A Never Ending Cycle: Eastward Review

[@HerEvilTwin]

I absolutely loved every aspect of the game. I even loved the confusing plot. To me it doesn’t matter how much I understood the game or how the most lovable characters wasn’t a bigger part of the story. What matters is how all this made me feel and man, it was an emotional roller coaster. Eastward to me is just like a dream. It doesn’t make any sense at all sometimes but it can regardless be incredibly emotional and impactful. Eastward is simply one of the most memorable gaming experiences and adventures I’ve had in my entire life. I get that the randomness and lack of explanation might frustrate alot of people but to me this was one of the strongest aspects of the game.

[@aurekogaming6600]

It’s a valid point, that if a lot of the issues I had, didn’t bother you, then the game would’ve been enjoyable.

[@redtaperecorder1]

I agree 100%. I got a similar feeling at the end of watching Neon Genesis Evangelion. I was both confused and awed by the experience all at once. I love the fact that all the story elements aren’t fed to you and that there is ambiguity in the characters. Somehow it makes them more real in a certain sense. As far as lore goes, I found the character descriptions in the official wiki to be quite useful for that…

[@fat.E]

I loved this game. The story is obscure but was pretty easy to follow. Destiny vs. Duty vs. Doubt vs. Death.

[@bakedbeananimation]

It’s so relieving to know after just finishing this game two minutes ago that EVERYONE is just as confused as me. The dialogue, the story, the lore?? The mythologies, the plotline, it all felt like tiny glimpses of 10 different games they wanted to make but couldn’t find a good way to put them together and then just…did it anyway. It’s a shame, it really is a beautiful game.

[@aurekogaming6600]

Yeah, I've actually started developing a coherent theory as to what's actually going on, but whether it's correct or not, I think this game ultimately tries to make you think it's deeper than it actually is, to cover it's flaws. They honestly could've written a much simpler story to go with this gameplay and setting, and the game would've been better for it.

[@noahwilson63]

​@@aurekogaming6600I just finished playing Eastward and went looking for some lore theories and had zero luck. If you did make a theory video on this game I would 100% watch it.

[@drawn_by_starla9462]

Looolll your points about John being a questionable father figure is so on point. The thing that got me was that awkward moment when Alva got Sam a pair of shoes. It just made me wince cuz yeah. John was letting his daughter walk barefoot through abandoned buildings and mineshafts filled with broken glass and hazardous materials for who knows how long. Also William mentally and physically abuses robot Daniel. Not only did he create him just to replace his biological son, but he constantly degrades the poor kid and manipulates him into doing his dirty work.

[@aurekogaming6600]

Yeah, it's been so long that my memory is honestly getting fuzzy, but I had a really tough time sympathizing with most of these characters. I think the developers had good intentions with William but they wrote him in a way that makes you think there's a special place in hell for him. Yes, he was going to go back for him son, but the entirety of the game makes you think he's doing everything in his power to avoid it, and that's before you even get to how much of a horrible father he is to his robot son lol. As far as John goes, his actions just made me care less about the relationship between him and Sam. The macho father who has trouble showing love to his child until it really matters, is such an overused trope and it doesn't work in this game at all, because you are never given the slightest reason to believe it's something John is working on changing .

[@nowherefool5869]

according sam : john isn't father. john is john. i'm unsure about how "salt" economy works and why the shops didn't have shoe stock. even buying out their entire inventory. there were no shoes. the game is weird.

[@aurekogaming6600]

@@nowherefool5869 lol right? I think it would even make sense if there was some more worldbuilding involved instead of just, "Nah this is the world, don't worry about why it's like that."

[@IPITYTHEFOOLZ]

@@aurekogaming6600 i didn't mind John so much but I hated William. Not only did he abandon his son but then he was trying to turn his robot replacement son into a human too. Like what purpose does his real son even serve then? It was disappointing william was like a mainstay too. Always there and being a scumbag and he gets the ending too. Jasper, a much more likable character just kinda disappears when you arrive in New damn city and then hes gone.

[@danielscott70x7]

Very good critique of a very excellent yet flawed indie game. I enjoyed 80% of my time with Eastward, but couldn’t help but to be disappointed by many of the problems you pointed out. Overall though, the highs and pros of the game kept me going to the end and I’m thankful to have played it.

[@aurekogaming6600]

I appreciate it!

[@MillyKKitty]

It is a shame the story ended up being... kind of a mess.. It really had no explanation to why consequently there was a prophecy about a good-cooking knight and princess all the way in New Dam city. Like at that point I thought it was all like a loop, where John dies and Sam loses faith in humanity (and that she might be like the embodiment of MOTHER nature) then it would like loop at the destruction part. And maybe they could have used the whole "the whale eats memories" part for that as an explanation to why nobody remembers the loop happenkng (The whale even had number 5 on it like the fridges, there must've been some sort a plot plan for it).

[@aurekogaming6600]

I chose not to comment on the whole prophecy thing too much, since I thought maybe I missed something from Earthborn, but yeah good point. After thinking about it some more, I wondered if the story was supposed to be something akin to telling the tale of how the world was populated by China first and then people moved west? I feel like that's been a theme explored in video games quite a bit, like in Enslaved: Odyssey to the West. Which could explain why everyone shares the same mythology without a logical connection to the separate societies otherwise. I legit thought the whale would play a bigger role in the story. Especially when you're told all these myths about it right before chapter 2 and then it's just there as a set piece lol. Also good observation, I didn't even realize that both the whale and the fridges have the number 5 on them.

[@aurekogaming6600]

As far as the gaming industry nowadays goes, I think this would be one of the few games that warrants a remake. If they went back in an just polished up the story or added some content to make it more cohesive, I think it would greatly improve the game. Then you can start talking about a sequel, imo.

[@daygon128]

I really hope they make a sequel to this game. It's the most charming game I've played since Stardew Valley and really hit my nostalgia with it's play style.

[@aurekogaming6600]

I hear you, but I would love to see this story fleshed out and improved further, before a potential sequel. I think that’s possible too, seeing as they’ve already made massive improvements to the game (which I’m not going to talk about here as I’m working on another Eastward video to discuss those.) Artistically it definitely puts you in a mood, just like Stardew Valley does, but for me, Stardew Valley is still on a different level.

[@aurekogaming6600]

@@dargonthegreat2917 totally. I don't know if you've seen it, but I have a video actually discussing Haunted Chocolatier with my friends. Kind of a dragged out podcast style video from me, but we're super excited for it too. It's a shame it's been over a year without any major update on the game, but I have a feeling that's actually a good sign and it means Eric Barone is close to releasing it.

