Koira review

Studio Tolima knows what it’s doing making a cute little puppy the focus of Koira: just how could you not fall in love with it? And so, within minutes of playing this puzzle-laden adventure, you’ll no doubt be grinning from ear to ear having rescued the poor pooch and essentially taken ownership of it. Though while your journey with your new best friend is rewarding on the whole, you might encounter some issues along the way.

Taking control of a nameless protagonist, Koira tasks you with making your way through a magical, musical forest with your young pup in tow. Along the way, you’ll meet and possibly befriend a wide range of animals, encounter a number of puzzles, discover mysterious shrines, and also come face-to-face with some nasty hunters who would love to take your pup away if given the chance. And did I mention that you can take time out to play with your canine buddy, too? Yeah, you should do that often.

While its premise may initially seem rather whimsical, then, Koira isn’t quite the walk in the park you might expect it to be. This is a simple game on the whole, perhaps to a fault at times, but there is the odd puzzle that might have some players flummoxed for a short while. And when you come up against hunters or creatures that aren’t very friendly, you’ll need to keep your wits about you and perhaps make use of basic stealth mechanics to stay out of harm’s way.

Koira is a short game, with a running time of around four hours. But even still, it can sometimes feel a little drawn out. You’ll spend lots of time just holding right and running through environments, only stopping to complete a rudimentary task such as collecting apples to feed your pup. There are mini-games doled out here and there, too, such as matching clouds to creatures and objects called out by the pup.

You will get invested in the pair’s adventure though: taking time out to play a game of hide and seek or fetch will warm your soul, and during the various scenarios in which you’re separated, you might find yourself at a loss without your trusty companion. It’s just a shame that the gameplay isn’t a little more engrossing. As it is, it’s an uneven adventure full of highs and lows — with the lows leaving you feeling rather bored.

There are some other issues, too. It’s the type of game where you’re never quite sure when you can quit it without losing any progress, for example. I also encountered a crash which required me to restart the game, losing some progress in the process. Throw in some scenarios that you’ll likely overcome simply by trial and error, and it’s not a game free of frustrations.

Despite it all, though, if you’re into cute adventures that aren’t too demanding, you might want to pick up Koira. While it’s unlikely to have the same lasting effect upon you as some other games that try to tug on the heartstrings, it’s enjoyable on the whole. And there’s one thing for sure: it looks nice thanks to its unique art style. It also manages to both convey its story and direct you as a player without any text or dialogue, which is no mean feat. It’s just a shame that it isn’t all that compelling.