Skabma - Snowfall Reviews
Overall, Skábma - Snowfall is a bold and heartfelt game that has a wonderful atmosphere and charming if sometimes simplistic gameplay. It is held back by some technical limitations, but players who don't mind these setbacks will still find an engaging experience.
Despite an absolutely stunning visual design and an imaginative interpretation of Sámi culture, Skábma – Snowfall is let down by some frustrating design decisions. Its cumbersome control scheme and lack of guidance between story objectives lead to gameplay roadblocks that hurt the pacing of an otherwise compelling narrative. While it stuns with its gorgeous landscapes and presents interesting (if underutilised) ‘spirit drum’ mechanics, it’s difficult to recommend Skábma in its current state. I’m looking forward to seeing Red Stage Entertainment continue to support the title and bring out its strengths.
It all feels very worthwhile. The thing is, at least as far as the Switch version goes, you need to dig deep in order to see all that – and honestly, it’s hard to say that it’s worth it, all things considered. I’ve no doubt that Skabma - Snowfall is a very interesting, enjoyable game on systems that can handle it, but unfortunately the Switch isn’t one of those systems.
Skabma - Snowfall tells a beautiful story of the Sami people. While the story weaves through realistic situations of survival, it’s coupled with magical and mystical folklore that has not been told in such a way before. The visuals are brilliantly represented and having the game told in the Sami language was refreshing. There are some issues with the camera and the lack of clarity on some missions did leave me scratching my head, but the message that Red Stage set out to tell works brilliantly and is an experience I’d want to play again, despite the pitfalls.
Overall I enjoyed the game. It is always interesting to experience new cultures that you didn’t know much about, which was definitely the case here. For me, at least, the game is definitely worth a look for its unique look at a group of people that you don’t hear about often unless you live in that part of the world