Mutazione (Review)
By Rae
There’s a sort of magic and a sort of frustration in smalltown life. Everyone knows everyone – and you certainly notice when new peoplearrive. You notice who comes and goes, and identify streets by the people wholive on them. Sometimes, while out to grab a couple things, you find yourselfpulled into conversation with someone who knows your family and wants to catchup. Actually, it’s not sometimes – it’s often. Somehow the other side of townknows your big plans before you’ve even run into anyone there. Everyone knowseveryone, and everything gets noticed. You can watch whirlwind romances kick up– or sometimes flounder. Listen to the gossip about who’s drinking too much, orwho said what at the local diner. Chat with everyone as you pass by. There’s akind of camaraderie that pulls people together, and when you’re leaving thebonfire or bar at closing time, the night is more peaceful than scary.
The most incredible thing about Die Gute Fabrik’s Mutazione is how it captures this feeling.
When I receive a game code, I usually rush to play as muchas I can before release. Sometimes it’s frustrating. Sometimes it’s easy. WithMutazione, it’s impossible, but not for the usual reason. It’s simply just sucha nostalgic, relaxing experience, that I don’t want to rush through it.It’s the first game in a long time that I want to slowly experience. PlayingMutazione feels like a fantastical reimagining of the village dynamic I grew upwith. Starting up the game after a long day feels just a little bit likereturning home for a little while, to a new family of mutants and strangethings beyond my wildest imaginings. I want to fully enjoy it – not finish asfast as I can. In fact, it might be the first review game where I’ve reallyfelt that way, and it’s rather magical.
Mutazione puts the player in the place of 15-year old Kai. Whenher grandfather becomes gravely ill, she must travel to her mother’s oldvillage, Mutazione, to care for him. Mutazione is not just any village, however– it’s a small place with a tragic history. Over a hundred years ago, thisonce-famed holiday resort was struck by a meteor. Most of the inhabitants died.Those who did not were afflicted with strange mutations – a state that drovevisitors away and drove the small community to become isolated andself-sufficient. Kai’s mother eventually left to the mainland and, though Kaiis no stranger to the villagers who have heard about her in letters andstories, everything and everyone is new to Kai. Here, in this isolated place,she will need to do what she can to help her grandfather recover, while uncoveringthe secrets and sorrows of this small, quiet community.
There’s also a bit of mystery at play as well – as Kaispends more time in Mutazione, she continues to have strange dreams andvisions. Her grandfather – a well-known shaman – also hints that maybe there ismore going on than she knows about just yet. Day by day, you’ll uncover morestrange details, moving ever closer to the truth.
Most of your gameplay takes place in two forms. Each morning,afternoon, and evening you’ll have some primary tasks to complete – sometimes it’sjust to talk to someone, others you’ll have to gather an item or run an errand.Along the way, you can stop and listen to or chat with the townspeople. Sometimesit’s interactive, and others you’ll hear bits of conversation that unfold moreand more of the lives and relationships of Mutazione’s citizens. The secondmechanic is one I haven’t run into before in gaming – you progress the gamethrough gardening. Throughout the game, you’ll obtain seeds. Some are picked upalong the way from wild plants, while others are gifts. Each plant has a perfectplace to grow and each garden is best suited for a type of environment. Songswill help them grow faster, and over time Kai will learn new songs to play forher gardens. The plants are used for everything from Ailin’s bathhouse tocheering up Miu. When I first heard about this, I wondered if it might beboring, but the combination of planting and music is lovely and calming, and it’sbecome a part of the game I truly enjoy.
Mutazione’s small map is lovely and certainly looks the partof a small town built out of old ruins – you can still find old buildings beingtaken over by plant-life and the remnants of a life long gone. Unfortunately,it’s also the cause for one of the things I’m most torn about in the game. Onone hand, I love the realism of being able to run into and engage with various townspeopleon your way anywhere. Everyone has some favourite places, but sometimes you’re surprisedby where you find them. On the other, sometimes it gets tiring doing so muchrunning back and forth through town, even if it’s lovely. Faster travel – even ifonly to the next screen – would help make life a little faster, especially forthose unfortunate times when you get lost trying to find someone or something.Or even a hint, when characters are in randomized locations, for where theymight be.
That’s just one small detail though in a game that otherwisehas some pretty lovely UX design. Everything’s intuitive and easy to play andenjoy, and some small details were surprisingly enjoyable. For example, I readtoo quickly for my own good, and quite often I’ve gotten in the bad habit ofclicking repeatedly through dialogue because games move so much slower than Iread. I loved Mutazione’s dialogue layout, where if you accidentally click toosoon, you can still read what was just said. Small details like that make for amuch better experience – they’re things I didn’t realize how much I loved andwanted until I found a game that had them. Additionally, it’s easy to click onwhere you want to go to, or who you want to speak with or what you want totouch, and Kai will begin moving there automatically. While Mutazione is compatiblewith controller, mouse and keyboard is definitely the way to go for this one –you’ll have a much better time moving around town, I promise.
I will caution that this is a slow game, where the storybuilds up in bits and pieces. If you’re looking for a fast-paced adventure,this may not be your speed. For me, it’s a lovely treat because it truly letsyou come to know and care about the characters in this strange, slow place. Somany of the interwoven stories of Mutazione probably wouldn’t be the same ifthey weren’t delicately, softly woven together in the way that they are.
Mutazione is out now, available on Apple Arcade, PS4, Steam, itch.io, GoG, and GameJolt!