Review for Dordogne

With help from Focus Entertainment, developers UN JE NE SAIS QUOI and UMANIMATION have crafted an entertaining interactive adventure. Using beautiful watercolor graphics -- plus enchanting music and voice acting, linked using a point-and-click interface -- Dordogne imparts a story about growing up and how the trials of grief can affect relationships and color perceptions. The only downside: gameplay sequences which may be frustrating for players who don't possess quick reflexes.

Dordogne's captivating graphics resemble intricate watercolor paintings that coax players into the story. The characters are realistically drawn and animated with great skill, creating an artful aesthetic that paints everything with a dreamy brush. Players will find it hard to look away from their screens. The background music is entrancing; the title music, in particular, has a magical quality. The voice acting during cutscenes is excellent and brings the characters to life, causing players to experience the ups and downs of their varied emotions.

Mimi, the game's protagonist, visits her grandmother Nora’s house to reconnect with her childhood memories.  Players learn through emails she receives on her phone that, for some reason, her parents don’t approve of her choice. They had a falling out with Nora when her husband passed on. The reasons become a bit clearer as the narrative progresses, split between two perspectives -- that of a child and that of an adult. They dovetail together nicely. Mimi has many fond memories from her childhood, particularly of canoeing down the picturesque Dordogne River. This activity is one of my favorite parts of the game due to how beautifully the river is depicted. Another significant memory from her childhood is when Mimi and Nora befriended a thief named Renaud at the local market. Renaud ended up becoming a great friend to Nora and Mimi when they needed it most.

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Interacting with this bucolic world is a walk in the park. Dordogne uses a third-person, point-and-click interface and keyboard combination. The controls use WASD to move and the left mouse button to interact with the world. Players can adapt the control scheme to suit their needs using the settings menu if needed.

The challenges I encountered were simple matters of finding an item to trigger Mimi’s memories. The designers did a good job of clearly stating player objectives at the beginning of each section. My favorite puzzle involved solving a riddle to locate Renaud’s house on a map. It wasn’t difficult, and I enjoyed studying the colorful map.

Mimi collects souvenirs from her youthful adventures and keeps them in a special binder. These keepsakes include stickers, sounds, poems, pictures, and even tapes of conversations between her parents -- all of which are amusing to listen to and look through. By keeping these mementos, Mimi is able to recall the valuable lessons she learned from her experiences.

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Dordogne features multiple mini-games. These are timed and may be tough for anyone (like me) with slowpoke finger mobility. It was difficult to press the buttons quickly enough to be successful. I also had trouble pouring tea and cereal and giving the cat snacks because I couldn't establish how close I was to the target. All the mini-games were tasks that people frequently undertake while visiting others on vacation. So even though they frustrated me, I did appreciate how the tasks made sense and didn’t detach me from the narrative.

Aside from the mini-games, Dordogne was a joy to play. I was fascinated by its exquisite graphics, melodic soundtrack and great voice acting which told an intriguing, deeply charming tale.