doops.
Member
- Jun 3, 2020
- 3,873
- Sep 12, 2024
- #1
Game Info
Developer: Plane Studio
Publisher: Dear Villagers
Genre: Adventure / Platformer
Platforms: PC (Steam, Epic Games Store), PS5, Switch
Price: $24.99, £22.49 €24.99 [Pricing varies by region.]
Release Date: September 12th, 2024
Game Length: ~10-15 hours for full completion
I say that, but since I finished Caravan SandWitch a few days back, more than anything I've been eager to go back to it. This gently playful world may actually be at its best when you're doing not much of anything. Take the van for a coast over the dunes. Pick through a robot graveyard that always looked interesting. Open out the last areas of the map that you've already cleared by unjamming radar signals and already picked free of most in-game doodads. There's a sense of adventure here that runs so deep it must emerge from the land itself.
Occasional forced trinket collection aside, this tiny open-world is filled with stress-free exploration, lovely sights, and simple, satisfying puzzles.
Caravan SandWitch is a beautiful adventure that covers stories of struggles and grief, paired with pleasant French vocals and a vibrant art style. And even though I found its main progression to be tedious, I did enjoy exploring the world of Cigalo and learning about its lovely peoples. If you seek a nomad's adventure, van included, look no further than this little journey right here.
Caravan SandWitch is just a really pleasant video game. It can be a bit rough around the edges in terms of animations and technical performance, but its story intrigues, and its atmospheric brand of exploration is largely a delight.
Caravan SandWitch crafts a gently beautiful apocalypse for players to explore but is bogged down by its decision to withhold exploration tools from the player. An otherwise compelling, humble sci-fi tale of family and the machines of progress is held back by a game torn between its open world and goals as a focused narrative experience.
Caravan SandWitch delivers on being a low stakes laid back open-world adventure. Whilst the story didn't quite land and technical issues dampen the experience, Plane Toast have brought to life a sandbox worth spending your time in.
A mysterious journey through a fascinating world, Caravan SandWitch is a relaxing adventure that is brimming with charm and is highly recommended!
Caravan SandWitch exceeds expectations by building upon the success of similar games with a laid-back vibe. This game has depth, an interesting narrative and a fleshed out supporting cast, which are elements that most cozy games fail to achieve through gameplay. While the game may occasionally lag or include missed bugs, its all-around quality isn't dampened at all.
Again, it sounds like Caravan SandWitch fails in a number of key areas, but that's really the half-truth. This is a damn fine effort from a relatively untested studio, and while the studio chronically comes close to realising many of their ambitions here, it's easy to love, and also pretty easy to recommend. They've paved the way for something much better in the future, that's for sure.
penny toast
Member
- Feb 20, 2024
- 507
- Sep 12, 2024
- #2
oof ouchy
yeah demo was charming but could definitely feel step down both writing and gameplay compared to games like Season: A Letter to the Future, Sable, etc
will still buy because love these types of games, just wish we could get closer to Sable at some point, something with just bit more mechanical meat to exploration/traversal, verticality to level design
JustTeaThankYou
Member
- Aug 31, 2019
- 3,516
- Sep 12, 2024
- #3
Sounds great. This kind of game is unlikely to get a numeric score that, if that's all you read, looks good.
Reading the blurbs though, it's exactly what I was expecting and looking forward to.
Todu
Member
- Mar 31, 2020
- 185
- Sep 12, 2024
- #4
Reviews are pretty good. I'll but this game ! The World looks so cool.
Bede-x
Member
- Oct 25, 2017
- 10,348
- Sep 12, 2024
- #5
JustTeaThankYou said:
Sounds great. This kind of game is unlikely to get a numeric score that, if that's all you read, looks good.
Reading the blurbs though, it's exactly what I was expecting and looking forward to.
It sounds really good in many of the blurbs and the demo was fun to run/drive around in. I'm getting this and the new Grapple Dog today :)
Type VII
Member
- Oct 31, 2017
- 2,495
- Sep 12, 2024
- #6
The text of the reviews read a lot better than the Metacritic average. Still on board with this.
JustTeaThankYou
Member
- Aug 31, 2019
- 3,516
- Sep 12, 2024
- #7
Bede-x said:
It sounds really good in many of the blurbs and the demo was fun to run/drive around in. I'm getting this and the new Grapple Dog today :)
Yeah I really enjoyed the vibe of the demo, and the blurbs sound like "more of that"
Kadzork
Has got mad skills!!
Member
- Oct 27, 2017
- 20,136
- Sep 12, 2024
- #8
I knew I had to explore this world from the moment I saw it - looking forward to jumping in later today.