[@bumberquest3031]

Not that this avoids the criticism, but I liked the weird bizarre area of Charon, as it reminded me a lot from Earthbound. Calling back to your inspirations isn't difficult to do and isn't something really commendable, but it still felt like it had its own identity. I liked that at the very end John was way out of his element, completely in the deep end into something that was so strange and incomprehensible but he progressed anyways to save Sam, similar to how Ness and his team were on the way to defeat Giygas.

[@aurekogaming6600]

Yeah I have to play Earthbound, it's been recommended to me so many times in response to this review lol. As for Charon, I liked the visual design, but I actually thought it was totally out of place. To me it felt like it was quickly put together as a short final level to bring together what the game was going for as quickly ass possible, but totally missed the point. If we're talking Charon in general, it's hard for me to say that John was out of his element given how little emotion you ever get from him. At the very end though, post final boss cutscene, yeah, I could see it. Thanks for bringing my attention to it though, I had no idea the design for Charon was just ripped off of Earthbound lol

[@EvilCherry3]

Wow you're a master at writing reviews man. I agree with everything you've said and i wouldn't have been able to say all of this as clearly as you did. It's concise, well structurated and honest.

[@EvilCherry3]

At 16:10 you cut something.

[@EvilCherry3]

At 26:10 the music is too loud.

[@aurekogaming6600]

Wow Arthur, I appreciate it man. Yeah there's definitely some changes I can make but I'll work on that in future reviews. As far as the audio in general, nothing pertinent was cut out, but I did have mic issues for this review and had to manually get rid of some excess background noise. Yes, I am aware of the music getting loud for the last minute or so. Sorry about that! That was just a mistake on my part I missed before uploading.

[@drawn_by_starla9462]

Ah this game made me feel super weird and I honestly feel pretty conflicted. I really loved where the story was going up until all the crazy Ester City stuff started happening. It felt super upsetting and unsatisfying how pretty much every character got destroyed in one way or another by the end. Alva dies. Isabel's relationship with John and Sam gets destroyed and she's forced to live the rest of her days heartbroken. Lee probably died of age or died from MIASMA while the other characters were fucking around in the time vortex. All those old men from Ester City die. (They were kinda gross and creepy anyway tho so I don't really care about that) Sam dies.... Literally the only character left is John. I'm fine with Greenberg getting destroyed because was a perfect punch to the gut and a reminder of the evil in the world and just what the characters are up against. But literally every other character getting ruined at the end? It makes everything just feel pointless and sad. Also the story never really explains how Sam is related to the "evil version" of her. It was super anticlimactic and kinda makes me wonder if the writers themselves even really knew. The end was super confusing.

[@aurekogaming6600]

I really appreciate you taking the time to make such a great comment on my video. It's been a while since I checked comments, so, sorry for the late reply. I absolutely agree with everything except the part about Greenberg getting destroyed. I think that would've been a good gut-punch moment if not for the fact that every character ends up emotionally ruined regardless and so it further proves your point that everything was pointless. Yeah, personally I think the idea was that Sam was essentially a defective clone of whatever the Evil Sam was supposed to be. The problem is that the only proof we have of that is the opening cutscene (that doesn't even happen in the game but rather before you even get to the main menu) so it's easy to miss and based on the other events we see in that opening, we don't even know if that's canon to the lore of the game lol. The dialogue between Sam and Evil Sam is also so vague and generic that it's hard to gleam anything from the little interaction there is between the two in the game.

[@drawn_by_starla9462]

@@aurekogaming6600The late reply is perfectly fine and it feels great to have an equally detailed response to my own comment. I've been thinking about this game a lot lately as I was emotionally invested in it and am still struggling to find meaning in this weird ass story. It genuinely causes a degree of emotional distress which I think is what brought me back to this video. Anyhoo, you don't have to reply to this comment or anything. Just checking in I guess

[@aurekogaming6600]

@@drawn_by_starla9462 I get that sentiment. It's one of those games for you, where you're so conflicted that you're just trying to find a reason to finish it, but in reality can't be bothered =/

[@billie_the_birdie]

I finished the game and as a serial game abandoner that must say something, but my experience went down after leaving New Dam City. I felt like the first half was a more solid experience

[@aurekogaming6600]

Definitely, not only was the pacing better in the first half, it was building up to something that never happened in the second half. It was a long buildup to a rushed climax.

[@gillloteen9475]

I think you've perfectly articulated how I feel about the story of this game, subscribed

[@aurekogaming6600]

I appreciate it!

[@sammariofan]

This was an excellent review! You're right that the best characters got the worst in the story but I'm pretty sure this was on purpose. I was genuinely caught off guard in several moments. Not to mention, the game presents itself as a cute and fun rpg but it's lowkey a horror story

[@aurekogaming6600]

I appreciate it! It really does venture into horror quite often lol...which I also wouldn't have minded if it was a bit more subtle. I suppose that was a conscious choice by the design team though since the shock of some of the developments in the story definitely adds to the horror.

[@brianschwartz1444]

I liked your review but I just beat the game today and for me, it was an 8 out of 10. I didn't LOVE the story and felt there were a lot of unanswered questions, but most JRPGs I play don't have the most polished stories with plenty of loopholes. For me, it was about the experience. I LOVED the NPCS and talking to everyone was a hoot. I loved how the game took place in modern times and I enjoyed the overall look of it. I felt the gameplay was uneven at times, but the entire game wasn't overly hard or easy. There were parts that felt too easy, but there were also parts that I had to repeat over and over till I finally beat it. It was a game that took me about 2 weeks to beat, but I enjoyed every time I sat down to play it.

[@aurekogaming6600]

I appreciate the feedback! It really helps get my content out to more people and hopefully get a few subscribers out of it too! Now about your comments, I think you make some good points. Personally, I think the story actually falls short for most JPRG's, but of course I'm talking about like really top notch JRPG's, not the ones on sale every week on PSN lol. Nier Automata has a pretty vague story, where although the story is pretty cohesive, the implications are left to be made by the player. I think that game perfectly did what Eastward's developers were unable to, in terms of the story. The other big thing I wanted to focus on is that I'm actually currently working on another Eastward video, because there have been a few updates since my review, that have really changed things in a major way for me. So, although I stand by this review and score for what the game was when I reviewed it, I do think now I would've given it a slightly better score.

[@macymartelli]

just finished this game and i loved it but i’m also so confused on the ending and just the story in general 😭 i need someone who helped make the game to explain pls

[@aurekogaming6600]

I think the ending was supposed to signal that the cycle was finally broken...but I didn't make the game and had trouble following the story myself as you know lol, but that's my best guess. I keep delaying my next video, which will be an update on Eastward essentially, but I've noticed that people who recently beat the game (as in, in the last month or so) have a more positive overall impression of it.

