though. I just wasn't prepared for it. The minor bugginess wasn't a deal breaker either, since most of the experience was smooth. And this is definitely an experience. I was a sobbing mess at the end.