The Frostrune (PC) Review

The Frostrune has a base setting of ancient Norse culture, and not just slightly touching upon it as a gimmick, but making it the core by going full on to the point where even the voice acting is not in English, but Old Norse. Yes, get ready to read subtitles, folks! Not so much that it will detract from the overall experience, but some may hope there is a dual-language setting patched in later. Criticising a game for its authenticity, though, does not make sense, and the attention to detail throughout is highly impressive.

In fact, developer Grimnir must be praised for its dedication to bringing stories from the Viking age to a wider audience in such a grand fashion. Many times developers will pick up on a theme they believe to be popular at the time, and then proceed to water it down so as to not alienate too many people. Grimnir, on the other hand, has laid down the gauntlet and said "Here's what we're passionate about, take it or leave it." From the characters found within, to the objects found on the journey, and even the locations visited - everything has been crafted intricately to increase the immersion factor as much as possible.

Starting off shipwrecked after a summer storm, merely stood on the shoreline looking at a derelict settlement, the instinct is to start moving about to explore the surrounding area. However, this is a Myst-esque adventure, meaning that free roaming is limited to being faced with numerous static screens that can be moved back and forth through, going from screen to screen by clicking a key spot on the image. Mainstream point-and-click fans may find the approach confusing at first, but it works just as well as it does in all of Cyan Worlds' releases.

Whilst within an area, various aspects of it can be interacted with. From discovering conundrums that need to be cracked, to picking up different objects (relics, rune stones, and more 'normal' items from time to time) that can be used in clever ways to progress deeper into the story, and even meeting with otherworldly folk (that speak in Old Norse, as mentioned, or sometimes even sing at you!), there is far more to the static scenes than first meets the eye. There are even hidden areas to uncover…

Now, the majority of the adventure runs extremely smoothly, but this hidden areas section is where some might get frustrated. There are a couple of times where a location is a little bit too hidden to the point of scouring every known area to progress with no luck, then randomly finding something because of frustrated screen clicking. Myst was exactly the same, yet in those days it was more acceptable since nowadays adventures all seem to have a hot-spots and entry/exit points highlighted, taking away the exploration feel, definitely softening gamers over the years. The Frostrune aims to draw players deep into the world, and make them work hard to unravel the mysteries at hand. It succeeds on all levels.