[@arturostm8960]

Sup mu dude, God bless u, I really felt too that there was an issue with the story telling and the "go and explore" moments, what I mean is, they gave you a huuuuuuuuuuuge chunk of story and then a huuuuuuuuuge chunk of exploration, and it felt a bit exhausting after a while...

[@aurekogaming6600]

Thank you! If you're talking about just the balance between lore drops and dead time where you're just walking around, then i definitely agree. I'd take it further though and say there wasn't enough true exploration in the game though. There's a huge chunk of time where you're literally just walking around pointlessly. It's not that you can go explore and actually obtain much that'll give you an advantage. It's either go play the in-game minigame or just stick to the main story, and for a game that is technically a rpg, that sucks. I definitely think the lore drops were too much, though. It had like Paper Mario 64 pacing in 2021, but the story wasn't even half as good to keep you invested through the downtime.

[@sentientrock7]

me searching "eastward deep dive" "eastward story explained" and almost NOBODY has covered this game, thank u for this, friend

[@ssaiyyrissssuzzuyyaa]

This is a very good review of the game, my biggest problems though would be no end game + and the lack of replayability. i would however consider this game worth the money and An a fun emotional rollercoaster.

[@aurekogaming6600]

It definitely could’ve used a New Game+ considering there are abilities you can totally miss in your play through. the update way back in like February, did bring chapter select though, which although it isn’t a new game+, it definitely adds a ton of replayability that should’ve been in the game from the start.

[@mobgas]

Can't believe no one made a stroy explained about this game

[@aurekogaming6600]

it’s probably going to go into my second video on this game that I’ll eventually be releasing.

[@rosikun]

Thank you for the review! Good aspects and topics. Wish you can video when try explain the story more a bit!

[@aurekogaming6600]

Thank you! I am definitely trying to incorporate that more into my videos.

[@christopherluck1588]

Really interesting that this game actually came Westward, since it was designed in the East!

[@aurekogaming6600]

You're wrong bro, it clearly went North Left...

[@froggies06]

The rocket train part reminds me of Gunbuster( also a sci-fi masterpiece) in relation of speed and time.

[@aurekogaming6600]

Cool, I’ve never played Gunblastsr, will have to look into it. I liked the sneaking portion of the train a lot, but it felt a little out of place as a level. Sort of like it was there to lighten the mood before things got really dark lol

[@froggies06]

Typo& auto correct, I meant the anime gunbuster. Basically the main cast travels extremely fast in space to destroy alien's invasion. Afterwards, the pilots return to Earth, where things have changed significantly. Due to the effects of time dilation, 10 years of relative time has passed on Earth while the pilots were in space. The characters spend 12,000 Earth years objective traveling home, although for them only hours or days have passed.

[@aurekogaming6600]

Oh lol, yeah that’s pretty spot on. Then again time travel is such a common theme in sci-fi.

[@avocado402]

I liked how you reviewed Eastward. When I first found this game I thought that it looked fun and pretty and it wasn't expensive so I got it. I didn't have any expectations when I got it and didn't look up anything about it so I could be surprised. That being said, I have mixed feelings about it. I really really liked it and I found it to be a nice charming game but at the same time, I really like lore and was excited to see how things would turn out with Sam and evil Sam. I wish the game tied up the loose ends it had and I agree with what you mentioned about the story being all over the place. I really tried to follow it and was interested in learning more but the ending was not satisfying. I really hope the developers make something to make up for all of the missing facts and things like that. I also was confused with most of the side characters. Like Jasper, why did he need to be there? I feel like he didn't really add much. William and Daniel were so frustrating. William throughout this whole game was a jerk and I didn't like him at all. I didn't like Isabel for most of the game because she almost hurt Sam, so that made it really frustrating when Sam spent most of the game searching for her and Alva. And yet they're dead??? That was so unsatisfying, the player spends so much time on finding Alva and Isabel and their dead. When I first found out about the whole time thing I assumed they'd be dead but it's still frustrating. There's so many more questions that I have about the game that I wish were answered. You should make a video going over the known lore of the game 😁

[@aurekogaming6600]

Wow! Thank you so much for taking the time to write such a detailed comment on my video! I really appreciate the feedback. I’m glad you felt the same way about the side characters and I think your earlier point about loving to dive into the lore of the games you play is a big reason for that. Even the quirkier characters would have been more memorable if they served some purpose or at least made a lasting impact on Sam or John or you as the player, whereas all we really got was some wacky social rejects that were just there for the sake of prolonging the story. Perhaps the idea was that the player would resonate with the side characters only for the developers to drive the point home that in the end, only the the most important relationships last in life and are not forgotten. I think that would be giving them too much credit though lol. I’ve seen a few comments suggesting I should do I follow up video. My channel is about gaming in general and I do a variety of content ranging from parody, to comedy, to review, and even just something adjacent to Let’s Plays. I also don’t profit on making these videos so I can’t upload as much as I’d like to. What I’m trying to say is that I am actually working on a follow up video currently, and will probably do 2 or 3 follow videos on Eastward, but I don’t have a set day yet on when they will be out. It’s definitely coming though, I’ve seen the reactions to my most popular video, and I’ll probably post a comment on this video to update everyone waiting for the follow up.

[@avocado402]

@@aurekogaming6600 thanks for responding! I'm looking forward to when you'll be able to make some more Eastward videos.

[@fabiosarrica379]

Harsh but fair review, I appreciate it. I finished the game like half an hour ago and I personally really loved it. I was in love with the characters and I enjoyed the gameplay loop, it felt like a take on old school Zelda. I don't know how much of the story threads left unanswered are a deliberate choice versus budget and time constraints (given the difficulties faced in development), but I really enjoyed how the story evolved regardless. It's weird that your channel hasn't seen at least a little bit more attention considering the effort you put into these videos. Good review, cheers!

[@aurekogaming6600]

Ahh yes, I keep planning on doing an update video on Eastward. There were some changes made with updates to the game so I am assuming it was a slightly more complete product that you experienced. I appreciate the kind words. You never know with the KZbin algorithm. I have no idea why this video has outperformed all the others on my channel by such a massive margin, but I'll keep doing what I can and hopefully reach others who appreciate the effort, like, and subscribe.

[@fabiosarrica379]

@@aurekogaming6600 I'd be curious to know exactly what parts the updates touched on, can't seem to find anything on that matter.

[@aurekogaming6600]

@@fabiosarrica379 I know I've been promising it forever, but I will eventually get around to making that video.

[@fabiosarrica379]

@@aurekogaming6600 The fact you remembered about this comment all these months later and commented is awesome already! I'll be around to watch the video when it comes out!

