Braise

Braise mostly feels like a point & click adventure without actually being one. Most puzzles, apart from one, follow the story and integrate themselves naturally in it. The game ends with a “To be continued". But even with this, the game concluded what it had started. So it does not rely on another game in the future to be considered complete.

Braise, developed and published by Cholokew, is a small but thoughtfully crafted indie adventure that blends exploration, puzzle-solving, and narrative discovery within a charming pixel-art fantasy setting. Designed as a compact story-driven experience, the game emphasizes atmosphere, curiosity, and character interaction rather than combat or high-intensity gameplay. Created primarily by a solo developer, Braise reflects the spirit of classic top-down adventure games while maintaining a modern indie sensibility focused on storytelling and handcrafted environments. Although modest in scope, the game aims to deliver a cohesive narrative journey that unfolds through exploration and investigation within a mysterious valley inhabited by both humans and mythical creatures. The story begins with the protagonist arriving in Dragon’s Valley in search of her missing grandmother, a legendary champion known for protecting the region. Her disappearance has left the surrounding villages uneasy, and rumors have begun spreading about strange activity connected to the valley’s resident dragon. Once a symbol of harmony between humans and magical creatures, the dragon has recently begun acting unpre…

Ce jeu n'est pas exactement ce à quoi je m'attendais. Je pensais que ce serait un petit RPG maker classique, mais en réalité c'est l'équivalent d'un mini point-and-click où on ne clique pas mais où on se déplace, car les mécanismes sont exactement les mêmes: un récit (ici très court, comme si on voyait un tout petit slice of life d'un monde fantastique plus grand) où on trouve des objets pour résoudre des casse-têtes qu'on peut souvent solutionner en essayant systématiquement toutes les possibilités. Les casse-têtes et l'histoire sont très simples, et on sent l'amateurisme; probablement que ce fut la création d'un individu qui expérimente la création, mais il n'y a pas de bugs majeurs, et si les dessins ne sont pas particulièrement esthétiques (c'est subjectif cependant, j'ai lu des reviews de gens qui les aimaient bien), on sent l'effort et ils sont définitivement originaux (dans le sens faits à la main et ne provenant pas d'une bibliothèque quelconque). Je recommande donc, mais pas à 5$, je dirais plus à 2-3$, car il n'est vraiment pas long et l'environnement est somme toute très limité.

There's so much good art in this game entirely ruined by scanlines that you can't turn off

Good: Very beautiful art in this game. Simple, light-hearted gameplay. Decent music and sound effects. Family-friendly. Downsides: Rather short (2.1 hours for my completion). Saving the game requires you to go to a certain character. So if you get stuck on a puzzle that is further away from that character, you won't be able to save your progress. It would be nice to save the game at any point when life happens and you need to walk away from the game. Was worth the price overall, though. I will be watching for future games from this developer.

Cool game that is pretty and colorful ! I'm a bit disappointed by how sudden the ending feels (I'd like to have seen more reflexion on the protagonists actions) Also maybe make the fishing indications a bit more understandable ? I had a bit of a hard time to understand where to fish for one of them. But overall it was a fun game to play for a short time :D Thanks a lot for your work !!