Eastward Reviews
Eastward is a game about a journey and the characters you meet along the way. Although the combat and puzzles are quite typical, the setting, sound and art style are remarkable, making this an essential trek through an incredible world.
Eastward has been in the works for a while. Finally, it's time to head eastbound across the train tracks to an action adventure game filled with stunning visuals and an endearingly quirky cast.
Eastward pays homage to all things loved about SNES-era gaming, looking and feeling like the games of our childhood locked deep within our hearts. At times, I wondered if the experience would be enhanced playing Eastward sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of a giant CRT television, tethered way to close to the screen by a wired controller. For gamers of a certain age, Eastward feels an awful lot like home, and one I didn’t realize I missed so dearly.
An old-school RPG created with a lot of love, charming visuals, and mesmerizing soundtrack.
When it comes to pixel art action-adventures the normal standard that is compared against would be The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past...
Eastward proves itself to be a memorable and enjoyable mashup of many beloved classic titles, combining each of their elements together to forge something that feels distinct and engaging. Creative gameplay sequences, a heartwarming and emotional story, and a killer art style all combine to make this one easy to recommend. That being said, we'd also offer a word of caution that this is a slow burn kind of game; if you're not a patient player, Eastward's sometimes lethargic pace may take a lot of enjoyment out of the experience. Wherever you may fall, Eastward is indisputably a game worth checking out, and we'd encourage you to give it a shot.
Eastward is a post-apocalyptic picaresque as charming as it is pretty, with simple action combat and puzzles that are accessible to everyone.
Simultaneously a throwback and a breath of something new, Eastward is a magic trick of blending familiarity with novelty and grim apocalyptic sci-fi with wide-eyed fantasy. In the future, if there's any justice, we'll be referring to similarly spirited and stylish games as "Eastward-like."
All the pieces are here for an engaging JRPG with real-time dungeon action, but weak writing and repetitive gameplay drag down what could have been an excellent game. If the aesthetic doesn't speak to the depths of your soul, you're better off skipping this one.
The 2D visuals are absolutely stunning, but the simplistic action and pretentious storytelling undermine what could have been a true neo-retro classic.
Eastward will fulfill any action-adventure needs that have been missing in your life. The character writing is fantastic and enhances the more emotional moments as the killer Miasma rears its ugly head. This game is an investment, but you’ll be left with a genuinely standout gaming experience full of action, exploration, memorable characters, and a fantastic final chapter. So do yourself a favor and play Eastward.
Eastward is a great game. It’s beautiful, it’s a story well-told, and it’s very fun to play. But for me, the entire experience was tainted by what I quickly and inescapably perceived as racist and sexually exploitative depictions, which is just such a monumental shame of a thing to tarnish an otherwise incredible experience. I mean, this game has an entire virtual RPG video game built into it that you can play. But I simply can’t rate this experience highly with how tarnished my view of it all is. I love playing it, I recommend playing it, but I also insist you judge for yourself these character depictions and whether they meet the standards we should expect from games.
PixPil deserve to have a stellar career ahead of them following the release of this game, and as long as they can keep releasing games that have even half of Eastward’s visual individuality, compelling narrative and satisfying pan-smacking action, then the studio will be without a doubt one to keep an eye on. The apocalypse might be old news now, but Eastward shows other games exactly how it's done when it comes to presenting dystopia in a charming, fascinating light-hearted way.
It's slow to start, but once Eastward gets going, this handsome post-apocalypse roars to life like nothing else, marrying top-down action with an exquisite cast of characters whose stories really make you care about the world you're trying to save.
This is an impossible game to rate on a numbered scale. The score below ultimately reflects an arbitrary placement, one that makes the game seem merely middling when it’s really like a full-course meal that was delicious but an absolute pain to work through. Eastward is far from the YIIK class of terrible “Earthboundlike” games, and certainly deserves more attention than that mess. If you have a lot of patience, this is an easy recommendation. And if you have none, I would stay far away. I’m not sure if I’ll ever head Eastward again, but the journey will always remain fresh in my mind.
Eastward takes you on a journey that gives you a fantastic story, great pixel art visuals, magnificent music and a classic RPG gameplay that although it takes hours upon hours to reach the its finish line, you will be having so much fun that you'll never feel tired and want to keep going forever.
Review in Persian | Read full review
Eastward will be on many shortlists for indie GOTY, and possibly on some main lists as well. If you like what you see, don't hesitate to pick this one up.
Eastward is a beautiful adventure, full of complexity and memorable characters that makes a world full of pixels seem larger than life.
Eastward is a gorgeous looking adventure game that features a great mechanic of synergy-building between characters during fights and puzzle-solving, and a welcoming combat system. Its level design is mostly simple, but the settings look so beautiful it's worth just to marvel at the art style. While there are some performance issues on a television screen when there's a lot of characters on display at the same time and there's a lot of backtracking involved, Eastward is a very interesting and captivating experience for anyone looking for a good adventure game.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review