| Blackwood Crossing | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | PaperSeven |
| Publisher(s) | Vision Games |
| Director(s) | Alice Guy David Jefferies |
| Writer(s) | Oliver Reid-Smith |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation 4 Windows Xbox One |
| Release | April 4, 2017 |
| Genre(s) | Adventure |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Blackwood Crossing is a first-person narrative adventure video game released on PlayStation 4 on April 4, 2017, and a day later on Xbox One and PC.
The game is set on a moving train as two children — Scarlet and Finn — learn to navigate their relationship with each other, until their paths cross with a mysterious figure. According to the game reviews of Polygon and PlayStation Blog, the main themes of the game's story include the transition from childhood to adulthood and loss, shrouded in surrealism. [1] [2] [3]
Through a series of creative and contextual puzzles, players unlock key details about Finn and Scarlett's past and uncover the mystery behind the train journey.
Scarlett wakes up to find herself on a train. She searches for her brother Finn on the train in a game of Simon says. Afterward, an unnamed person wearing a rabbit mask appears and a panicked Finn tells Scarlett to wake up, making her awaken on the train once more. Unmoving figures who are all wearing animal masks begin to appear. Matching dialogue in the correct order with the masked persons creates vague contexts for the story and allows Scarlett to move onto the next area.
Scarlett begins to be unsure of her surroundings, as areas such as her grandpa's greenhouse and her treehouse shared with her brother begin to materialize and branch out of areas of the train. Throughout her journey, she develops the ability to "give life" to objects and control fire while also encountering a dark substance called Umbra, which seems to hate light.
After a few puzzles, Finn will become angry at Scarlett, saying that Scarlett left him and that Scarlett should never have left him alone. Scarlett can either choose to transfer fire out of their treehouse or transfer fire into their treehouse, creating a sense of catharsis or a sense of redemption in the dialogue between Finn and Scarlett that end with Finn and Scarlett forgiving each other for prior grievances. Scarlett then wakes up once more but on the shore by a body of water with Finn and a makeshift raft. Finn asks Scarlett to fix up 'Finnland' by finding objects to spruce up the place. After fixing Finnland, the rabbit masked figure appears and leads Scarlett through a tunnel that takes her back to the treehouse and then the train, and then returning to Finnland.
After dialogue with the masked figures while dealing with the Umbra, Scarlett realizes that Finn died in an accident when Scarlett was out on a date (implying that she was interacting with Finn's spirit this entire time). This takes Scarlett and Finn back to the treehouse and leads Finn to say he doesn't want to go alone because he does not remember what their parents, who died long ago, look like. Scarlett draws a picture of what their mom looks like and attaches it onto one of the figures, who transforms into their mom after Scarlett uses magic. Scarlett says her goodbyes and Finn and their parents walk away into the moonlight of the treehouse deck, fading away in the form of luminescent butterflies. Scarlett then wakes up back on the train, which had just arrived at a station (which implies that her entire journey was just a dream). The story ends with Scarlett noticing an animal mask nearby, which is the same mask worn by the mother figure.
The game was the first console/PC game developed by indie studio PaperSeven who spent 20 months developing it. [4] The game was announced via trailer in June 2016. [5] The small team had previously worked together on racing games, such as Split Second and Pure , [6] and outside the genre, on The Room and at Disney. [7]
| Aggregator | Score |
|---|---|
| Metacritic | PS4: 72/100 [8] XONE: 79/100 [9] |
| Publication | Score |
|---|---|
| Polygon | 8/10 [10] |
| Hardcore Gamer | 3/5 [11] |
| Metro | 6/10 [12] |
Polygon recommended the game for players who appreciated narrative-driven games, such as Gone Home , Dear Esther , and Firewatch . [13] The reviewer goes on to praise Finn's portrayal, stating "I can't recall such a good portrayal of a child in a game, since the Studio Ghibli-produced Ni No Kuni". [14] It was among the website staff's most anticipated games of 2017, [15] and was ranked 25th on their list of the 50 best games of 2017. [16] Blackwood Crossing was awarded UKIE’S Game of the Show award at Gamescom 2016. [17]
The Legend of Zelda is a media franchise created by the Japanese game designers Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka. It is primarily developed and published by Nintendo; some portable installments and re-releases have been outsourced to Flagship, Vanpool, Grezzo, and Tantalus Media.
Link is a fictional character and the protagonist of Nintendo's video game franchise The Legend of Zelda. He was created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. Link was introduced as the hero of the original The Legend of Zelda video game in 1986 and has appeared in a total of 21 entries in the series, as well as a number of spin-offs. Common elements in the series include Link travelling through Hyrule whilst exploring dungeons, battling creatures, and solving puzzles until he eventually defeats the series' primary antagonist, Ganon, and saves Princess Zelda.
Telltale Incorporated was an American video game developer based in San Rafael, California. The company was founded in July 2004 by former LucasArts developers Kevin Bruner, Dan Connors and Troy Molander, following LucasArts' decision to leave the adventure game genre. Telltale established itself to focus on adventure games using a novel episodic release schedule over digital distribution, creating its own game engine, the Telltale Tool, to support this. It closed in October 2018 after filing for bankruptcy protection.
Finn Mertens, better known as Finn the Human, is a character and one of the two protagonists in the American animated television series Adventure Time and resulting franchise created by Pendleton Ward. He also appeared in the spin-off series Adventure Time: Distant Lands and Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake. He was voiced by Jeremy Shada in most appearances. The character made his debut in the original pilot, where he is named Pen and voiced by Zack Shada, Jeremy's older brother. Jonathan Frakes voices Finn as an adult in some appearances.
