Created by the same team that developed Bottle: Pilgrim Redux, Nephise: Asension is their latest walking simulator based around narration, no combat, no leveling, and exploring an open landscape.
Published by Catness Game Studio, the only action the player can perform, other than walking from a first-person perspective, is a non-necessary low height jump. Point being, the player is left to explore an open world to find statues and place them on pedestals to activate the next area. It is a simple, non-violent experience based entirely around exploring, trial and error, and having the tenacity to figure out what it is you are supposed to be doing.
The biggest problem comes from the overall lack of direction, mapping system, and objective. After aimlessly wandering for a while, I eventually found a statue in a glowing cave; the glowing part easily stands out against the drab colors of the environment so clearly the game wants you to enter here. Inside was a statue… okay, cool, now what? Then wandering for another twenty minutes, I found a pillar that gave me the “press X” prompt. After placing this statue here, a door opened somewhere in this area but didn’t give me any indication regarding its location. Also, there are numerous pedestals to place statues, but each statue can only be placed on a very specific one. It would have made more sense to put the red statue on the red base, blue on blue, etcetera. But no. All pedestals look the same which causes more confusion.
The aimless wandering is this game’s biggest flaw as it tediously wastes the player’s time. While it takes 2-3 hours to reach the end credits, this would be reduced to thirty minutes of game time if there was an objective marker or mapping system… and would have made the game more pleasant. These hours of walking aren’t made any better by the dark, repetitive environments which makes it difficult to keep track of where you are going and where you have been.
The worst part of the directionless wandering, hoping you are going the right way, is the slow speed of walking. Clicking the analog stick activates the sprint mode but it is still slow. Making matters worse, the default analog stick sensitivity is also low. Thankfully, there is an option to adjust the analog stick sensitivity in the options menu but there is no way to increase the speed of movement.
Accompanying the player on this aimless adventure is the whimsical soundtrack. While pleasant, it repeats, clawing at nerves, as it annoyingly plays as you are hoping you are walking in the right direction. There is also an emphasis put on the narrative but nothing really makes sense. Something about a girl getting stranded on an island, trying to find her sister. But she is wearing an armored bikini. And there are no life forms on this island other than dinosaur bones, pacing skeletons, and one giant lion… for some reason.
So yeah, this game is weird and is strongly head scratching. Honestly, if there was some type of map or marker system, most of this game’s problems would have been solved, respecting the player’s time. This is a walking simulator, a genre that is supposed to be stress free. But when you have to waste 25 minutes looking for one red orb hidden behind a walk that you’ll never find, it becomes rage inducing. A few Achievements also didn’t pop so there are some glitches that still need to be ironed.
While I appreciate the unique and somewhat gusty approach, it is difficult to recommend, especially at the slightly higher price point.
Not As Good As: other walking simulators
Also Try: navigating a busy city without a map, GPS, or sense of direction
Wait For It: Orb Collecting Simulator 2025
By: Zachary Gasiorowski, Editor in Chief myGamer.com
X/Twitter: @ZackGaz
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RATING
SCORE - 4
4
SCORE
A walking simulator that lacks guidance and a mapping system that results in tedious “where do I go, what am I supposed to do” gameplay.
Editor in Chief - been writing for mygamer,com for 20+ years. Gaming enthusiast. Hater of pants. Publisher of obscure gaming content on my YT channel.
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