[@silentapple5923]

Honestly I genuinely am pissed how good this game could’ve been. I enjoyed a lot about this game and in many ways just enjoyed the ride and yet I could never fully understand what was going on in the story. This game was really on to something….it just had no idea what that something was…

[@aurekogaming6600]

Sorry, I haven't been keeping up with comments lately, and thus the late reply. I'm not going to add anything else to this because you, just like many other people who've played this game, took the time to watch my review and comment on it, have shared that same sentiment and unfortunately, it's 100% accurate.

[@joakkar]

Another plothole I noticed is what Isabel is actually doing once inside of Charon. All the foreshadowing scenes of her before entering the tower constantly have her state the equivalent of "I will end this once and for all" but then when you find her, she's just trying to keep Alva alive. She's not trying to destroy the tower or kill Solomon or mother or anything so nothing is really being brought to an end. The foreshadowing is straight up lying to you even though it comes out of her own mouth. And though I've heard that you're supposed to learn more about the story by talking to NPCs, realistically speaking the only characters who know what's happening in the world are Sam and Mother but neither of them really elaborates on anything. Also it's very likely that all 3 versions of Solomon are different people since there's way too many inconsistencies otherwise.

[@aurekogaming6600]

Yeah there's a ton of plot holes I didn't discuss in the video. That particular one is even worse when you consider that it seemed like Isabel knew what she was doing, the minute she left New Dam. So how then did she only have a change of heart at the very last second once you confront her on Charon? That hole plotline made no sense after New Dam, honestly. For one thing, if Isabel already received the flame from old Solomon, how were Sam and John able to find it in Solomon's crypt , and how was Isabel able to even board Charon before it arrived, when she had already lost Alva's rocketship lol? Then you consider that this is happening in 2 separate timelines (Alva/Isabel's v Sam/John's) yet they simply end up in the same timeline once on Charon. I'm sure the side characters help with the story a bit, but if you need to talk to everyone in the game, just to make the story coherent, then that's a pretty huge design flaw lol.

[@EvilCherry3]

@@aurekogaming6600 Indeed. One of her first lines is that she runs everywhere to save people from the miasma and one of her last lines is that she wants Charon to kill everyone with the miasma.

[@followthewhiterabbit884]

@@aurekogaming6600 I spoke with all NPCs. Really. But I didn't understand all. I thought the Solomons were three different people in different stages of their lifes, BUT the same clone. You know what I mean? And I thought, that's the reason, why he knows about mother and the houses with all the human clones. Because all Solomons seemed suprised to see "mother". My head spins. This is so complicated.

[@aurekogaming6600]

I actually didn't consider that at all, good observation. The only issue I could see with that, is that it wouldn't explain why Solomon is the only who remembers humanity being rebirth. As in, ok, let's say he is a clone of the original Solomon, and keeps being reused every time a village is killed off and then rebirthed...that would explain why he's almost the same in each instance you meet him, but it wouldn't explain why then he gets to keep the memories of this, like, hive mind Solomon being, but nobody else keeps theirs. It also wouldn't really explain what's special about him, that he keeps being cloned in every area yet the other people are unique. Unless, the reason he's so angry, is because every time he's cloned, the process is interrupted and that's why he's the only one that makes it out of the factory? I don't think that's implied anywhere though, and would bring more loose strands into the story if it were true lol

[@followthewhiterabbit884]

@@aurekogaming6600 I thought about it for a while, but you are right. I thought, Solomon is mothers minion. A tool for her will. BUT Evil Sam said, that Sam woke up before her time, because she was found underground. That means, Solomon isn't a "chosen" minion, nobody knew about her awakening. Uff, it's a real mess and I notice, that many things I was sure about, are just my Interpretation because of story and dialogue, but not facts. P.S.: I hope you understand what I mean. English isn't my first language. Work in progress.

[@vraolet]

I really liked the video even if I disagree with a lot of your points While I agree on principle that the game is poorly rythmed and the mini-games in it could have been exploited a little more, this broken pacing felt really refreshing to me, breaking out of the standard rythm of a game made it feel like an adventure because I just never knew what was going to happen. The same goes for the fact that you can't return to certain areas, they feel more precious because you can't return to them and it's what motivated me to explore and talk to people because I didn't know if they where going to die in a few chapter. On the characters, I feel like the game showed John caring about Sam since the beginning of the game, like the fact that he gave her his bed and sleeps in the chair next to it in Potcrook Isle, or when he carries her on his shoulders when she is tired, he always tries to protect her no matter the foe and that speaks a lot about his character. Sam to me seemed like an actual child as opposed to the "child that somehow understand moral ambiguity and thinks like an adult" we often see in media, she doesn't understand boundaries or the subtlety of what happens around her but still picks up on what's essential, I understand why you would consider her to be bratty but I tought she was really well-written. I considered William to be an happy go lucky asshole for most of the game but I think he built the robot Daniel out of loss because he wasn't brave enough to go back since he knew he would not be welcomed back, he also shows genuine love for the Robot-Daniel, he spends all of his time trying to reach ester city to lift his curse and reunites with the real Daniel in the end credit scene. He really seem like a good person that wasn't brave enough to correct his mistakes and that redeemed him in my eyes. I think Lee explains that he doesn't go after Alva and Isabel because the City needs him after the MIASMA Crisis and it seems like a valid explanation to me About Solomon, I think they are 3 clones at different ages, the main things that lead me to this conclusion is the existence of the cloning factories and the fact that Solomon never remembers John and Sam at each encounter, also the young Solomon directly compares himself to his older self saying that he is better than him because he did what his older self couldn't do. It really sounds like clones more than 3 times the same person to me. On the subject of the MIASMA I couldn't find in the game where it was mentionned as being natural, but I think that speed is keeping it out of the time bubble as it is slower than John's running speed and that's not enough to enter Ester City. The comment about John being able to use the Iron Carbine when Robot-Daniel was presented as the pilot just sounds like a misanderstanding, Daniel show that he understands the limits of the machine and how to efficiently use the fuel to travel long distances, John on the other hand just push the thing to max speed with no regard to risk which doesn't require any expertise to do, he saw Daniel do that before, It's like saying that a child can't floor the accelerator in a car because they don't know how to use the blinkers. I hope I didn't sound to negative as my goal is only to provide my own perspective on it and I thank you for reading this already way too long comment. I would have given a way better note myself but I am also very biased so I don't think I'm fit for the job

[@aurekogaming6600]

Very in-depth reply. I appreciate it. I do disagree with you though, but it's mostly matter of opinion I guess. The thing with the miasma sort of makes sense but then you have to completely disregard other laws of physics that seem to be present in the game. Like the idea that the miasma is too slow to catch up to Ester City in time, suggests that somehow Ester City is accelerating away from a fixed point in time and space, whereas that can't be true either as it definitely has a fixed space that's established in relation to other locations, once the time bubble bursts. The iron carbine thing makes sense to me the way that I described it, because if you remember, the player had to get an upgrade for Robo Daniel in order to make him strong enough to operate the Carbine in the first place. It's pretty well established by that point that Robo-Daniel is significantly stronger than any other character in the game, physically, even John, so it's not as simple as just trying to mimic Robo Daniel's actions in getting the Carbine in motion, if John physically shouldn't be able to. As far as everything else, I think it's all opinion, especially with how you reacted to the character development and characters' action differently than me.

