The Deer God Reviews
The beautiful and mystical world of 'The Deer God' is unfortunately not without problems, including inescapable pits and problematic procedural generation.
The Deer God takes a somewhat strange concept and turns it into one of the most enjoyably relaxing games on the market. It combines platforming skills with a touch of action and an unbelievable amount of atmosphere.
Instead of being truly interesting and worth your time, however, each individual part falls flat, resulting in an disappointingly poor overall experience.
The Deer God is beautiful. Sadly, that beauty is only skin deep. Poor design choices take away from fantastic visuals that really have to be seen. With the right level of polish, this could have been one of our favourite indie games on Wii U.Instead, clumsy quest design, repetitive environments and poor performance ensure The Deer God will be remembered as little more than eye candy.
The Deer God is a 2D platformer that aside from pretty looks offers next to no substance and isn't engaging at all.
The Deer God may be a great visual experience to unwind with, and it has a spiritual message to match. But when it comes down to the actual gameplay, the game just feels too stiff and uninteresting. Despite an almost enchanting presence, the actual mechanics of The Deer God will do as much as possible to push you away.
The Deer God can be a very absorbing experience. I found myself just running along the landscape exploring the world, and testing my powers on the creatures around me. It's not a tough game to master and it isn't long either once you have the basics in hand. The Deer God is a great looking game for what it is, and if you're looking for something to fill a couple of hours then this may do for you.
I really do feel that there are some great ideas and potential here, though. I enjoyed running around the beautifully serene landscapes as a majestic deer, so if that's all you really expect from The Deer God, then you'll likely get some enjoyment out of it. Anyone looking for something more, however, might be left disappointed.
The Deer God mostly stumbles over its random nature and lack of explanation. It is the kind of game that is best enjoyed with a FAQ explaining all the systems and how to progress. Still, even with that the random nature really drags down some of the quests. Xbox One owners get to try it for free this month if they have a Gold subscription so definitely check it out, but just be prepared for the many issues the game will present along the way.
The Deer God may be a beautiful game, but behind its majestic facade lies a dull platformer that fails to challenge. All of the your adversaries are easily bypassed, and the lack of engaging stories or missions leaves this game as one of the worst things to come out of the forest since stinging nettles.
The Deer God is a solid statement against animal cruelty and even sport hunting, exploring an empathetic view from the eyes of a deer. While it features solid, simplistic gameplay, frequent hiccups and balance issues keep this from being a game worthy of the title's undertaking.
But there's far too much wrong here for me to recommend The Deer God.
Take simple, Pitfall-like platforming (minus the rope swinging), mix in a hint of Sword & Sworcery's art style, and then you have an overreaching X-meets-Y makeup of The Deer God. I feel like its motivations are far better than half-hearted; creatively and intentionally. But The Deer God keeps asking me to return to a life I find less and less interesting with each reincarnation.
While the inclusion of permadeath and the lack of handholding might be a deterrent for some, the beautifully crafted world of The Deer God is more than enough to warrant a look, especially for those with a penchant for exploration.
The Deer God has some wonderful ideas and attention-grabbing presentation, but it's mechanically underdeveloped and repetitive.
The Deer God is promising on a first look, thanks to its unusual premise and to a visual style that stands out. Once that impression is surpassed, however, the game quickly falls into a tedious repetitive experience that makes it lose its potential interest, which is a shame as The Deer God had some potential to be much more captivating than it is.
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I stared deep into the eyes of the deer, waiting for it to speak. There was no grass, no trees; just a white void surrounding me and her heavenly grace as she judged me and my actions. But she did not speak. She did not even blink. As the silence dragged on, I grew more desperate, bargaining with her to just make sense of this, please! What should I be feeling? What should I be believing!? Deer God, what lesson do I need to learn? She screamed, for she did not know. I screamed, for I did not know. Perhaps that was the lesson to learn, that there is nothing to know. Don't buy this game.
The Deer God aims high with its breathtaking visuals, sound, and narrative, but it's just not entertaining enough to actually make you want to pick up your Joy-Con controllers.
This game is really fun to play, but it does have many issues. Nothing you would not expect from a Beta version of the game. Once they get this fixed, the game should do rather nicely.
The Deer God is, sadly, a mediocre game suffering from an identity crisis hiding inside of a grandiose shell.