A long time ago, developers Double Fine burst onto the scene with the flop that was Psychonauts, following this up with the equally floppy Brütal Legend. Of course, Psychonauts became a cult classic, and I enjoyed Jack Black's Musical Strategy more than most. However, these efforts resulted in Double Fine spending a few years creating smaller titles before the massive Kickstarter success of Broken Age, followed by Psychonauts 2's success on the Fig crowdfunding network, and the acquisition by Microsoft. This brings us to Keeper, their first game in four years.
So with that long introduction out of the way, let's talk about Keeper. You can tell this is a Double Fine game, with its unique art style, a story that is somewhat "out there", and just something that is generally difficult to pin down for one reason or another.
Let's start with what is easy to pin down: this is an adventure/walking simulator. There are puzzles, but I'm going to say it's not really a puzzle game because everything can be solved by just moving your character's head the right way, and then moving forward. There's no real thinking required. Sure, there are some where you have to shine your light on something, to free something else, and then take that something somewhere, but it's not going to test you.
Of course, it's not meant to test you. Keeper is about the journey and the story, more than anything else. The premise of the game is that you are a lighthouse that has gained sentience after a bird crashes into you. How you gained sentience, who knows? How you retain that sentience after (spoilers) being demolished, and being turned into a ship, a Beyblade, and then a crab-ship, I still have no idea.
What I do know is that the theme of the game, being about light fighting off darkness, is a little obvious, even if Double Fine has made it clear that the player is to take away from it what they will. The open cinematic is so reminiscent of Gandalf shining light to push off the Nazgul to save Faramir; it can't be a coincidence. If there is meant to be some deeper meaning, it was utterly lost on me.
Which is a shame, because there are positives to take away from Keeper. It's an absolutely gorgeous game, with an art style I can't take my eyes off of. The scenery and settings, particularly some of the stranger ones when magic comes into play, are like walking through beautiful paintings. There are some little secrets to find, so slight exploration is rewarded to an extent, but the problem is that Keeper is at its best about halfway through.
I'll explain, but then it's going to be a bit more negative. Keeper has a part which opens up a little; it's still linear, but that's not a problem. What is important is that you surround yourself with candyfloss, and this allows you to jump into some straightforward platforming. There's no difficulty here, but it feels fantastic. As you move through the game, the feel of your character adjusts based on the form you're in, but it never feels better than this platforming candyfloss form.
This ends up being the core problem of Keeper, at least for me. I could be completely wrong, but the game feels like a wide range of levels and designs were created, and the game was extended to accommodate them. You reach close to the top in the Lighthouse form, then you crash down. Then, in a boat form, you go so far before being demolished. Then you're quickly in a Beyblade form, facing what could be considered the only 'boss', before being knocked out. Finally, you're the crab for all of twenty minutes.
The problem is that it doesn't feel organic in its progression, and, at least for me, there are only so many times I can do the same thing without it feeling like padding for the sake of padding. The second I'm playing a game and I'm thinking "I'm bored now", there's something that has gone wrong, which is a shame because that boredom goes away and Keeper finds its stride again a little later.
Keeper is a strange game, to say the least, and one that isn't easy to review. As gorgeous as it is, and as fantastic as the animations and characterisations of the Keeper and its friendly bird are, it is still one that ultimately outstayed its welcome while I was playing it. The thirty-nine stages could have been condensed, and the game, taking up to eight hours, would have been more effective and impactful if it had been an hour or two shorter.
PC version reviewed. Copy provided by the publisher.
About the author: Chris Wray has been writing at Wccftech gaming section since 2015 and is an opinionated bloke from the north of the UK (think Ned Stark). He enjoys video games, films, books, beer, whisky and other alcohol. He also supports Manchester Utd and for some reason he writes profile pages in the third person. His expertise is in gaming and the games industry, primarily on the PC. In addition to this, he works with and contributes to the finance and tech sections.
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