[@sammariofan]

One thing I'd like to add we get three versions of Solomon and we also get three of John, there's him, Uva's dog John, and the merchant John at the very end before the final fight. Man this game could have been more amazing

[@aurekogaming6600]

For some reason I never got a notification about this comment. Very interesting, I missed that in my original playthrough.

[@Demonskunk]

I think you might have missed or misinterpreted some of the details, plot points, and character moments in this game. I just replayed it recently. William didn't leave his son behind, he was banished. Jasper was in prison because he was a dissident that vocally disagreed with the mayor. John isn't the best father but he's constantly trying his best, and you can see expressions of emotion in the fact that he always gives Sam the bed, carries her when she's sleepy, and cooks for her. Sam isn't oblivious to the harm she's causing, Mother suppresses her memory of it after it happens the first time. Solomon and Mother don't exist just to be evil, they're trying to create a post-human race through repeatedly breeding humans and wiping the land clean with the miasma. Mother is an immortal artificial human that can't relate to humans because their lives are like the blink of an eye to her. I'm fairly certain Solomon's 3 forms are cloning, not time bubble consequences. Lee not going after Alva doesn't show him as a scumbag, he's staying and focusing on making sure the city and the people are safe. Chasing Alva and leaving the city to rot would have been irresponsible. The story could definitely be told better, though. I do wonder if it's lost in translation.

[@Sofeh]

"I thought maybe I'm not intelligent enough to understand the story." Okay I had this exact same thought, which is why I came to watch this video. I agree though, it isn't clear at all what the message of this story is or even what's really going on here, big picture. Overall, excellent video. You really voiced some of the big issues I had with the story, and with John and Sam as the protagonists. The only thing I disagree about is that Isabel was one of the best characters in the story - they could've told us more about her but I still think she and Alva's characterization is much better than anyone else in the game.

[@aurekogaming6600]

Sorry for the late reply. As I've said in so many comments before, I really need to do a follow up video for Eastward lol. First off, I appreciate the feedback. I don't remember exactly what I said about Isabel, but I definitely think that she's one of the best characters, partly because of the mystery surrounding her. I would have loved for the narrative to actually explain away some of her past, but if they were going to treat her character the same way they did Sam's, I'm actually glad we never got to know more about her. I absolutely agree that they were much better fleshed out than any of the other characters.

[@londonunderground790]

This is amazing because I was I had no idea what I was happening in the story because nothing made sense. But you absolutely identified why that is.

[@aurekogaming6600]

Glad I could help! I was actually thinking of maybe making a separate video covering all the plot holes and issues with the story, seeing as this is my most popular video, but we'll see. For now, you can ask here if you have any more questions, and I'm sure if I can't answer them someone else can.

[@studio-cultist9622]

The only real issue I ever had with eastward was it’s story pacing, specifically with chapter 3 which took wayyyyy to much time for my liking

[@aurekogaming6600]

Pacing was definitely an issue. I thought the story felt very rushed together at the end.

[@studio-cultist9622]

@@aurekogaming6600 it doesn’t help that we still don’t know much about the two villains Solomon and mother or even the world of eastward as a whole

[@aurekogaming6600]

@@studio-cultist9622 I can't even count how many times I've replied to that exact point on this video already. All the other problems with this game seem minute compared to the fact that there's not enough information about the world and characters to satisfy the player. Again, it's probably because it was rushed.

[@zixaa]

youre the only one ive seen so far actually criticising the game further than just "its so pretty" ! its refreshing!

[@aurekogaming6600]

Thank you, I appreciate it!

[@presquelt]

Reminds me of Moonlighter in that way. People just don't seem to look at pretty pixel games critacally.

[@zixaa]

@@presquelt agreed! Didn’t even finish moonlighter

[@goldlionmax]

Cooking is so important to make up for john's slow moving and for sam's energy recharges as they give abilities. The pan carried me sooo well, i keep seeong guides say to use guns, i say save up ammo for only really annoying close range munchers, i beat solomon mostly by pan. I say this game is soooo amazing!

[@goldlionmax]

My only main grief is no new game plus after or like a option to warp you before the end after beating the game in case you wanna do earthborn too.

[@aurekogaming6600]

Bro you're spot on with both of these comments. I did the same with the pan. I actually thought it's kind of pointless for the final pan upgrade to come before the final boss as well lol, but overall I'm with you. Save the cooler weapons for the bosses. The no new game plus, was a big issue for me. Even if a game is great, I hate when it ends things like that, like Zelda or the first and latest Paper Mario games. It's annoying when you can't revisit the world after the story concludes, and that's not even asking for something new.

[@goldlionmax]

@@aurekogaming6600 thanks! Yeah i wanted to revisit the starting area with everything i had so i could focus more on who grew into who since i didn't fully pay attention to the kids or anyone really in Potcrock. Your super right on the fact there is too many side characters who never get a ending or proper importance... Especially solomon lol, I said out loud " fuck that guy" when i beat him the third time cuz i felt nothing since he never fully explained things he knew 🤣

[@aurekogaming6600]

Lol I felt the same way, especially about Solomon. Like if this was a movie, Solomon would be great, cause he's meant to be hated and I hated him, but in a game I don't think it works because he's not fleshed out at all. Also you can totally have villains that you hate, but still show growth throughout the story, and I don't think he did at all lol. Thanks for taking the time to actually watch my review and comment on it by the way, I really appreciate it.

[@acidfruitloops]

Fully upgraded buzzsaw gun is by far the best weapon in the game. This game crashed on me at least 10 times. Always leaving/entering a new screen. Luckily the autosave saved me from any real backtracking

[@sammariofan]

Also i tried replaying the game and I can't tolerate Sam's ignorance after causing the destructions of the towns and the deaths of Daniel, Alva, and Uva(the best characters in the game that actually have substance to them). Her optimism and cheery theme come off as rather senseless. It sucks too cause it could have been an great story

[@aurekogaming6600]

As you know from my video, I totally agree with you. It could have totally been done in a manner where the player clearly understands that Sam is just a child, without showing such absolute reckless abandon for the destruction she causes.

