Game Review: Farlands Journey

By Al

Players: 1
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4

2D platformers come in all sorts of variety, but the one we're looking at today seems to be targeting a younger gamer than most. Coming to us complete with a cute, 2D storybook aesthetic, Farlands Journey is coming soon to both the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4. We're going to be taking a look at the Nintendo Switch version of the game today, and see if there's more to it than cute and colorful visuals. There doesn't seem to be much need for an intro in this one, so let's dive right in!

Farlands Journey opens with your character completing a course in the Magic Academy. This course is essentially the tutorial of the game, but your graduation is interrupted when a giant monster breaks in and steals the Academy's giant crystal. You're not going to take this affront lying down, and you take off after the creature in the hopes of getting that (magic?) crystal back. Thus begins your adventure, one that honestly has very little story beyond what I just mentioned. There really isn't any details worth noting either, as I don't think the main character even has a name. Everything is told in silence, and the story feels like an afterthought only present to give players an excuse to go through the rest of the game. Normally I'd agree that plot isn't necessary in creating a great platforming game, but Farlands Journey needs all the help it can get. I'm getting ahead of the review a bit here, but there were many times where I wondered to myself why I was even playing it in the first place. It doesn't really do a good job justify its own existence, and something as simple as a narrative through line could've helped ease the more painful parts of the experience at least a little bit. That part definitely needs a bit of explaining, so let's back up just a bit and take a look at gameplay next.

If you've played an action platformer before, then you mostly know what to expect in Farlands Journey. You can run, jump, and attack with your wand. Jumping is easy enough to explain on its own, but running isn't. Mastering the running jump is necessary in perfecting the game's platforming, but running is one of the clunkiest parts of the game. First off it's pulled off by holding down the shoulder buttons instead of the more traditional way of holding down the attack button. If that weren't bad enough, you need a lot of clear space to get the run to actually gain momentum. That means you'll have to time each of your running jumps very closely, and the game's control scheme really isn't created with that sort of precision in mind.

Controls aside, everything else is standard platforming gameplay. Each level is full of enemies and hazards, and getting hit causes you to take damage. You can take three hits before death, with death taking you back to the start of the current area you're in. You can pick up and wear hats left by enemies to score extra hits, and you can also heal yourself with powerups found throughout the levels themselves. We'll talk more about attacking in a bit, but your one goal in each stage is to simply find the exit. You can also pick up a lot of extra gems along the way, but that's not really necessary as they just add up to bigger gems. A few of the levels do end in a boss encounter, but most simply have a door at the end for you to go through. Besides collecting gems, each level has at least one hidden puzzle piece to find. Though a fun distraction, the reward for collecting them all is not at all worth the work involved in getting them. Repeat that level completion process a handful of times, and you're done with the game. Easy peasy.

Though Farlands Journey is a platformer in the purest sense, there are many gameplay decisions that keep it from being among the best of the genre. Actually, I say "best", but I'd actually argue that most of these decisions keep it from even being "good". Right away you'll notice from screenshots that the graphics and world are all pretty big and detailed. This may look cool on paper, but it makes for some wonky gameplay physics. Jumps never feel accurate, and hit boxes can be all over the place. Speaking of which, attacking is done in such a strange fashion that I find it impossible to fully describe in writing. Defeating enemies is done in a very Bubble Bobble like way where you trap them in a bubble and then pop it. You create said bubbles with your wand, but it's not a simple process. Creating a bubble takes a few seconds, and extending your wand needs at least two completely clear spaces in front of you in order to work. If your extended wand touches anything before the bubble forms, it pops. You then have to try again, though there's a good chance something else will pop the bubble next. This leads to several frustrating sections where taking out enemies requires all sorts of hoops to jump through. I eventually learned to simply ignore all enemies and run to the end of the stage. Considering every stage seems to run for far too long anyway, I suggest you adopt that strategy too.

​I'll admit that I initially really wanted to play Farlands Journey when I saw screenshots of it, but was very put off when I saw its key art image. (Said image can be seen at the top of this review.) That image is honestly one of the ugliest pieces of art I've ever seen, and that dichotomy I feel runs throughout much of the game as a whole. While I think the visuals are pretty good for the most part, their charm quickly wears off when you start to realize how limited everything is. You'll see the same enemies and over and over again, and even the most unique levels get tiresome when they drag on and on. Similar to the visuals, the game's soundtrack can be rather repetitive too. There aren't any real faults to point out within the music itself, but the tracks will eventually get on your nerves as you hear them loop for the dozenth time in a stage you wish would just end. It makes for presentation that isn't necessarily horrible in execution, but fails to do much to lift up the other issue the game has.

Getting total 100% completion in Farlands Journey doesn't actually take too long, and the game itself isn't exactly hard. That said, I can't see many people actually doing that, and I wonder if anyone but me will actually see the game through to its conclusion when booting it up. I only played it for as long as I did for the purposes of this review, and I can't help but feel that I wasted time on it that I simply can't get back. Farlands Journey isn't a bad game by any stretch, but it's not a good one either. There's nothing about it that keeps one engaged, and judging by its weak eShop description, the developers couldn't be bothered to talk about their own game at length either. It simply exists, but doesn't do anything noteworthy to justify that existence. Making matters worse, I feel like Farlands Journey's current $9.99 price point is a bit high for the level of quality it offers. It's cheap enough yeah, but I can think of dozens of better games to spend ten dollars on than this one.

At the end of the day I don't think I can give Farlands Journey a recommendation, even though I'll admit that it's not a horrible game. Maybe younger players out there will find some enjoyment here, but I think they'd be better off going for a far more polished platformer instead. There's just nothing to recommend here. Farlands Journey is competent but not good, it works but isn't tight or responsive enough to feel worth your time, and it wears out its welcome with levels that go on several times longer than they should. Do yourself a favor and stay away. At the very least you'll still have the time that I lost in playing it. See you in the next one.

Check Out Farlands Journey on Nintendo Switch:
https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/farlands-journey-switch/

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Story: B-
Gameplay: C
Graphics: B
Music/Sound: B
Value: B

Overall: B-

Pros:
+ A fun platformer that might be enticing to younger players.
+ The graphics are large, colorful, and detailed. It almost feels like a storybook come to life.
+ There are many collectables to be found, and the game isn't exactly hard to complete.
+ Though far from perfect, there is a certain charm to be found in the game.

Cons:
- The controls for running and attacking feel very wonky and ruin a lot of the gameplay experience.
- Each of the game's stages seem to go on for far too long, giving the game an overly padded feel.
- Though the world is cute and colorful, there is no story to speak of, and I'm not even sure the main character has a name.
- Just isn't very good. It's hard to recommend playing this over just about anything else.

A copy of this game was provided to us free-of-charge by the publisher for the purpose of this review. This did not affect our review in any way.

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