Dordogne Review by Duncan Voice – Indie Choices

Written by Duncan Voice (Indie Choices)

Dordogne is a narrative adventure game set in the beautiful French countryside. Developed by Une Je Ne Sais Quoi in collaboration with Umanimation, and published by Focus Entertainment, it tells the story of Mimi returning to her late Grandmother’s home to uncover some lost memories of her childhood.

It is serenely beautiful. Landscapes are hand painted in watercolour, portraying scenes in an almost-dream like haze. The oranges and purples blend together to form sunsets that would be worth taking on a month long pilgrimage just to see. Beams of sunlight peek through blinds, the kind that makes those impromptu Sunday afternoon naps just hit different. Dordogne is so exquisite to look at I’d be quite content just packing up my life and moving to southern France off the back of a single playthrough. If this were a picture book, I’d tear out each page and frame them individually.

The 3D character models all at once stand out but fit perfectly in to the world. Mimi as both a child and an adult feels like she’s been plucked out of a cartoon. Initially I felt the character models stood out too much, but I quickly realised that the expressions of the characters which are so important to the story simply wouldn’t have been possible if everything was painted in watercolours. The only quibble I had is that sometimes Mimi felt a little clunky to move around the world, but that’s like complaining that in an entire bag of Revels only one of them was coffee. Not nearly enough to ruin the experience.

Throughout each chapter Mimi is reminded of an event from the summer spent with her Grandmother, and you’re transported back to her childhood to relive it. You’ll collect words to describe how you’re feeling, sounds, stickers and pictures for you to scrap book at the end of the day. Exploration is encouraged for the completionist although I did find on occasion I wasn’t given the opportunity to take more photos and sounds of the places I was exploring.

The story is gentle, heart felt and real. I shan’t go in to much detail but the story beats felt relatable, one in particular eerily reminiscent of something happening in my personal life. Dordogne forced me to be introspective, especially during the more mundane tasks it has you complete. I don’t mean mundane as a critique, but quiet moments like chopping up some vegetable or making a cup of tea encouraged me to think about my memories with my family and what I might have done differently especially now my parents are ill. Have I spent enough time with them? Did I make enough memories as a child? Do I need to move closer to them? I wasn’t expecting anything like this going in to Dordogne.

The audio is wonderful. Certain scenes are voice acted, Mimi chatters to herself and the music to my surprise was an electronic synth felt a perfect match to the ethereal nature of memories.

To me, Dordogne is a game about being present. To create memories with loved ones as those moments will outlive us eventually. In the few hours I spent with it, Dordogne reminded me that life isn’t always about big events and sightseeing. Sometimes just sitting quietly with a loved one is enough to be happy.

Yes I cried at the end.