[@cgrooney9945]

I was so disappointed in this game, The graphics and music is great but there is just way to much dialogue and not enough fun gameplay. Im on. Chapter 3 but I actually don't know if I can keep pushing on... Even if i finish it I have no desire to play through this again

[@aurekogaming6600]

Yeah I hear you. It seems like most people either loved it or hated it. I thought it had its moments but I lean towards agreeing with you. I wouldn't have minded the dialogue, if it felt rewarding, which to me it did not. One of my favorite games of all time is Super Paper Mario and that game is incredibly dialogue heavy. The dialogue in SPM doesn't feel like a chore to just read through though, even on multiple playthroughs. On a positive note though, they did make some changes to the game with the latest update, and it seems like they added a few story details to make the overall narrative more coherent.

[@Luckysquirrel1256]

Everywhere online, people are comparing this game to a dozen others, so I will spare that comparison, but it definitely looks really interesting and the art style is beautiful. 20+ hours isn't bad at all, but It is a shame there weren't many secrets or alternate choices to discover for a potential 2nd playthrough. I don't think all games need to be infinitely re-playable, which has been the standard lately. Sometimes it is just nice to just experience a game, appreciate the time you have with it, and then move on, especially when the game's story leaves a lasting impact like you stated. Not familiar with Pixpil, but the publisher Chucklefish is responsible for some really great indie games the past few years: Risk of Rain, Stardew Valley, and Wargroove, just to name a few. This seems to be Pixpil's first game, so hopefully it is successful enough to receive a sequel or at least another game from this talented studio.

[@aurekogaming6600]

Great points. I agree with most of that, but I think for me replayability is in between just having a reason to pick it up for at least a second play through to begin with, and being able to replay it forever. Also, it's not so much an alternate choice for a potential second playthrough, but I did discover after already making this review, that I had missed 2 of Sam's abilities. So it would seem that it's possible to beat this game without unlocking all skills, though I can't say how much it effects gameplay, if at all.

[@orlandoorona1267]

Thanks Aureko Gaming really loved that in depth breakdown, reminds me of another game I really enjoyed Graveyard Keeper so I think Ill give this one a try even if it may not be everyone's cup of tea

[@Luckysquirrel1256]

Honestly need to check out Graveyard Keeper, especially since it is similar in gameplay to Stardew Valley.

[@aurekogaming6600]

I'll have to check Graveyard Keeper out sometime. Right now I'm working on my reviews for Alan Wake Remastered and Far Cry 6, while checking out New World with my gaming buddies.

[@marinated_in_cured]

Just finished the game, kinda confused bout the story but I loved it even tho it had errors

[@aurekogaming6600]

Well thanks for checking out my review, hope I got a new subscriber =). My rating system treats a 5/10 as an actual average. So if I give a game a 5 it's actually just average, not necessarily trash. It was an alright game for sure, but had a ton of disappointing things about it.

[@marinated_in_cured]

@@aurekogaming6600 I am very new to gaming (picked up the Switch after not gaming for 10 years) and I really enjoyed it. I found it relaxing, minus the last boss battle haha

[@aurekogaming6600]

Well we both agree there lol! That last boss fight was kind of epic in the setup but also such a let down in how easy it was, right? Well you definitely chose the most accessible platform to start back up on. If you need any recommendations, check out some of my other reviews, and I'd love for you to subscribe and follow my channel. I actually have a review coming out next saturday and the week after that for 2 pretty cool indie games that are coming out for the Switch. You might be interested.

[@marinated_in_cured]

@@aurekogaming6600 will do!! appreciate the response

[@bakedbeananimation]

Why didn’t sam remember anything? How did she cause his all to happen? What is her and John’s relationship? What is her relationship to the red version of her? Who tf is Solomon and why does he care? Was alva’s dream really to become “Mother”? What is mother? I’m so confused.

[@aurekogaming6600]

Lol I haven't gotten that far yet in my theory, so I can't answer all of that, but I agree, on the first play through you're left with way more questions than answers. The relationship between John and Sam should have been better defined, or there should have been like a preface DLC that shows how exactly he found her and got her out of that capsule, as opposed to just showing it in the cutscene that some players can miss because it only plays if you don't start the game quickly enough from the main menu.

[@biskcuit]

If you play the game on pc KB+Mouse, the game is a living hell. WASD to control the character and mouse's sensor to adjust the direction of the attack. It sounds easy and cool but you swing 10 attacks and will miss 7 of it because the mouse sensor not only controls the direction but also has a center point.

[@aurekogaming6600]

As you know from my review, I thought the Switch controls were fine, but also occasionally felt buggy. I can totally see what you mean coming from PC. I'm assuming you're trying to say that the mouse is centered on John so when you're aiming it's in relation to that center point and not truly a free aim mechanism? Regardless, I get where you're coming from because I had similar issues occur on Switch, when they shouldn't have. I'm not sure if it's a problem with the controls or glitchiness when it comes to the game itself.

[@aren7138]

Agreed. Had to get a gamepad and I enjoyed the game better with a controller.

[@lukebeakum1316]

Why is Sam called Mother? Does the game explain the origins of Sam?

[@aurekogaming6600]

There isn't a very good explanation for this. You're led to believe it's because the current world the game is set in, has come about because of Sam's evil self and she sets these events in motion every so often, to kill off humanity and rebirth it. They were almost going for a GAIA from Horizon Zero Dawn story without actually explaining or elaborating on any motives or reasons as to why Sam does what she does =/

[@Elpattn]

Dude i played this game was so good

[@aurekogaming6600]

I'm glad you liked it. It's far from being a terrible game, but for me it definitely could've done a lot of things better.

[@Swimdude11]

This game was amazing but has it flaws.

[@aurekogaming6600]

It's definitely better now, following the updates, but could still use some fine-tuning.

[@Xanthopathy]

I really hope they expand on the nonsensical lore

[@aurekogaming6600]

As I've mentioned before, I haven't been keeping track of comments lately, so sorry about the late reply. I would love to see that happen. I don't know if they are planning any DLC or an update like they released a few months after the game, but I would gladly revisit this universe for another narrative that's better put together or even if they made a sequel, or just added like a side story or something to tie up at least some of the loose ends from the main game.

[@elnaoya9274]

You've put all of my thoughts after beating the game into words. Though I'd give a higher score, such as 6.8/10, but I digress. This game could have been so much more, they had it all, but it ended being an experience with a lot of mixed feelings in it, and that's not how I wanna feel at the end of a journey that was supposed to feel fulfilling. Which saddens me because I've been waiting for this game ever since its announcement back in 2018, and bought the game with glee, but it turns out to be a really mid/ average experience, and Eastward should have been a fantastic game. Oh well... At least it wasn't majorly disappointing.

