Review Feather (Switch)

Game: Feather
Genre: Simulation
System: Nintendo Switch (also on Steam)
Developer| Publisher: Samurai Punk
Age Rating: EU  3+| USA E
Price: £8.09|€ 8,99|$12.59
Release Date: 5th April 2019

Review Code kindly provided by Samurai Punk

As you may know I’m all for the quirky games. The out of the ordinary always manages to attract my attention. Feather appeared in the Switch eShop a couple of weeks ago, so I was very happy to take on the review for this title. And who wouldn’t like to know how it feels to fly like a bird?

Feel the freedom of flight

In Feather, you are a bird flying over an island. No storyline, no background. Just the freedom and the joy of flight. The game starts with a brief introduction to the controls; easy to remember, just a few buttons to keep in mind. In the options you can invert the flight, which I did: somehow tilting the L-stick up to actually go down in flight didn’t feel right to me. Reminded me of the challenge I had getting Harry Potter to play Quidditch!

With the R-stick you control the camera, ZR lets you speed up and ZL lets you slow down. Hovering like a bird of prey above the landscape. Using L and R simultaneously makes you roll, and with X you can do a backflip. Gyro controls are included in the Switch version, so you can also control your bird with your joy cons.

It all works effortlessly. The bird reacts perfectly to your commands and you really can’t go wrong. If you pull up too late and hit a mountain or the ground: no problem. the bird just sort of rewinds to an earlier point in its flight. Hitting the water you find out you can also dive!

Flying through hoops

After the first enjoyment of being airborne I realised something. I could see hoops all around the island. I could fly through them, and have the soundtrack change its tune. A very neat addition to the game, as the soundtrack is one of its highlights. Such a relaxing music, every track as good as the next.

Along with the stunning visuals of the island beneath you, this game is made to be relaxing. And it is, this is a game you can unwind to after a very busy day. No challenges, no goals. Just flying around, seeing the beautiful landscape. The island you fly over has various landscapes. Wintery mountains, springlike fields of flowers, dense woods. You see night and day, beautiful sunsets and stunning sunrises too.

The game has little quirks for you to explore. A row of trees that has big flowers hanging down from them Touching them in flights gives off little notes. There are some structures you can sit on.

One island to connect with

I was surprised the game has online gameplay. connecting online lets more birds (a.i. other players) join you on the island. With Y you can tweet, and the other player can tweet back. Make some fun flying figures together, but other then that I have found no other joint gameplay.

To me, it’s a pity there’s no more than the one island. I tried flying off, but was automatically returned to the same island again. Overall I think you can have a half hour of wonderful exploring to do. But when you have see it all, there’s not a lot more to do. Aside from listening to the great soundtrack that is.

Conclusion

After the first awe of flying and being surprised at the lovely visuals and soundtrack the developers created, I felt there was something missing. The game feels like they have set a stage for some wonderful gameplay to follow. Like the beginning of a full adventure. Yet, the rest of the adventure is missing. Which is a pity, as with such great scenery, ease of controls and great soundtrack I’d surely play the game.

I thought long about what verdict to give the game. The development team have made something impressive, but it is seriously lacking in gameplay. That could be okay, as the main goal is relaxing and in that regard, it surely delivers. But the price for this is way too high. So my score would be I like it, but… wait to pick it up. SamuraiPunk assures me updates are in the works, so you might wait for that. Or go for it now if the game is discounted. For a couple of euro you can’t go wrong. But as it is now, not for full price.