Old Man's Journey (Nintendo Switch) Review

Ever seen those Pixar shorts that are sometimes better than the actual film that come afterwards? Not a word heard, and those tears or ROFLs will inevitably come. Old Man's Journey is a short story, alright, but is it an emotive one? Well, not really. Firstly, though, here's the deal: after reading a letter, the titular character will start his long walk towards... someplace, and along the way he will gaze upon scenes that will ignite past memories.

Okay, when the grandpa looks at a young couple of lovebirds, a smile is put on his face, and a still image of a younger him appears for a few seconds, which shows the player the first time he saw his soon-to-be wife. As is usually the case with these, the journey gets sadder and sadder, with those initial happy slides making way for some less joyful ones - and, at the same time, make the extremely predictable ending even more so.

Of course, the pastel-like, fairytale-ish vistas that gramps is passing through will change accordingly, with his journey that starts in a vibrantly colourful, and soothing Mediterranean sea town, soon leading to grey skies, rain, harsh weather, and barren landscapes. In fact, this is half of what makes this ride tolerable, with the other half being a few fleeting moments, like when the old man is waving at a small child, which, of course, brings forth some of his best memories on the screen.

Unfortunately, there's also a game in here, and it's mind-numbingly boring. For starters, it's not really a puzzle game - not in the strictest sense of the term, at least. The player clicks where the protagonist should go, and he does so. The thing is that he can only walk on the edge of, say, a hill, so, if the edges of two hills don't interconnect, he can't move on. Luckily for those pointing the way, this "frail" human being can also warp space, and, more specifically, drag surfaces up and down until their edges collide.

It's a concept that's so simple that it won't really make those cogs turn. Even when additional mechanics make an appearance, like waterfalls, stubborn sheep that serve as obstacles, or walls that must be destroyed, most of the challenge will be not making the hero accidentally walk when all you want to do is to move a surface. Most of all, though, these 'puzzles' will put you to sleep. There's a trip-ruining, stop-start train ride, for instance, that has you moving rails into the correct spot; a part that, even when you act faster so that the train won't stop, feels like a chore.

…and that's the thing with Old Man's Journey - it's just a real chore, when it would be much better if it had tried something else, like multiple-choice dialogue sequences, alternative paths to take, and so on, and so forth. Even better, it could simply cut corners like Virginia, and focus entirely on the storytelling part. Yes, it wouldn't be a typical videogame anymore, but it would certainly be more enjoyable.