The Last Campfire

Genre: Puzzle

Players: 1

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Review:

The Last Campfire is a family-friendly character-driven Puzzle game released on multiple platforms including the Nintendo Switch in 2020. This game comes from developer Hello Games, who made a name for themselves (for better or worse) with the game No Man’s Sky, but The Last Campfire shares little in common with that game, as this is a much smaller and more intimate title about a small cloaked traveler who is separated from his group and ends up in a forest where they must rescue others who have lost their way.

In terms of presentation, this is mostly an excellent game with some appealing 3D visuals and some very nice lighting. However, these otherwise excellent visuals are undercut by the game’s framerate issues, with the game occasionally chugging and dropping frames, which can make for a jarring contrast to the otherwise appealing look of the game. These visuals are joined by a subdued soundtrack and some nice narration that gives this game the overall feel of a fairy tale.

In terms of gameplay, players will find themselves exploring the game’s interesting environments filled with colorful characters, with occasional bits of puzzle-solving in 3D block-pushing and lever-pulling puzzles. There’s nothing really revolutionary in this gameplay, but it’s all well done and the interesting world and solid puzzle design makes working through the game’s challenges compelling.

There’s really not too much more to say about The Last Campfire. This is just an all-around well-crafted character-driven Puzzle game with a beautiful world and interesting characters, and while it’s not going to revolutionize the genre and the issue with dropped frames is disappointing, overall this is a wonderful game that’s well worth playing.

tl;dr – The Last Campfire is a family-friendly character-based Puzzle game that has players exploring a small but beautiful world filled with interesting characters. It’ doesn’t do anything to truly shake up the genre, and it has a frustrating issue with dropped frames, but it’s otherwise well-made and well worth playing.

Grade: B+

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This game has been nominated for one or more of eShopperReviews 2020 Game Awards:

Runner-Up: Best Puzzle Game

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