Games

Krystopia: Nova’s Journey – An Alien Puzzle Adventure

August 3, 2020

Hey there Creepyface, have you come here for puzzle games and a good time? Well Krystopia: Nova’s Journey is set to give you a nice bite-sized adventure you can finish off in an afternoon. I’ve been on a bit of a point-and-click game binge and it’s a genre I find myself coming back to time and time again. When done well it’s immersive, relaxing and I’ve found some of the best little stories in these games.

Krystopia: Nova’s Journey is a sequel to Antler Interactive’s other game Krystopia: A Puzzle Journey. Based in a similar world with an all new art style, Nova’s Journey is bigger, better and more mysterious than it’s predecessor. The game is out now on PC – Steam, Google Play and The App Store.

The Story

You play the story as Nora Dune who’s a scavenger… maybe? All you have is your doll, Creepyface and no memories. The whole game is essentially based around a few mysteries that you uncover over the course of the game. The first being of course who you are and what happened to your memories. And the others well, I don’t want to spoil the game too much here but there are decisions to be made and twists to be had.

Krystopia, the planet she’s found herself stranded on, is full of glowing plants and odd lifeforms, as well as the technological remnants of a missing civilization. Like most puzzle adventure games, there’s a crew of characters for you to meet. In Krystopia: Nova’s Journey the aliens you meet are not so much charming as functional. But they play an important part in world-building of the planet you’re on and its history. The main story, however, is told to you from Nova’s own thoughts and general ramblings to herself.

Gameplay Mechanics

If you’ve played other point and click puzzle games such as The Witness or Myst you’ll fit right at home in Krystopia: Nova’s Journey. I’ll give props to the developer they do try and make the game elements fresh and exciting. Often introducing new and slightly complicated puzzle mechanics. But it’s all built into the world organically. Crystals collect energy and are moved around the room. A little bug will grow walkways and doors will open with laser or light refraction. All while you pick up a variety of odd but essential items. These can be mixed together to create new tools.

The movement of the puzzles fits right into the game’s dreamy alien world. And eventually, you’ll Skrii, a dinosaur buddy who you can control to help solve puzzles with you. Skrii can fit into smaller gaps that Nova can’t and it’s a cute little addition to the puzzle mechanic. Not going to lie though some of the puzzles are a little frustrating when the game doesn’t make the end goal of a particular puzzle clear.

Setting

Krystopia: Nova’s Journey succeeds its predecessor in the graphics department. Since the game is playable on both mobile and PC some art style had to be sacrificed but the whole look and feel translates well on both screens. The art of the game is not ground-breaking and has a bit of a retro feel to it but I wouldn’t label the graphics as disappointing. I have to say I’m a huge fan of the colour palette of the game and I like the pops of neon in this alien world. The character portraits as well add a bit more dimension to the overall art of the game.

Music-wise Krystopia: Nova’s Journey is calm and serene. The background is mostly soft, mystical ambient tracks that I guess for lack of a better word was there. Where the game truly shines, however, is in its voice acting. Nova’s singular voice is the only dialogue we hear in the game and really helped me to bond with the character I was playing.