[@aurekogaming6600]

Thanks for taking the time to watch my review! My scores usually tend to be pretty low but it's because I actually treat a 5 as an average. I think most people share your sentiments, and it's a real shame for everyone that was getting hyped for years.

[@elnaoya9274]

@@aurekogaming6600 I see! It's a fair score indeed. I think it's kind of on me though, cuz after all these years of reading game reviews and seeing scores being labeled as "low" or "bad" as soon it's got something lower than a 6 and all. I wanted to love Eastward, but unfortunately, the devs didn't let me do so.

[@henrikrydstrom1280]

Thanks for an honest review, exactly what I was looking for. I was getting so bored with the game and you summed it all up for me. Currently about to jump on the train from new dam city, not sure if I want to continue...

[@aurekogaming6600]

I'm glad you enjoyed it. Nobody pays me to do these reviews, and even if they did, I'd like to think my loyalty is to the few gamers watching and wanting to hear the honest opinion of a fellow gamer. I'd say if you have the time to just finish it, since you already spent your money on it, but that story isn't getting any better =/

[@louis9545]

Awesome Review, really felt your opinion in many parts. While playing myself i often felt like, am i to critical is it this part really that bad or am i just bad at it to enjoy it? But overall a nice experience i would say. Good video 👍🏼

[@aurekogaming6600]

Thank you! I appreciate the feedback. I think as long as you're constructive about it, it's difficult to be overly critical or consider yourself a hater.

[@hojugames8340]

Story and presentation are fantastic. Aesthetics, visual and audio, top notch. Soundtrack is my favorite element of the whole, with the title wcreen "Tale" being my favorite. One of my favorite title screens of any game ever. Finally beat it today after owning it since day one on Switch and experienced seven or eight crashes even after patches. Don't think the game likes you exiting to the home screen during play. Most times it crashed during screen transitions. While dialogue was good, it did drag on at points. Overall, I still thoroughly enjoyed the game. Has flaws but it's so damn charming.

[@leorodriguez1986]

What faults did you find? Is the performance good in terms of fps?

[@hojugames8340]

@@leorodriguez1986 I'm not sure exactly what the FPS sat at it but it was mostly smooth, some stutters in combat or if the screen was busy (a lot of entities, particles, etc). Never anything that effected gameplay too harshly. I'd guess it's 30 FPS but at times it looked smoother/higher but genuinely don't know. Faults were mostly due to long and frequent dialogues/cut scenes versus actual time spent controlling John or Sam. That said it was still charming and I didn't dislike it's story or writing. Just the balance favored story over action. And the game crashes were annoying. Happens to me every time I fight the first boss (started the game many times before committing and beating it due to crashes), and just randomly when switching rooms during any screen transition.

[@movealongnowDT]

I stumbled on this review. I played about 10 hours of this and my game had crashed 15 times on the switch. I had to return it. There was some good in this game but it was almost unplayable for me at least.

[@aurekogaming6600]

How long ago was this? I’m actually replaying it now for future videos, on the Steam Deck. Despite its issues, I haven’t run into any technical problems yet.

[@movealongnowDT]

@@aurekogaming6600 about a month ago on the switch.

[@aurekogaming6600]

Sorry for the super late response, but yeah seems like most people are having issues with the Switch version. It runs much better on PC/Steamdeck.

[@hendrapurbaya6778]

to me Eastward is the pixel art version of The Last of US, such beautiful game, great story and really exciting gameplay.

[@merceusg.46]

fanastic review c:

[@aurekogaming6600]

Ayyyyy I appreciate it! =)

[@spewberg]

I had to take a cool down too in order to finish the game! =D I agree with almost everthing you say (besides some of gameplay problems that wasn't a big deal at all for me). Gameplay wise I just didn't liked the linearity and the fact thas has importants itens that is missable. Plot wise, the game starts to get weird for me at Lee's cooking quest (I found it very silly) and from here things gets way worse (at the point where I was afraid to talk with someone and get start a very long and boring dialogue). Usually I like when writers let things open to personal interpretation, but with so many holes, eastward does that in a bad way, at the end I wasn't curious about what was happening, I was just frustrated.

[@spewberg]

I see this happening a lot in indie games (plot that falls downs as you progress the game), one example is the metroidvania called "Haak"). Maybe is a budget problem.

[@aurekogaming6600]

I agree with you on the issues with linearity. I think the fact that the game is so linear, destroys the point of the massive amount of exposition. There isn’t really any reason to talk to most characters, as it just doesn’t matter in the game, and doesn’t offer you anything either, even from a lord perspective. Part of it is definitely a budget issue since they wanted to finally release the game after failing to meet deadlines, but in the greater scheme of things, that’s on the developers. They knew what they were working with and what constraints the project had and instead of making the most of that, they chose to to haphazardly throw in ideas that weren’t polished, to make the game seem bigger and more sophisticated than it actually is.

[@gyanprakash7445]

Can’t expect much from those chinese developers

[@aurekogaming6600]

I don't know about that, it's not like they don't have the technology or funding in Honk Kong to make something great. I think this was just poorly executed for whatever reason, whether it's just bad time management or mismanagement of the funds they had. That being said, it's not a horrible game, it just doesn't come together well.

[@bakedbeananimation]

@@aurekogaming6600 could it be a translation issue?

[@aurekogaming6600]

That's a great point. I have limited familiarity with Sinitic languages, but from what I know of Mandarin, each character can represent different syllabic clusters and words. So it's possible to mistranslate something, but I would say it's unlikely given that there's literally no grammatical mistakes in the English text in the game. Basically, if it was a translation issue, I think we'd see instances of sentences not making any sense because of 1 word, or mentions of names/places/characters that don't exist or only come up once in dialogue.

[@Taruby]

@@aurekogaming6600 The English translation reads like one that has been over-localised to give each character a distinct personality. Often with localisations like this, a lot of information is lost due to the proof-editor going over the translation and misunderstanding stuff to create their distinct writing and personalities. Inconsistencies like you mention are a product of a translation mistake; for an over-localised translation, the writer has their own head-canon what everything means, so they're consistent with their head-canon rather than the source material. Any inconsistencies would be the product of the localiser having a poor grasp of their head-canon, but at the end of the day, they're not accurately presenting the original dialogue with whatever subtle nuances that may be derived from it if they simply hired an accurate translator to do the job rather than a localisation fan-fiction writer.

[@andr1984]

6.5/10 rating for me, i was pretty lost with how the story goes and didn't feel too much invested in the characters but other then that i love the graphics,puzzles,music and to bash enemies with the frying pan :). PS the Machine Morning Glory was a bit funny lol and weird. Good review Aureko.

