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78

Generally favorable reviews - based on 32 Critic Reviews What's this?

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7.7

Generally favorable reviews- based on 109 Ratings

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  • Summary: In the near-future, society is starting to collapse, and the human population is at an all-time low. A deadly toxic presence has spread across the land, destroying and devouring everything in its path.

    Those who could escape the miasma flocked to underground villages to start a new life.
    In the near-future, society is starting to collapse, and the human population is at an all-time low. A deadly toxic presence has spread across the land, destroying and devouring everything in its path.

    Those who could escape the miasma flocked to underground villages to start a new life. But for a hardworking miner and a mysterious young girl, the hope of a thriving outside world beckons

    Escape the tyrannical clutches of Sandfill's subterranean society and join Eastward's unlikely duo on an exciting adventure to the land above!

    Discover beautiful yet bizarre settlements and make new friends as you travel across the world by rail.
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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 22 out of 32
  2. Negative: 0 out of 32
  1. Sep 24, 2021
    100
    Eastward is a beautiful adventure, full of complexity and memorable characters that makes a world full of pixels seem larger than life.
  2. Sep 14, 2021
    90
    Eastward is a beautiful love letter to old school RPGs and arcade games, bursting with unique characters, amazing attention to detail, stunning retro-pixel artwork, and a moving story that is bound to stay with you.
  3. Aug 5, 2022
    86
    Eastward pays tribute to the 90s adventures, mixing ideas from different titles, but keeping its own style. A little gem in the visual department that can entertain you for 25 hours or more, that now, thanks to the latest patch with the Spanish and German translation and all the improvements made, makes the adventure more accessible than ever.
  4. 80
    Eastward delivers so well on the writing and soundtrack front that it’s easy to forgive its otherwise simplistic gameplay. The fully realized world has its charm, but it hardly breaks the mold anywhere else. While it doesn't do anything necessarily offensive, it does demand more when the rest of the game is so well done. It’s clear Pixpil have got the writing chops down, now let’s tighten up some of the stuff around it.
  5. Oct 2, 2021
    80
    Slightly lumpy pacing aside, though, Eastward feels like a bright, beautifully rendered action-RPG, with a uniquely positive atmosphere. Those looking for a lighthearted experience would do well to take the trip.
  6. CD-Action
    Jan 19, 2022
    70
    Eastward is pretty and at first glance seems to have everything a good RPG needs, but its boring story and drawn-out conversations between clichéd characters made it harder to enjoy. [12/2021, p.58]
  7. Oct 22, 2021
    50
    Eastward gets away with a lot because of its blindingly beautiful pixel-graphics. Yet with each hour this especially slow game drags on, it has become increasingly clear that this beauty is solely external. Regardless of the bunches of dialogues and a memorable cast, the game simply can't get its feet off the ground.

See all 34 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 38 out of 62
  2. Negative: 7 out of 62
  1. Nov 7, 2021
    10
    Excellent game! Top quality story and game play. Loved the soundtrack and the aesthetic. Will certainly be watching this producer as I haven'tExcellent game! Top quality story and game play. Loved the soundtrack and the aesthetic. Will certainly be watching this producer as I haven't enjoyed a game this thoroughly in a long time. A must play! Expand
  2. Sep 4, 2023
    10
    Voilà un jeu d'action aventure qui en vaut vraiment le détour. Jamais un jeu de cette catégorie n'a réussi à me faire vouloir savoir ce queVoilà un jeu d'action aventure qui en vaut vraiment le détour. Jamais un jeu de cette catégorie n'a réussi à me faire vouloir savoir ce que chaque NPC a à dire au tournant de chaque quête et de chaque chapitre, tout en me transportant aussi aisément par son histoire narrative, son ambiance musicale et ses paysages pixelisés. Malgré une multitude de NPC, chacun de ceux-ci semble avoir une âme à elle et une place bien précise grâce à une histoire ficelée de manière exceptionnelle. Le jeu est d'ailleurs merveilleusement bien traduit en français grâce à la team Riotloc, ce qui est un vrai régal! Même si le héro est peu loquace, chaque texte vaut la peine d’être lu, même les micro-proses que proposent les réfrigérateurs-sauvegarde sont divertissantes tout en faisant référence à l’ambiance dans laquelle baigne le joueur à cet instant de l’histoire.

