Where We Remain was released back in January by TwoFoldSecret. From the image, older readers such as myself will first spot Zelda 1 references — the trees (their shape and color) and the statues, which look like Armos statue edits; even the caves are just black squares. The game is also about non-linear exploration, with saving a girl as the goal given to the player. Some of the items are similar too: a map, a compass, a raft, and so on. Also similar is the idea of lots of abilities for which you have to discover the use for through experimentation.
But the game itself is otherwise distinct; there are multiple endings, and the map is procedurally generated. Instead of enemies that kill you and a life bar of hearts, there is a flower and whirlwind-like monster system, with many of the abilities revolving around avoiding those monsters. There are also notes scattered around, especially in expert mode, which tell the background story of the game in a way that you can take or leave.
I liked that the game was non-linear and that you had to proceed through experimentation, this goes against the modern heavy tutorial explain everything trend, but even in 1986, with Zelda 1, players weren’t used to that. Nintendo had to start up its phone call help line and ‘game counselors’ system and man it with 200 people (more during the holidays) just for Zelda 1; it was later extended to other games besides Zelda 1, but it really did begin just for that game. Today we have FAQs of course (which people know they shouldn’t use but usually can’t resist the temptation to).
There are a couple of things I didn’t like and would have done differently of course — caves can be completed simply by holding up for long enough (enemies you touch die and expel you from their cave), and the world being too procedural also meant it felt like the places being explored weren’t as real as if hand-crafted, and I felt that linking to a spoiler-filled FAQ right on the game’s page itself may be a bad idea, but they’re minor relatively; overall I loved the experience, it was too short, even after getting all the endings, but this is one of the few games that felt to me like I unconsciously feel videogames “should” feel like: a focus on the game world, and on the player’s experimental discovery of how the game elements work. I especially liked that it seemed as if not all abilities and items are always available in any given game, leading to the feeling that if you play it again one day you may occasionally find something new somewhere.
Breaking my own advice on not linking to FAQs in obvious places, this playthrough by Ortoslon shows the normal ending, but as always, don’t watch unless you’re stuck; I include it here only for those who would not play the game otherwise (videos can make people want to play a game more than anything else):