Until Dawn is a 2015 interactive drama horror game developed by Supermassive Games and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. Players assume control of eight young adults who have to survive on Blackwood Mountain when their lives are threatened. The game features a butterfly effect system in which players must make choices that may change the story. All playable characters can survive or die, depending on the choices made. Players explore the environment from a third-person perspective and find clues that may help solve the mystery.
Quantum Break is a 2016 action-adventure third-person shooter video game developed by Remedy Entertainment and published by Microsoft Studios for Windows and Xbox One. The game centers on Jack Joyce, granted time manipulation powers after a failed time-machine experiment, as he comes into conflict with former friend Paul Serene over how to deal with an apocalyptic "End of Time". In addition, the game includes platform game elements in less action-oriented segments. There are also "junction points" that affect the game's outcome. The game features episodes of an integrated live-action television show, featuring the actors of the characters. The characters interact with the player's choices, displaying the results of the decisions made.
Below is an action-adventure game developed by Capybara Games. The game was announced during Microsoft's E3 2013 press event, and was indefinitely delayed in 2016. It initially released on Microsoft Windows and Xbox One on December 14, 2018, with a PS4 port released in 2020. The game received mixed reviews upon release.
Life Is Strange is an episodic adventure game developed by Dontnod Entertainment and published by Square Enix. The first installment of the Life Is Strange series, the game was released in five episodes periodically throughout 2015 for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Windows, Xbox 360, and Xbox One. It was ported to OS X and Linux in 2016, and iOS and Android in 2017 and 2018.
Sasha Hostyn, also known by her username Scarlett, is a Canadian professional video game player. She is most well known for playing StarCraft II, and is the first woman to win a major StarCraft II tournament. She has also played Dota 2.
Firewatch is an adventure game developed by Campo Santo and published by the developer in partnership with Panic. The game was released in February 2016 for Linux, OS X, PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One in September 2016, and for Nintendo Switch in December 2018. The story follows a fire lookout named Henry who works in Shoshone National Forest. Henry interacts with his supervisor Delilah using a walkie-talkie, with the player choosing from dialog options to communicate. His exchanges with Delilah inform the process by which their relationship is developed. Over the course of the summer, Henry and Delilah appear to be menaced by unseen forces and have to unravel a years-old mystery.
Chucklefish Limited is a British video game developer and publisher based in London. Founded in 2011 by Finn Brice, the company specialises in retro-styled games. Chucklefish is best known for developing Starbound and Wargroove, as well being the former publishers of Risk of Rain and Stardew Valley.
Little Nightmares is a puzzle-platform horror adventure game developed by Tarsier Studios and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment for PlayStation 4, Windows and Xbox One, released in April 2017. A Nintendo Switch version was released in May 2018, followed by a Google Stadia version in June 2020 and mobile versions were released on 12 December 2023 and published by Playdigious. Set in a mysterious world, Little Nightmares follows the journey of Six, a hungry little girl who must escape the Maw, an iron vessel inhabited by monstrous, twisted beings.
Orwell is a series of episodic simulation video games by indie developer Osmotic Studios in which the player assumes the role of a state operative and monitors surveillance sources to find national security threats.
Kinda Funny is an online entertainment company that produces videos and podcasts on video game culture, film, television, and comics.
Subsurface Circular is a text-based adventure game developed and published by Mike Bithell Games. The game was released for Microsoft Windows and macOS on 17 August 2017, iOS on 23 October 2017 and Nintendo Switch on 1 March 2018. The game received critical acclaim for its engaging narrative and writing.
Last Day of June is an adventure puzzle video game developed by Ovosonico and published by 505 Games. It is based on Steven Wilson's song Drive Home. The game was released for the PlayStation 4 and Windows in August 2017, and ported for the Nintendo Switch in March 2018.
The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit is a demo adventure game in the Life Is Strange series developed by Dontnod Entertainment and published by Square Enix. It was released in June 2018 for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One as an introduction to Life Is Strange 2. The plot follows Chris Eriksen, a young boy who creates the superhero alter ego Captain Spirit to deal with the loss of his mother. Square Enix External Studios worked with Dontnod for the development. The game received generally favourable reviews, praising the narrative, main character, and script, but criticising the game mechanics and aspects of the writing.
Project CARS was a sim racing video game series developed by Slightly Mad Studios and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. The franchise was introduced in 2015 and received a sequel in 2017, followed by Project CARS 3 in 2020. Following the acquisition of Codemasters by Electronic Arts, development on the Project CARS series ended in November 2022.
Adventure Time is an American animated fantasy franchise created by Pendleton Ward, set in the post-apocalyptic Land of Ooo. The franchise originated from a 2007 short produced for Fred Seibert's animation incubator series Random! Cartoons at Nickelodeon Animation and aired on Nicktoons Network. After the short became a viral hit on the Internet, Nickelodeon's executives passed on its option before Cartoon Network commissioned a full-length series from Seibert and Ward, which premiered on Cartoon Network on April 5, 2010, and ended on September 3, 2018. The series drew inspiration from a variety of sources, including the fantasy role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons and video games. Alongside the original television series, the characters of the show have been featured in a variety of media, including two spin-offs, comic series, card games and video games.
A Case of Distrust is a 2018 video game created by independent developer Ben Wander and published by Serenity Forge. Described as a "narrative mystery", the game is a narrative adventure game in which the player solves a mystery in 1924 San Francisco as private investigator Phyllis Cadence Malone. The game was the first independent work of former Visceral Games developer Ben Wander, who was inspired to create the game based on research into the history of the 1920s and the desire to create a hardboiled mystery narrative. Upon release, A Case of Distrust received positive reviews from critics, with praise directed to the game's narrative, tone and visual presentation, and criticism to its investigation gameplay mechanics and ending.
Media related to Blackwood Crossing at Wikimedia Commons