    Globalement, le jeu propose une aventure du style Zelda, mais bien plus encore, avec des armes et artéfacts que vous débloquerez au fil des “donjons” et des quêtes. Votre quête sera aussi parsemée de puzzle bien calibrés, autant au niveau de la difficulté qu’au niveau de la répétitivité. Des phases “libres”, dans lesquelles vous aurez le plaisir de visiter villes et villages, rencontrer leurs citoyens, découvrir de multiples secrets ou encore vous asseoir devant un terminal Pixpil pour jouer une partie de EarthBorn, serviront de tampon entre les zones d’actions, les portions narratives et les “cinématiques”. Les amateurs de cuisine seront aussi comblés par le “Cooking system” qui est définitivement une référence à Zelda Botw. Il m’a fallu une trentaine d’heure pour terminer le jeu et j’ai apprécié chacune d'elles.

    Graphiquement, le jeu rappelle l’ère snes (stéroidé à fond) et s’inspire franchement de Chrono Trigger lors des portions “overworld”. Toutefois, les effets de lumières et les effets graphiques viennent rehausser la qualité de l’expérience vidéoludique de manière tout à fait merveilleuse. J’ai rarement vu de l’eau aussi réelle dans un jeu en 2D de style PixelArt. Les effets de filtres de lumières et de lumière dynamique sont non seulement réussi mais maîtrisé! Les paysages et le map design sont conçus de main de maître. Le pixelart est d’une qualité exceptionnelle. On a vraiment l’impression de se promener dans des tableaux d’art de Pixelart et c’est encore une fois un vrai régal!

    Musicalement, le jeu réussit à nous transporter dans l'histoire et à nous faire ressentir les émotions voulut tout en offrant une musique de fond parfois légèrement répétitive mais tout à fait juste. La variété des instruments, des rythmes et des styles montre encore une fois que l’équipe d’Eastward à su faire appel à un réel talent créatif au niveau musical! Bravo! Si vous écoutez la bande OST après avoir fini le jeu, elle saura certainement faire vaciller vos émotions dès les premières notes de chaque morceaux, voir aussi quelques larmes ou quelques sourires!

    Je vous conseille fortement de suivre Sam et John dans l’aventure mémorable d’Eastward!
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  3. Sep 19, 2021
    10
    A masterclass on pixel art, fantastic soundtrack, and touching storytelling gives Eastward a 10 from me. A wonderful introduction to Pixpil,A masterclass on pixel art, fantastic soundtrack, and touching storytelling gives Eastward a 10 from me. A wonderful introduction to Pixpil, well worth the wait, and leaves me excited to see what they have for us next! Expand
  4. Sep 20, 2021
    9
    Surprising, beautiful, enthralling, and offering a story accessible to all, with endearing characters and endowed with a very appreciableSurprising, beautiful, enthralling, and offering a story accessible to all, with endearing characters and endowed with a very appreciable lifespan for a game sold for twenty euros, Eastward is a real success. For their first game, the Chinese at Pixpil are doing very well. While the game can often be very talkative and thus have a somewhat frustrating pace, and the gameplay is quite classic in the action RPG genre, Eastward has what it takes to impress players. One of the best games of the year, and a strong contender for the 2021 Indie Goty title! Note that the game has a full French translation.

    Full review, in french, on my blog Nintendo Legacy. You can follow me on Twitter @NintendoLegacy1
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  5. Oct 6, 2021
    7
    Was looking forward to this and finished with mixed feelings. I thoroughly enjoyed the story, music, visuals, atmosphere etc, the only strikeWas looking forward to this and finished with mixed feelings. I thoroughly enjoyed the story, music, visuals, atmosphere etc, the only strike I'd make against the story is that it's a bit overwritten at times. Stretches of dialogue are not uncommon to last over an hour or even close to 2.

    Where this game lacked for me is the gameplay. Coming from Zelda titles, Alundra, Crosscode etc, the dungeons here in Eastward seem to have been designed without much care. Linear, straightforward and require very little thought, finding a key is a minute detour every single time, and the majority of them are over in 20 minutes. I guess if you hate dungeons then you'll like the game more for being that way.