[@aurekogaming6600]

I agree, the graphics and music are highlight of this game that gets a little ruined and overshadowed by its shortcomings.

[@Bluetangg]

Seems like a really great review. I already have the game but sounds like it’s really not for me. I will play it, maybe, and see if I can overcome the downer of the story. Real life is painful and screwed up enough. Not sure I want to continue that for fun.

[@aurekogaming6600]

That’s a great point. If I were to express it concisely, I would say the ending is bittersweet and optimistic, but the payoff is not worth the journey.

[@seanelmlinger1198]

Ah well at least it feels glike agood for me, I miiiiiight play when the i can afgord it comes, but may right now watch a plYTHOGH AT LEAST. good videi oan.

[@aurekogaming6600]

Thanks for commenting. Definitely play it if you get a chance to get the game on sale.

[@seanelmlinger1198]

12:24 Uh yeah sorry, dude, but dieuto thses logn times beign over yet I csn't go running to towards my life and strat omaing money, so I can't buy i- Well you th soem thigns are kind of so I'll just just followalong from this point on.

[@aurekogaming6600]

Sounds good!

[@JxhnNichxlls]

This is a review where your expectations took way too much priority I think. There are some points I do agree with but a lot of this is pretty winded and repetitive.

[@aurekogaming6600]

Thanks for commenting. We're all entitled to our opinions, but I think you're also assuming a lot based on your comment. My only expectations were for video games in general. I didn't have any expectations going in, specifically about this game, because I wasn't one of the people waiting 4 years to be disappointed by it. It's fair to say that objectively, this game is exceptionally pleasing visually, and mediocre in most of the other aspects and my review reflects that. Just because I gave a 5.4 or 5.3 doesn't mean it's garbage, it's just a mediocre game to me, but if you enjoyed it, then I'm glad. The long, detailed review, is kind of my thing, doesn't have to be for everyone.

[@JxhnNichxlls]

@@aurekogaming6600 I stand by what I said, your review is winded and could’ve been dumbed down to substantially less in runtime. Some of the points gauged seemed like something you’d expect from larger titles and just seemed like an imaginary bar standard for a game like Eastward. Not everything needs a bunch of bells and whistles.

[@aurekogaming6600]

Well I appreciate you taking the time to critique a 30 minute review of a game you've already played, and double down on it to help the algorithm promote my video.

[@GoandLove]

I LOVED this review! Such similar thoughts. This was definitely my biggest disappointing games of the year, if not of all time 😢 I forced myself to finish it

[@brya9681]

Spoiler warnings please, or at least don't show the late game on screen

[@aurekogaming6600]

Yeah, I show late game footage on screen, because as a gamer, I like getting a glimpse of a majority of the environments before I play a game, now secret levels...that's a different story. Most trailers and reviews don't show anything other than early game footage and that makes no sense, because if you're watching a trailer to see if you want to play the game, you're already letting it spoil the locations for you. Good advice on the spoiler warning though.

[@crazytoontown3291]

The only thing I want to give the game a 10 out of 10 is the backgrounds , Music and the characters even the good ones and the bad ones but in the end I’m pretty disappointed and sad The game play and storytelling is very weak sauce and fast paced in my opinion . it’s very sad to see a game with unique backgrounds and characters go to waste. But it’s really hard to blame developers because I heard that they have trouble developing the game when Covid hit and they had to start over from scratch from the mall shut down from powered and they had to start over, even if that never happened I wonder if the game is still the same result but I hope in the future they can remake Eastwood One day and make a little bit longer and the story makes sense😅. I am three chapters away to finish the game but I don’t know if I wanna finish it 🤷‍♀️.

[@aurekogaming6600]

That's a great observation. I don't think I really talked about the background at all, outside of the graphics and visual style. It definitely makes you wish those areas weren't beyond the playable area. As for your other points, I feel like a lot of people have echoed that sentiment that they would want to see a remaster of this. I actually have to agree with that too, not so much a remaster as a deluxe edition with a ton of added content to fill in what was missing. This game really did have a ton of potential and over a year after it came out, seems to have developed an almost cult following.

[@crazytoontown3291]

@@aurekogaming6600 i know and that way i got the game because it look so promising, but not only that but i waiting a year so i can see eveyones opinions befor jumep into the game but it was all positive views .

[@sillysayer]

Are you brazilian?

[@aurekogaming6600]

haha nope, but you're welcome to keep guessing ;)

[@DaGoofsMeister]

Lit

[@KaNawogirusa]

I didn't understand who the fuck was alba

[@aurekogaming6600]

lol you're not the only one! On a serious note, I guess she was the granddaughter of the founder of New Dam, which seems like the only reason she's in the position that she is in. Other than that, I don't know if they were trying to like imply that because her grandfather found Isabel and made her protect Alva, that maybe Alva isn't actually human either, but rather a creation of her "grandfather"? Idk, I feel like I'm really reaching on this one, but there's just so little concrete backstory to go on, that who knows lol.

[@KaNawogirusa]

@@aurekogaming6600 hi thanks for answering!

[@aurekogaming6600]

You got it!

[@bakedbeananimation]

@@aurekogaming6600 wait yeah, is Isabel immortal then?

[@andersc6593]

Spot on. Realllly wanted to like this game but the devs are idiots when it comes to storytelling. What a beautiful mess.

[@aurekogaming6600]

Thanks, I appreciate you taking the time to check out my review.

[@andersc6593]

@@aurekogaming6600 of course, I appreciate the amount of effort you put into it! Nice job

[@dominosnostradamus2415]

Eastward is 10/10 unless your a 2 year old child

[@tragictraveller]

i definitely felt uncomfortable with the degenerate hollywood monkey people part of the story. felt ehhh felt like it had an unfortunate racial element. it's a beautiful game tho and the soundtrack is incredible! the cooking song especially is a real banger

[@aurekogaming6600]

Sorry for the late reply. I didn't think there was a racial bias to that part of the game, but I agree on it feeling super unsettling. The soundtrack is definitely amazing, and I think I appreciate it even more now that I started a second playthrough for a follow up video I've been planning for a while now.

[@muffinsyndrome8141]

No offense hear, I think your PC is bad because I beat it with no crashes. Still, no offense

[@aurekogaming6600]

I didn’t review this on Pc lol. It has issues on Switch which makes no sense since it was designed for it. Playing it now on a Steamdeck though it runs much smoother so I’m not sure how they managed to get it right for that but not the platform it was designed for originally.

[@bakedbeananimation]

@@aurekogaming6600 I had like 70 crashes playing through it on switch. I’m genuinely heartbroken this game could’ve been so good

[@aurekogaming6600]

Yeah it seems like that's most people. It does run pretty well on Steamdeck though, so even a mid-spec pc should have no problem running it.