Roki is a wonderfully charming title from Cambridge based developer, Polygon Treehouse. The studio was founded in 2017 with an objective to create narrative led artistic games, which is certainly what they have achieved. The studio was founded by 2 ex-PlayStation/Guerrilla Games Art Directors, which certainly lends a lot of weight to the studio’s reputation.
The mission was to put their money where the mouth was, set out and prove their reputation going forward and not just relying on their previous experience to legitimise the studio and create a whole new reputation.

The story of Roki is centred around the themes of family, loss and heartbreak, which you can imagine is not the happiest of themes to work with. The balancing at of the game is taking the negative experience and overcoming them, turning the obstacles into a catalyst for positive change. I understand at this point you may feel I am going in for the hard sell with this game, you bet your sweet cheeks I am gushing over this game.
The main character of Tove is the prime carer for her younger brother Lars, while their father has become negligent in his duties in recent years. One night when a calamity falls into their lives, Tove venture into a sprawling world of dark fantasy and folklore to rescue her brother and confront her demons. Using a point and click style of gameplay that many might remember from early classic adventures like Monkey Island or Broken Sword, though others might relate more to a Telltale Game.

Beautiful landscapes and buildings

The game is set around Scandinavian folklore and mythology, which as a person who love stories of myth and folklore, this has me sold. The setting is unapologetically beautiful, where the you can almost imagine the crisp white snow crunching underfoot as you explore the lands that have been untouched by humans for hundreds of years.
The exploration of the games 3 chapters certainly feel like three separate games, though the length of Chapter 2 is by far the largest of the 3. As the game breaks down into exploration and introduction to many characters, I found the simple discovery of items and overcoming obstacles and puzzles a very enjoyable and stress-free experience.
When the player finally finds that one piece of the puzzle that clicks and sets off the chain of 4 or 5 puzzles you couldn’t figure out, it will put a genuine smile on your face and leave you feeling a sense of serenity.

I feel the games later stages crank up the games difficulty, but never to a point where I felt like I wanted to rage quit the game. Towards the games third act the style of gameplay changes and starts to involve a lot of back tracking. I never want to give away a spoiler, but the enjoyable experiences of the early game are washed away with the complex and daunting third act.
This is not an overly negative experience with the game though. It combatted the games simplistic gameplay style and evolved it into a challenge the player had to overcome to feel rewarded and deliver a sense of achievement for completing a game with no combat mechanics.

Meet trolls and other fairy tale creatures

The games art style has been mentioned previously but it certainly one of the games biggest selling points, a perfect blend of bold colours and slightly cartoonish character design set the game up in an appealing fashion.
The design of the landscapes, buildings and characters are just as memorable as the story in which the game takes place. Each new environment is distinct and different from anything else, showing that you are roaming around the imagination of someone with a clear vision and not bound by time constraints. I cannot point out any point where I remember assets being reused for corner cutting within my time spent with the game.

The music is certainly the last point I wish to talk about, where the words are surreal and relaxing. Roki is a special experience and the music lives up to all the rest of the elements, the soundtrack has been listened to while writing this review to draw on how I felt while playing specific sections of this grand adventure.
A haunting cold experience is greeted with the games picturesque title screen and accompanying music. This is a moment of serene bliss, where you can very much imagine the tone for the entire game while spending possibly 15 minutes relaxing to a games title screen alone.

Tove exploring the snowy peaks


Polygon Treehouse have certainly made their presence felt in the industry with their title Roki, the title boasts some outstanding art direction, amazingly deep sound direction and a story that is gripping and enthralling; they have certainly hit the trifecta with this game. Each element of the game harmonises with the other which results in something absolutely beautiful.
The game grabbed my attention from the trailers first seconds, the soundtrack is now on my Spotify playlist and the story has been stuck in my head since the game’s completion. This is one of those games that not everyone is going to play, but should certainly be recommended to anyone who needs a refreshing and calm game to cleanse the pallet.

Rating – 9/10

Pro’s

  • Original Story
  • Amazing Art Style
  • Brilliant OST

Con’s

  • Lacks replay value
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Teaser Trailer

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