SpillYerBeans
Member
- Oct 25, 2017
- 1,226
- Sep 12, 2024
- #9
penny toast said:
oof ouchy
yeah demo was charming but could definitely feel step down both writing and gameplay compared to games like Season: A Letter to the Future, Sable, etc
will still buy because love these types of games, just wish we could get closer to Sable at some point, something with just bit more mechanical meat to exploration/traversal, verticality to level design
Sable is so good. I hope the team behind Sable found success and are working on another game or possibly a sequel.
penny toast
Member
- Feb 20, 2024
- 507
- Sep 12, 2024
- #10
SpillYerBeans said:
Sable is so good. I hope the team behind Sable found success and are working on another game or possibly a sequel.
yeeeesssss
fwiw, the creative director (Gregorios Kythreotis) did an interview back in april and said they're pursuing something new, not a Sable sequel but something similar in size
v excited to see whatever they make next
mztik
Member
- Oct 25, 2017
- 3,652
- Tokyo, Japan
- Sep 12, 2024
- #11
IGN Spain gave it a 4 out of 10. Ouch.
I'm still interested in the game. The demo was quite interesting.
MinionZero
Member
- Jan 14, 2018
- 318
- Sep 12, 2024
- #12
mztik said:
IGN Spain gave it a 4 out of 10. Ouch.
I'm still interested in the game. The demo was quite interesting.
Woof. A 4/10 is not even "not my type." What did they not like about it? It seems like Sable with a different style and travel mechanic.
mztik
Member
- Oct 25, 2017
- 3,652
- Tokyo, Japan
- Sep 12, 2024
- #13
MinionZero said:
Woof. A 4/10 is not even "not my type." What did they not like about it? It seems like Sable with a different style and travel mechanic.
Although I understand Spanish, I haven't read the entire piece. As soon as I've read "Un viaje rápido y sin gasolina", I knew the tone of the review was not going to be good haha.
The reviewer said it had a sort of love-hate relationship with it.
- likes the story but it's disappointed the story was not developed further.
- likes the characters, but they don't have much impact
- the art/direction captivates, but only for its beauty and not its possibilities (not much to interact with)
- encountered issues with missing text and translation issues with the PS5 version in Spanish
She was coming from Astro Bot, so I'm not sure if her expectations were a bit higher.
Antony
Member
- Oct 25, 2017
- 3,762
- Sep 12, 2024
- #14
Damn too bad it didn't resonate with the critics, I'm still interested though
Messofanego
Member
- Oct 25, 2017
- 27,491
- UK
- Sep 12, 2024
- #15
For how lovely the aesthetic is, I might have to give this a miss if the story isn't outstanding and there is too much to play for this month.
dex3108
Member
- Oct 26, 2017
- 23,919
- Sep 12, 2024
- #16
I will wait for Steam Deck impressions. Demo has just 2 presets High and Low and i hope that full game has better graphics menu because i would like to tweak look of the game on Deck and not just drop everything to low.
Freezasaurus
Member
- Oct 25, 2017
- 57,873
- Sep 12, 2024
- #17
Anyone know anything about how the Switch version performs? Seems like a perfect cozy Switch game.
Hadok
Member
- Feb 14, 2018
- 6,094
- Sep 12, 2024
- #18
i love the color palette in this game.
Really liked the demo,i think i will buy it on PS5.But i want to know how it runs on the Switch.
i've read some good impressions from some french journalists too.It looks like a little good AA game.
Greywaren
Member
- Jul 16, 2019
- 10,941
- Spain
- Sep 12, 2024
- #19
I didn't expect high scores for this one, but it still seems like a chill little adventure. I'll check it out at some point.
crienne
Member
- Oct 25, 2017
- 5,758
- Sep 12, 2024
- #20
My favorite part of the demo was the exploration and wanderlust so if those aspects are just as good through the full release I can excuse some hiccups when they occur.
Also mid-60s to mid-70s indie games that try something fresh but stumble a bit always end up being my favorite types to experience so I'm definitely still in on this one.
Hadok
Member
- Feb 14, 2018
- 6,094
- Sep 12, 2024
- #21
The soundtrack is out
Zoidn
Member
- Dec 23, 2018
- 1,798
- Sep 14, 2024
- #22
Just finished a 4.5 hour session playing this game, it's a delight so far! Very fun, endearing characters, plus I love the aesthetics of everything.
Freezasaurus
Member
- Oct 25, 2017
- 57,873
- Sep 14, 2024
- #23
Zoidn said:
Just finished a 4.5 hour session playing this game, it's a delight so far! Very fun, endearing characters, plus I love the aesthetics of everything.
Every time I play I lose track of time.
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