One of the brilliant things that the independent video game development scene can do is tell stories that would otherwise be underrepresented in the medium. From the wonderful narrative of If Found... through to the satirical look at racism in Not Tonight 2, the blank canvas of the video game is one that can create some truly memorable experiences. Skábma- Snowfall from developerRed Stage Entertainment is another such example, with a story that revolves around the Sámi people.
✕ Remove Ads
Skábma - Snowfall tells the story of Ailu, a youth from a Sámi village who needs to try and stop a blight that is spreading across the land. Ailu isn't alone in this quest, however, getting help in the form of four spirit familiars to bring peace back to nature. The game revolves heavily around its representation ofSámi culture, the indigenous people of theSápmi region of northern Europe.
Related: Road 96 PS5 Review: A Wonderful Slice Of Counterculture
This cultural focus within Skábma - Snowfallis fantastic, managing to make this representation a key part of the game's themes and story without it falling into the trap of information dumping on the player. This is not a game that sits the player down and explains everything to them, instead making its world feel like a real, living space. As such, Ailu's journey to learn the ways of theNoaidi - Sámi Healers - ties into the player's progression through the story.
✕ Remove Ads
Gameplay progression is also well balanced in Skábma - Snowfall. Initially Ailu's movements are very basic, but as the game goes on, the player's use of a Noaidi drum gives them access to different abilities, thanks to freeing spirit familiars throughout the game. This leads tomechanics like manipulating the environment through wind vortexes and creating rock platforms, with a similar feel toKena: Bridge of Spirits.
Where Skábma - Snowfall truly excels is with its atmosphere. Its cast of characters is small but well rounded, doing what's needed to keep the story progressing while also giving both an internal view of Sámi culture and what it looks like from an outside observer's perspective. Meanwhile, the story itself is perfectly serviceable too, even it if doesn't break new ground in comparison to other nature-centric adventure games.
✕ Remove Ads
All of this givesAilu and the player more time to explore the game world, which is essentially where its gameplay mechanics lie.Skábma - Snowfall is very light on combat and instead tasks the player with 3D platforming, using the skills gained from the spirit familiars to traverse its varied areas. That said, a little more instruction would go a long way towards helping the player's exploration here; the game eschews the need for the path-following directionof the Fable games, which is a refreshing change, but it does go a little too far in the other direction leading to some head-scratching moments.
✕ Remove Ads
Unfortunately, the great potential thatSkábma - Snowfall has is held back by a variety of technical issues. In particular the camera is quite tetchy, particularly in internal structures like caves, and tight platforming in these locationscan be quite hit and miss. Meanwhile, some of the design choices can be a little bit overbearing,such asvisual effects hitting the player when low on health and visual clarity drops based on what environment the player is in rather than more traditional dynamic lighting, and this canmake it hard to see what is going on.
This does mean that sometimesSkábma - Snowfall is not quite as fun to play as it should be. Slow load times and frame rate drops can make specific moments a bit of a chore to get through, so it does suffer from an overall lack of polish. This doesn't take away from what works well about the game, but players should go into the title bracing themselves for some rough around the edges moments.
✕ Remove Ads
Overall, Skábma - Snowfall is a bold and heartfelt game that has a wonderful atmosphere and charming if sometimes simplistic gameplay. It is held back by some technical limitations, but players who don't mind these setbacks will still find an engaging experience.
More: Weird West Review: A Wonderfully Rotten Wild West Experience
Skábma - Snowfall releases 22 April for PC. Screen Rant was provided with a PC download code for the purposes of this review.
