Koira review

Charming, wordless adventure is hauntingly beautiful without dogging it in the emotional storytelling department

It's fair to say that an inevitable part of life is to sometimes feel lost. Whether we feel metaphorically misplaced or literally lost, occasionally we all need help to find our way again, be it from something that gives us meaning, another person… or perhaps even an animal. I can’t even count the number of stories I have heard of someone rescuing or adopting a pet, only to realise that the little creature saved them as well. Animals with their pure and unconditional love often create a light in the darkness where everything seems hopeless, and it is this special relationship that is highlighted in Studio Tolima’s Koira.

Koira has some impressive extra pedigree behind it, as it was published by Don’t Nod, a respected name in the gaming industry. While most of the renowned French studio’s own games centre around deep narratives, Koira is a little bit different, with its more casual stealth-puzzle gameplay and lighter focus on narrative. Do not mistake the simpler premise for a less touching journey, though, as the story here is sure to rustle up some deep feels. I suspect being an animal lover made me particularly susceptible to its message, but I was not prepared for the emotional impact this game would have on me. As if that wasn’t enough, the fun and whimsical puzzles, adorable characters and beautiful musical score combined to make an experience that lingered with me for a long time.

Darkness surrounds you as you wake up in a strange, cold place, where shadows loom and the snow lies thick. You play as a woodland spirit, a little black shape with floating arms and head; the only sign of expression are your white eyes, full of emotion despite their simple presentation. How you ended up in this desolate place isn’t certain; what is clear is that you are far away from home and completely alone. But what is that sound you suddenly hear? There’s a little trickle of audible light, a musical whisper, calling out in the dark. Moving closer to the noise, you feel compelled to make a similar sound, and soon you encounter a helpless little creature, captured in a cruel trap. Naturally you help the little animal; whatever you are, you’re not a psychopath.

This small but kind gesture rewards you with a tiny, loyal companion. The dog-like critter yelps its happy thanks in a little musical tune instead of conventional barking, almost a harmonica-like sound. And hey, you discover that you can sing back too if you want! Without any words spoken, it doesn’t take long for the friendly animal to charm its way into your heart (both the protagonist’s and surely your own), and together you set out on the journey towards home: a little hut on the other side of the forest.

Now, you might be wondering: who or what is Koira? At first I assumed it was the game’s spirit hero, since it isn’t really made clear from the start, but after conducting an extensive investigation (a Google search), I learned that “koira” means “dog” in Finnish. Mystery solved. (Kind of – the developers are Belgian.)

Initially the dog is understandably anxious and scared, but after singing a little tune and sharing a magical moment, it lowers its guard and begins to trust you. During your travels together, you can pass time with your adorable new emotional support animal by throwing sticks, playing hide-and-seek, making snowmen and even outfitting your companion with cute little hats you find along the way. You can also command it to perform small tasks like burrowing under a fence or digging up a pile of dirt that is blocking the way forward, and it will obey so long as it continues to feel brave. But besides the spiritual and musical enrichment of your affection, the dog needs food as well. The biggest priority is usually to make sure the little canine doesn’t get hungry, because when it does, it loses its courage and is unable to assist with going further.

When given apples or carrots found here and there in the woods, the dog’s nose begins to glow and it feels so courageous that it will charge at ominous shadows, dispersing the darkness blocking your path. Sometimes it might get a little bit too confident and run ahead of you. If you lose sight of it, you can follow its pawprints in the snow or sing so that it will let you know where it is by barking back. Other times it might get into trouble, however, and you will have to help it. At one point the animal and the spirit become separated, and you have to play as the dog to save the day.

Unseen terrors lurk in the forest, as well as evil hunters whose only goal is to track down and trap any woodland creature they find. Not only do the spirit and the dog have to evade them, they also encounter other animals who have been caught or are being hunted and need assistance. The spirit becomes more and more enraged at the injustice and cruelty going on, eventually causing it to lose control of its anger and transform into a raging demon, which scares off the little dog. When the spirit calms down and comes to its senses, the dog is so afraid that it takes a while to gain its trust again, needing not only yummy treats, but a whole lot of TLC. Every time this rage outburst happens, the dog must be sung to, played with and encouraged in order to settle down and follow the spirit again.

