Point and click adventures games seem to be a genre that comes and goes in popularity. There will be a drought, then a resurgence, before the next drought seems to kick in. It has been a while since I last played a really good one, so when I saw Nairi: Tower of Shirin get released, I had to check it out.

Nairi: Tower of Shirin kicks in with Nairi reading a history book as she is nodding off. Suddenly a racoon, her tutor, barges in telling her to escape. She winds up trying to be smuggled out of town in a crate when she is captured by bandits, and her interesting story kicks off.

The most interesting thing about Nairi’s story is the world she discovers below the one she knew. She was sheltered in a well-off family, so wasn’t quite exposed to the way the world is for many others, and as she has to get out of her predicament, she learns a lot about the magical world, and the lives of people in different socio-economic demographics.

With a visual novel, the text itself is so very important. Especially because the game doesn’t have voice acting, which would have helped a lot, but the text itself was easily good enough. I really enjoyed the story that tackles serious subject matter, but in a light hearted and casual way. The game does have some average music and sound effects, so it is a totally fine game to play without your ear phones on, but with a story like this you do need to pay attention.

Something that isn’t new, but I haven’t seen too much in point and click adventure games recently is that you don’t see Nairi when exploring. She appears when there is dialogue because character models pop up to show dialogue occurring, but when pointing and licking it is from a first-person perspective. I prefer making my characters walk uncomfortably around a static screen in this kind of game, but to be fair it has minimal impact on gameplay not doing so.

The biggest winner the game has, and what drew me to it in the first place is the aesthetic. The characters are an array of species of animals and humans, and they look absolutely gorgeous. Beautifully designed and animated with a Ghibli style, and just grainy enough to look stunning, if you are going to spend a few hours staring at a fairly static game, you want it to look this good.

The game can use the Joy-Cons, which is the perfect fit for a point and click adventure game, because it lets you point and click. The pointing wasn’t always perfect with the Joy-Cons which created some unnecessary frustrations, which occasionally made me prefer to return to handheld mode, but in handheld mode some details got a bit small in certain puzzles which was annoying.

Nairi: Tower of Shirin isn’t a perfect game, but it is a short and very enjoyable experience. An interesting story, with interesting gameplay that tests the genre and how it can work with the Switch’s hardware is well worthwhile, and boy is it pretty.

The post Nairi: Tower of Shirin (Switch) Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Indie developer HomeBearStudio is excited to reveal that point and click adventure Nairi: Tower of Shirin is set for release on November 29th, 2018, and will be simultaneously launching on Nintendo Switch and Steam.

“It’s been an exciting and creative time for the team developing a game with not only with a unique setting, and strong and endearing cast, but one inspired by many facets, including Japanese anime but also Disney Pixar.

A synergy with so many ideas, strong storyline and tantalising puzzles, plus appealing to a wide audience with compelling gameplay has been our goal. We believe that we have achieved this through our love of the adventure genre. We wanted to offer something a little bit special – NAIRI: Tower of Shirin – is the result.” Joshua van Kuilenburg, founder of HomeBearStudio reflected. “NAIRI: Tower of Shirin is a point and click adventure puzzle game that offers up stunning graphics, engaging cast, superb audio, powerful narrative and puzzles that are a seamless part of the appealing storyline.”

The player follows Nairi, a young girl from the rich district of Shirin. A sudden incident forces her to abandon her rich, sheltered life, and she eventually ends up in the seedy lower district of the city ruled by gangs. Nairi meets a former gang member called Rex, who joins her throughout their adventure as they uncover a dark mystery involving the mysterious Tower of the oasis city of Shirin.

The post NAIRI: Tower of Shirin Coming to Switch appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Today indie developer HomeBearStudio has announced that their first game, Nairi: Tower of Shirin, will release on both Steam and also, Nintendo Switch.

Nairi: Tower of Shirin is a special fusion of point and click adventure puzzle game with stunning graphics and a cast that gives it its own unique quality ideally suited to the Nintendo Switch. The game is full of adorable visuals and characters, within a troubled world that is sure to delight anyone looking for a strong narrative and puzzle experience.

The player follows Nairi, a troubled upper class girl, and Rex, a gangster-turned-scholar, as they uncover a dark mystery involving the mysterious Tower of the oasis city of Shirin.

Nairi is a young woman from the rich district of Shirin, the oasis city where the game takes place. When a sudden incident forces her to abandon her rich, sheltered life, she ends up in the seedy lower district of the city ruled by gangs.

Joshua van Kuilenburg, founder of HomeBearStudio said “Nairi meets a gangster-turned-scholar rat, who will help her on her quest to find her way back home. The poor district is plagued by The White Mask, a criminal who seemingly brainwashes people. And then there’s a conflict which goes way beyond Nairi’s initial plight of simply returning home. There’s an ominous mystery surrounding the titular Tower of Shirin.”

“We were going for a unique setting and art style, inspired not just by Japanese anime but also the likes of Disney and Pixar. The game comes across as endearing, rather than ‘childishly cute’.”

Release date for both platforms is still to be confirmed.

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