Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley Review
Summary: An endearing and absolutely gorgeous adventure that fans of Jansson's work need to play.
4.5
Metal Gear Snufkin
Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley is an absolutely delightful stealth adventure that nails the look and feel of Tove Jansson’s classic tales in a game as cosy as sitting in front of a roaring fire in your favourite jumper as the wind howls outside with a large cup of cocoa and a copy of Tales from Moominvalley.
Our tale opens with Snufkin and Moomintroll promising to meet on the bridge where they always do in the spring. However, when Snufkin returns to Moominvalley after a long winter away, the idyllic valley is in complete disarray.
The Park Keeper has been up his old tricks again; damming the river, turning large parts of the valley into parks, and covering the place in signs enforcing pointless rules.
Worst of all, though, Moomintroll is not waiting for Snufkin on the bridge as he usually does, and Moomin Papa’s boat is missing – coincidence?
Thus it’s up to you to find Moomintroll and stop the Park Keeper’s diabolical scheme to turf over the valley in the name of progress.
To do this, Snufkin needs to sneak into each of the parks, avoid detection from the patrolling policemen, and tear up all the signs. At this point, with no more rules to follow, the police give up and go home, leaving the nature-loving imp to tear up the fences, remove all the paving slabs, and let nature reclaim the area.
Avoiding the watchful eyes of the constabulary is fairly simple and surprisingly endearing at the same time, as Snufkin uses his wits and the environment to sneak past the incompetent coppers. He hides in the undergrowth, sneaks behind carefully repositioned planters, sends sleeper wardens to sleep with his flute, and dashes past parkies scared by lightning in his bid to dismantle The Park Keepers’ gardens; one stay off the grass sign at a time.
When Snufkin isn’t committing acts of civil disobedience, He explores Hyper Games beautifully realized recreation of Moominvalley, helping the inhabitants with all manner of problems inspired by Jansson’s books, like helping Moominpapa find the missing pages of his masterwork, helping Snorkmaiden find her missing anklet, and helping Too-Ticky build a boat to follow Moomintroll to Hattifattener Island.
There is also some wonderful puzzle platforming sections that see Snufkin push and pull logs, use rocks as stepping stones, and enlist the help of the Creeps to push boulders and climb up cliffs.
The real highlight, though, is the marvellous set pieces that call back to Jansson’s stories, like being chased through a dark forest by The Groke. (Then the pair of you saving it from a group of idiotic police officers that accidentally set it ablaze). Helping Sniff find his ‘friend’ Cedric in a cave full of mischievous crabs and helping a tiny ghost grow bigger by scaring some unsuspecting park wardens half to death.
As Snufkin explores Moominvalley, he receives new instruments that help him open up new areas and interact with the fauna found in the beautiful countryside. Starting with a harmonica, before later receiving his flute and eventually a Drum. Each instrument is used to communicate with different creatures that help him traverse gaps, climb cliff faces, or reward him with inspiration that allows you to play with more creatures and open up even more parts of the valley as you level up. It’s a gentle and lovely system, and finding and helping all the critters you can with your instruments is a lot of fun.
The Presentation is also absolutely astounding. It’s like watching the characters leap off the page. There have been Moomin cartoons before, but none of them have quite captured the look and tone of Jansson’s work in such a profound way.
Meanwhile, the soundtrack and sound design have a sort of less is more vibe that combines nature sounds with a minimalistic soundtrack to amazing effect. The only minor downside is that there’s no voice acting, which means no Matt Berry as Moominpapa. But I guess you can’t have everything.
Final Thoughts
Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley is a delightful adaptation and an absolutely mesmerizing adventure that, like a good book, I couldn’t put down until it was finished.
With fun stealth and platforming sections, fantastic storytelling, incredible visuals, and a keen eye for what made Jansson’s work so captivating in the first place. Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley is a game that every Moomin fan, scratch that, every cosy game fan needs in their collection.
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