Seasons of Heaven looks pretty, but could use some work

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Don’t call me a ouiaboo

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The only known third-party exclusive for Nintendo Switch at this time is Seasons of Heaven, an indie game based on the book of the same name about a boy with Asperger’s named Yann and his bulldog Ani. The first full trailer shows vibrant and mysterious landscapes at first (including stacked rocks; I just had to Google why the hell people do that), but you may be surprised when the calm and happy-go-lucky adventure meets samurai ghosts and giant black monstrosities. 

I have not read the book, though I can imagine the large black monster is some sort of visual metaphor for Yann’s real-world issues like in Papo & Yo, or some message on society. What samurai ghosts represent are anyone’s guess, however. Maybe little Yann has a strong interest in Japanese culture, considering we also see a Japanese-style house in the trailer. 

Unfortunately the animations seem sub-standard and the environments don’t always look great, but I suppose its forgivable for an indie game still in development. I still can’t really tell what the core gameplay will be beyond its story focus. All in all, I’m a little less optimistic after this trailer. It just feels a little bland, but I will wait to see more.

Yet to be confirmed is whether the game will follow the story of the book beat-for-beat or have its own direction. Part of the book’s description on Amazon reads “This story will allow you to experience the awe of discovering the most beautiful, magical place that ever existed while at the same time staying only one step ahead of the dark and vile underbelly of the human race.”


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Cory Arnold
Pretty cool dude in Japan. 6/9/68