Golden Treasure: The Great Green

I can't recommend this game as they support the use of generative AI, which is depressing, seeing how the game is hand-drawn (or so I believe). They corrupted a beautiful game with AI

What an uniquely wonderful, underrated experience! Play Golden Treasure if you'd like to join birds in a discourse on epistemology, consider your strategy to outwit time, rivals and prey, rejoice in beautiful art, be a dragon, and never take nature for granted again. Golden Treasure might look like a visual novel, but it is definitely more than "just" a very well written and painted visual novel. Quite a bit of strategy is required in both short and long-term: turn-based combat, survival mechanics, resource management, exploration, leveling, skill checks, all tied together with one critical limiter: you do not have enough time to do everything, and you must always sacrifice quests, treasures and encounters. Because of this, choices genuinely do matter, and the journey is very challenging! That said, the game is designed around meta-progression: you are supposed to lose and fail and die. Each playthrough has 3 lives, and it is possible to end up in VERY difficult, frustrating situations, such as unavoidable fights you just wasn't ready for. After you die, you use both your newly gained knowledge & some permanent upgrades to progress further. While my opinion on this is a bit m…

This is one of my favorite games of all time. I first got it on Itch.io in a large bundle but bought it here because I wanted steam achievements and, frankly, the devs deserve a bit of extra cash. I'll 100% it again. It's a visual novel, technically, but the writing and artwork is so intriguing. The names for animals are unfamiliar to us but not illogical or impossible to parse in a way that would be distracting. of course wolves are 'clansingers'! Colorful lines and symbols pulse and swirl over every living thing. Yes, the story writing is excellent, the scenery is beautiful, but it's the smaller aspects that really make it shine, IMO. The game heavily encourages/requires multiple replays in order to 100% it, but this is not terribly tedious. It takes time, but the bonuses you get each life as you learn the ways of the beasts prevents you from feeling like you aren't making any progress at all. Maybe only at the very very end, but by that point you're just trying to get that last ending anyway :P Eagerly awaiting the sequel.

Genuinely great. Everything from the art, the game mechanics, etc. work together with the game's themes to create a totally unique and very moving piece of art. Highly recommended

(slight spoilers) Golden Treasure: The Great Green is a very well-written visual novel that is a prime example of xenofiction for not just the Draak, but also delves into the perspectives of the various other beasts you coexist with. The writing does a good job of preventing human bias from taking away from the immersion as a Draak, explaining your actions through the lens of a solitary apex predator. For example, when you make selfless decisions it is often treated with confusion by the game rather than immediately being portrayed as positive like a game with lesser writing would be tempted to do. It makes these decisions more impactful as you go against your instinct, showing that you are still an intelligent species. And when you make ruthless decisions, the game takes care to portray these decisions as more sensible than cruel. To a human what would be cruelty, is simply a matter of loving life. The game does a tremendous job of building the culture of the Draak and why it is the way it is. Of course, the artwork is also amazing and a huge part of the game along with the soundtrack. The combat system is also unique and the battle music still drifts in my mind. This game is…

Wonderful game, very thought provoking, quite complex/multi-layered, and even a little difficult. Love the story, and I can't wait to see what else Dreaming Door Studios makes in the future.