Snouty And The Great Rift is a really fun game. It’s cozy, relaxing and has collectathon elements too, all taking place in a colorful, fairy tale-like setting.
The Backstory of Snouty And The Great Rift
I played as Snouty, a piglet who was rescued by King Pryderi after a battle with the Boarbarians. The King had kindly raised me as his own, and the story begins near the home he built for me. I received a letter from a mysterious person called Rhiannon. In it I was told that the King had been sheltering me all my life, but his protection was waning. I was gifted a legendary sword called the Blade of Boletus that I could use to protect myself. But first I had to retrieve the sword. After that introduction to the storyline, there were a few controller instructions, and the adventure began!
I had to retrieve the sword from a high spot, which I achieved by following the trail of yummy acorns! Snouty loved to eat acorns, and acorns play a big part in the game! In Snouty And The Great Rift, acorns could be easily found because they emitted a sparkle that I could see. As I approached them, they disappeared because I ate them, but they made a neat bell sound as that happened! Plus, they caused me to recover health. In addition, I had goals to collect a certain number of them in each region of the game. A side benefit is that I could also tell where I had been, because there were no more acorns to be found there. Acorns were very helpful indeed!
The Look and Feel of Snouty And The Great Rift
Snouty And The Great Rift is a handcrafted, 3D open-world game set in a bright, colorful fantasy environment. Many of the characters are pigs, like Snouty, but there are also some icky, sticky slimes that I engaged in combat with. In general, I don’t like games with combat, but in this demo, the combat was pretty easy. I just swung my sword a couple of times, and the slime popped, which was quite satisfying! Near the end of the demo, there was a boss battle, which I’ll admit I was quite concerned about. I was even told by the King that I may lose the first few times I played it. Well, I beat the boss on the first try! Was it luck, or was it not a terribly difficult battle? You’ll have to let me know.
Snouty And The Great Rift had a calm, peaceful soundtrack. Even with the occasional combat, the game was very chill and low-key. I was encouraged to explore all of the various regions in my search for more mushroom varieties. I also had a Fungipedia, which recorded which varieties I had found and showed me how many more I had to find. There are a lot of varieties! I loved how the trees and grasses swayed gently in the breeze, and how colorful butterflies flew around where there were patches of flowers. It was a very immersive and relaxing experience.
The Gameplay of Snouty And The Great Rift
The controls were basic but highly effective. I actually prefer basic, it’s less for me to learn and remember! I could walk in any direction, jump to two different heights, eat acorns and collect mushrooms. I had a journal which kept track of the mushroom varieties that I found. There were a total of 20 varieties to find in the full game, and 5 in the demo. There was also a fast travel option, which is always appreciated!! When I found a Fairy Ring, I could enter it and either save my game or fast travel to another Fairy Ring in a different region. I believe the game also autosaves, but it’s nice to have the option to save at will. I did not have to sleep or eat; I just spent my time exploring.
I was also given a very useful map. I could see where I was in the world as well as how many total acorns there were in each region and how many I’d collected. Many of the acorns were easy to find, thanks to the sparkle hints. But there were some that were cleverly hidden, which gave me a fun challenge. One other feature that I really liked in Snouty And The Great Rift was that a banner appeared on my screen when I entered a new region. I found that very helpful in combination with the map to help me figure out exactly where I was and where I wanted to go.
Not all of the acorns were on the ground; some were in high places. They were very visible but challenging to acquire. I could not jump very high, so I figured out that to get some of these acorns, I had to navigate myself to a spot above the acorns and drop down on them. It was a fun challenge!
Last but not least, I had a gallery in Snouty And The Great Rift, which showed achievement stamps and some art downloads that I received for various achievements. I thought that was a nice touch.
Then there’s the whole matter of the Great Rift!! I found it in the demo; it’s a gigantic canyon filled with a purplish fog. Since I defeated the first boss, in the full game, The King is going to allow me to cross the Great Rift, find and conquer malevolent forces who are conspiring to take over the kingdom. Plus, it looks like I have to find poor Harry’s teddy bear. Wow, sounds like a big job for a little pig!! Am I up to the challenge?
Final Thoughts
I spent 2 very pleasant hours playing the demo of Snouty And The Great Rift. For the vast majority of my playtime, the game played seamlessly with my controller. However, I ran into an issue with jumping occasionally, where I’d get stuck. It usually resolved itself, but one time I had to restart the demo. Fortunately, I had just saved the game, and I encourage you to also save as often as you can. I notice the dev has been very responsive to players’ comments on the Steam page, so I figure this issue will be resolved at some point. It didn’t affect my enjoyment of the game, though. Snouty And The Great Rift was a real fun demo to play, you should give it a go!
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