Koira

Genre:	Fantasy
Presentation:	Realtime 3D
Theme:	Musical, Animal, Relationships, Get home
Perspective:	Third-Person
Graphic Style:	Stylized
Gameplay:	Puzzle, Quest
Control:	Direct Control
Game Length:	Short (1-5 hours)
Action:	Stealth
Difficulty:	Low

Playing as the spirit (and eventually the dog) is not a difficult task, most easily done with a controller, which is recommended when you start the game. The only button commands you have are to walk, interact and sing, highlighted in an intuitive way as you go. The gameplay centres mainly around navigating through the forest and overcoming the obstacles in your way to get home. This can be done by hiding from or sneaking around the hunters and their dogs, and by solving musical shrine puzzles. When you encounter animals who have been trapped or are being hunted, freeing them, escorting them to safety or finding missing young ones will often lead to unexpected allies in your fight against the hunters.

Sneaking around the hunters and their dogs is the only gameplay element I found a bit frustrating. If you get caught, you restart the scene automatically, and it isn’t always clear if there is a specific pattern you’re supposed to follow, or if it’s just random. Sometimes you can misdirect them by throwing a snowball or a stick somewhere, but they go quickly back to their spot, so if you’re not fast enough you will get caught.

The musical shrines stand frozen in time, waiting for someone to wake them from their slumber. These are activated by collecting a set of musical notes, which can be found somewhere nearby. At the first shrine, the dog actually has the required musical notes and gives them to you one by one after you sing to it, but the rest of the shrines require notes to be collected through other puzzles and minigames.

These aren’t particularly challenging; one of them simply requires you to piece together a broken shrine, and in another you just need to locate and sing to a couple of birds to receive the notes you need. A third puzzle that I enjoyed requires you to round up a bunch of frightened musical mushrooms and put them in their correct places based on which notes they sing. When a shrine has been awakened, it usually opens a path or sets some kind of mechanism in motion, making it possible for the two companions to move on.

There aren’t many games that have moved me with their soundtracks as much as Koira did. For a game that involves singing sweet melodies and solving musical puzzles, this might not come as a big surprise, but it is safe to say that had it not been for the brilliant score and audio design, Koira wouldn’t have been as poignant as it is. Accompanying you throughout is a lovely, haunting score, which perfectly sets the tone and ambiance for your journey. At some points there are only a few melancholy chords from a piano, together with the blowing wind, while other times we hear cute and charming tunes with other instruments as well, such as the cello, accordion and marimba. The musical relationship between the spirit and the dog is just that: an emotional and musical communication without words, where meaning is conveyed regardless of spoken language.

Graphically, Koira reminds me of a beautiful yet scary combination of the Moomin games and Limbo, with a bird’s-eye view and simple yet striking hand-drawn art style. Consisting largely of black shapes against the white snow, the forest’s nearly monochrome colourscape is regularly broken up by single striking colours, such as the burning red flames surrounding the spirit when it becomes angry, or the warm yellow light of safety. Darkness and shadow are used not only as visual effects, but also actively as obstacles and for narrative purposes. In order to progress in some places, you need to disperse thick, dark shadows that obstruct the path. In other places, the shadows hide dangers that might jump out at you at any moment. To break up all the gloom, light is used beautifully, not only to illuminate the path but also to actively remove dangers waiting in the dark.

If I have one other small annoyance, it’s that the game only autosaves, and not as frequently as I would have liked. Since there is no way of knowing when it does, be prepared to replay some parts if you take a break.

Final Verdict

Koira truly resonated with me as the pet parent of a small, nervous but very happy little dog. However, you don’t need to be an animal lover to enjoy it. This is one of those games that shows a beautiful story can be told without words; that meaning can be conveyed without language and love can be shared across species. With roughly four hours of gameplay, Koira finds the perfect sweet spot between feeling too short and overstaying its welcome, leaving it with just the right amount of time to tell its charming and emotional narrative. The fun and light gameplay, engaging puzzles and charming story are beautifully balanced, resulting in a near flawless game experience. Koira gently reminds us that we don’t have to walk through the dark forest of life alone – and that even in the darkest forest, there is light.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a dog to cuddle.

Aurora played Koira on PC using a review code provided by the game's publisher.