    To highlight a dungeon I liked, one of the first ones 'Ancient Ruins' was probably my favorite. The manner in which it was constructed made it fun to explore. You're not just following a straight line through sewer tunnels, you're exploring the floors of a long abandoned shopping mall. I was hoping this feeling of urban exploration would be expanded upon in future dungeons and I could have forgiven the simplicity of the level design if so, but there were only 1 or 2 others that were interesting. To pluck out one more positive though, there is a dungeon theme they start using later on that's one of the best I've ever heard, called 'industrial'.

    The combat is okay but nothing particularly special. At best it's passable, at worst, being so sluggish can make rooms full of enemies feel like a big mess. Since you have two characters who can both take damage, your partner following you can still take damage even if you successfully avoid an attack as the one you're controlling, which makes it feel pointless to do anything but have a DPS race with the enemies.

    The bad stuff aside, I did really enjoy the boss fights pretty much across the board. Some were better than others but none of them sucked, and for the most part they became crazier and more fun to fight the further I got.

    On the whole I would still recommend this game even if it has some blemishes where gameplay is concerned, because the experience is such a wild emotional rollercoaster ride all the way to the end.
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  6. Nov 2, 2022
    6
    Este juego ha sido comparado con Zelda y Mother, juegos de los que bebe directamente (y dragon quest para el minijuego que es otro juego en síEste juego ha sido comparado con Zelda y Mother, juegos de los que bebe directamente (y dragon quest para el minijuego que es otro juego en sí mismo). Sin embargo, tras acabarlo, hay otro juego con el que guarda mucho más parecido, aunque este sea accidental y no a propósito: Ilusion of Time, el 2º juego de la trilogía "Heaven and Earth" que salió para la SNES. Sin embargo, lo que Ilusion of Time hizo bien, Eastward lo hace MAL. Elaboro a continuación.

    Eastward destaca especialmente por su historia y sus gráficos, y en menor medida por su banda sonora. Es un action RPG muy centrado en la historia donde alternamos el control entre los dos personajes protagonistas y tenemos fases de exploración en ciudades, y mazmorras, con ocasionales minijuegos intercalados. No hay mapa del mundo, y debido a la historia, el avance es lineal, no pudiendo volver a lugares previamente explorados (con lo que si te dejaste algo, te lo dejaste para el resto del juego). Esta misma descripción se aplica a Ilusion of Time.

    El resto de elementos que no he mencionado de Eastward (narrativa, jugabilidad en las fases de exploración, jugabilidad en las fases de mazmorra, diseño de mazmorras, etc) son, como poco, correctas individualmente, pero el problema radica en que, al unirlas todas en el producto final... no funciona. El juego se hace aburrido. Y creo que el problema principal es que los autores de Eastward no han sabido generar un RITMO de juego en el que todos los elementos casen:

    Eastward es un juego lento y pausado, y lo es en todas sus facetas, lo que acabara quemando a la mayoría de jugadores siendo un juego de 30 horas. Esto es lo que podría haber aprendido de Ilusion of Time, que alterna mucho mejor cambios de ritmo: mazmorras que pueden resultar frenéticas, mezclando puzzles que muchas veces no son sencillos de resolver, con fases de exploración que son dinámicas, y narrativa que muchas veces frena el ritmo volviéndose extremadamente lenta... pero precisamente todos esos cambios te mantienen pegado al mando en Ilusion of Time, haciendo el juego además muy rejugable para conseguir esos missables que hayas perdido en una primera partida. Y esto es lo que Eastward no ha sabido hacer.

    La historia de Eastward es buena, y es prácticamente el único motivo por el que jugarla, aunque no es una historia que sorprenda en el sentido de hacia donde va, si que es una historia bien llevada y emocional con respecto a la relación de los dos protagonistas. Eso sí, sobraría mucho dialogo superfluo de mucho personaje secundario y olvidable que resta más que sumar.
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  7. Sep 30, 2021
    0
    The story has a lot of problems and It was very frustrating... I just left the game.

See all 62 User Reviews