Embracelet Review
To the surprise of absolutely no one, this past week was, once again, filled with mortifying and dangerous behavior, mostly by the American government. This week, we had a president refuse to condemn white supremacy as well as instruct supporters to commit intimidation and voter suppression tactics, a federal government take an all but official stance on supporting a white supremacist murderer, and documents were leaked that showed these same people worked to sabotage the 2016 election. On top of all that, this week also saw police savagely beating a disabled protestor and conservative activists performing the same sort of voter fraud the establishment claims to be fighting against. But at least someone faced consequences for their vile behavior. Frustrated by America, this week I decided to take a trip to Norway with the game Embracelet.
Embracelet tells the story of Jesper, a 17-year-old Norwegian boy on a strange errand for his grandfather. At the game’s beginning, Jesper’s elderly grandpa, Leif, is living in a care home and suffering from a debilitating respiratory condition. Believing his end to be near, Leif gives Jesper an heirloom, a bracelet kept secret from the other members of their family, and implores Jesper to return it to Slepp, the island village in which Leif was born. Plagued by guilt over a wrong Leif refuses to explain, he insists Jesper travel to his tiny hometown and return the bracelet to its rightful place. This urgency and secrecy would be a bit much for an ordinary bracelet, but it’s far from just a stylish accessory. The bracelet is also a magical conduit, capable of incredible feats. Eager to fulfill his grandfather’s wish, Jesper soon travels to Slepp, a dwindling town of about a dozen people, and meets Hermod and Karoline, cousins native to the island. Accompanied by the cousins, Jesper spends a week on the island attempting to honor his grandpa’s wishes. Along the way, he makes new friends, performs amateur electrical engineering, confronts corrupt military officers, sinks multiple boats, plays the world’s most forgiving slot machine, gets shot at several times, and, scariest of all, finds love as an awkward teenager.
Without a doubt, the best aspect of Embracelet is its story. This is partially because the game is mechanically light but also because it is both well written and compelling. I can’t get into much of the story as the game is pretty short, advertised as three to six hours and my own playtime is just under five, but I can say it’s simultaneously one of the sweetest stories I’ve played this year and one of the most exciting. Most of the inhabitants of Slepp are delightfully charming and this is doubly true of Hermod and Karoline. About the same age as Jesper, the cousins are wonderful foils to Jesper’s timid city boy personality as well as to each other. Karoline is an optimist working with her parents on converting the now abandoned school into a guest house, believing a new wave of tourists to Slepp is inevitable. Conversely, Hermod is the traditional artistic soul stuck in an oppressively practical rural life, constantly yearning to escape to a big city where he can express himself. In spite of their differences, all three characters are teenagers, trying to figure out who they are and what their world is and the writing does a great job of showing this. The villains of the story, if they can even be called that, are a coalition of corporate scientists and military goons combing the waters near Slepp for oil deposits. Accurately reflecting the mood of 2020, these characters are shown as greedy regardless of human or environmental cost and overtly corrupt, reacting violently to any opposition. I can’t imagine it was easy for the developer of Embracelet to combine a touching coming of age story with a cautionary tale of environmental destruction, but it accomplishes both.
Like I said before, Embracelet is short on mechanics, but what it has is pretty good. Most of the gameplay involves guiding Jesper around the island, looking at various features for a bit of fun dialogue, making choices in dialogue with other characters, and solving the occasional puzzle. The conversation choices impressed me because they avoided the standard trap of good vs bad option. Instead of deciding whether Jesper is a huge jerk or a nice dude, the choices decide what he talks about and with who. I appreciate that the choices that decided what characters thought of Jesper were between whether he asked about Karoline’s plans for the future or asked about her thoughts on the incursion of the oil surveyors. It’s a more complicated and interesting choice and it helped the characters feel more real. Judging by the game’s achievements, there are at least three ways Embracelet can end and I imagine there are far more small changes that can happen along the way. If I were less busy, I’d love to play through it again and see everything this game has to offer. As for the puzzles, this is where Jesper’s magic bracelet comes into play. Every puzzle involves using the bracelet to accomplish some herculean task, like manipulating an excavator from across a river, and each has many moving parts. The puzzles are built with a depth and complexity that allows the players to experiment without ever resulting in a dead end, which I think is very good design. They’re engaging without being frustrating and provide just the right change of pace from the story to keep players happy and engaged.
While I don’t know if Embracelet reaches the heights of February release Wide Ocean Big Jacket, I do think it’s in that same vein. It has an excellent story with great characters, a story that will warm your heart, and the perfect level of interactivity at a good price point. I think unless you’re tired of coming of age stories or you’re a real stickler for graphics, Embracelet is an easy recommendation at $13.
Buy this game at full price
It’s worth every penny they’re asking
