Mutazione

Mutazione is a soap opera presented in the form of a fusion of visual novel and walking simulator. (Here, soap opera is used as the name of a genre defined by being long-running, character-driven, ensemble-cast, slices of life; see also [url=https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/deep-dive-inside-the-narrative-design-and-multiple-middles-of-i-mutazione-i-]this deep dive[/url] by the narrative designer of Mutazione.) The whole story is set in a small town on an island, unfolding through your interactions with the local community. Instead of its literary merits, this review will focus on Mutazione's gameplay mechanics. In this game, you have two main forms of agency: 1) walking around the village to talk to (or to eavesdrop on) the inhabitants, sharing slice-of-life moments with them; 2) collect seeds from different biomes and plant them in various garden. Here is a breakdown. * The story is segmented into 7 times (dawn, morning, lunch, afternoon, evening, night, and late night) of 8 days. Characters are mostly stationary during a time of day, minding their own business (which is closely related to the time, giving you a strong impression of a lively world of an ensemble cast) and waiting for you to interact with them. * During a time of day, time does not advance until you have finished all the tasks for this time, listed in your journal (which serves as your in-game ToDo list and summarises past events). These tasks are mostly of the type “find and talk to XXX” or “plant Garden X”; the events and dialogues occurring in these tasks constitute the bread and butter (and unmissable) parts of the story. * On the other hand, interactions with those characters not featuring in the tasks are completely optional. However, these missable dialogues often provide extra background story and strengthen the character building considerably. * Dialogue choices have absolutely no consequence on the plots; their only effect is a few different lines. (It is said that the game is largely influenced by Kentucky Route Zero.) Actually, you are more like a passive observer of the soap opera than an active player. * The gardening part is almost purely cosmetic. (Great news for those who love decorating: there is a standalone sandbox mode for gardening.) What I enjoy in Mutazione: + Stunning 2D art & animation. + Atmospheric, immersive, great vibe. + Solid narrative design, world building, and character building. + Relaxing, occasionally heart-warming. What I can tolerate but do not appreciate: - In order not to miss any titbit, you have to make a complete sweep of the map during every time of day to hunt down every interactable character or other elements. It gives you motivation to get soaked in the atmosphere and beautiful sceneries, but also artificially slows down the pace and lengthens your gameplay. (Characters scatter over a large portion of the map, which takes a whole minute or two to traverse.) - The story itself is, in general, a bit insipid. - The game has a few missable achievements, requiring certain dialogue options to be chosen. For a narrative game without much replay value, such achievement design is usually questionable. Conclusion: Strongly recommended if you are into (slow-pacing) story-rich games, especially to experience its narrative design.

This is one of my favourite games and over a year since I played it, I still think about it regularly and with joy. It really left a big impression on me. I loved the island, the characters and the stories. And the gardens growing to music! The game has this beautiful atmosphere that sort of steals over you without you realising it, and settles deep into you like mist and the sound of rain - at least that's how it was for me. I loved the depth and complexity within the stories of every character in the game, and within the island community as a collective. And overall, the kindness and goodness at the heart of it all.

Such a gorgeously cozy game! This was the first game I truly got hooked on. I'm still new to gaming in general (better late than never!), and I have to say that this game was one of the most beautiful experiences I've had in a while! The story was gorgeous and the visuals were stunning. It was very calming and I feel like I want to move to Mutazione now! Definitely recommend for people who want a cozy game that ISN'T a farming sim or something similar! I definitely want to play their other game now!

I adore this game. It is so beautifully considered in every aspect. The narrative, music, aesthetic all create a rarified world that at once has its own life but gently leaves space for you to bring your own stuff to it. A healing game of great beauty. Thank you for creating this Die Gute Fabrik!

Mutazione follows the story of Kai, a young woman who's decided to pass on her annual swim camp to visit her sickly grandfather in the town of Mutazione. Kai's mother left Mutazione decades ago, having never returned back to the island, the relationship between Kai's grandfather and the family became strained. Having never met her grandfather, Nonno, Kai makes the journey on her family's behalf to nurse her estranged grandfather back to health, or be with him in his final moments. Many decades ago, a meteor known as The Moon Dragon landed on an inhabited island, wiping out nearly all human life on the island, and leaving naught but ruins in its wake. While most islanders fled to the mainland, those who could not began to undergo bizarre mutations in their biology. Not only humans, but all life on the island began to rapidly mutate in the coming decades taking fantastical new forms, with mysterious power. Fast forward to the present, and Kai's grandfather is among the few settlers from the mainland, who's spent decades building the community of Mutazione where humans and mutants live together. When Kai meets her grandfather, she learns he's near death, and so she's tasked with harnessing the mysterious biology of the island to help find a cure. During her time on the island, Kai grows close to the Mutazione residents, as she learns their culture, and slowly uncovers the raw emotions lurking beneath many residents of this small community. At its heart, Mutazione focuses on a few major subjects such as community, and balance, which is conveyed not only through the main narrative of the game, but also through the optional dialogue of the Mutazione residents. Mutazione's pacing is very slow, and almost all the optional dialogue requires seeking out the residents around the village and speaking with them at each moment of the day, across Kai's seven day visit. However, when one is fully engaging with the residents, the story is also good, with almost every character possessing layers and secrets which rationally tie into the way they perceive Kai in the community. Mutazione has an interesting method of story telling, wherein Kai is often directly engaging in conversation with simply flavor responses to guide the dialogue; however, sometimes sees Kai almost hauntingly listening in on residents private conversations. The result is a robust, albeit a bit lengthy, intertwining of several side stories, which are nearly all resolved satisfactorily. The gameplay of Mutazione heavily flirts with being a visual novel, so much so that if one removed the handful of environmental activities, I'd be inclined to classify the game as such. Nearly all of the game revolves around just experiencing Kai's time in Mutazione, and her interactions with other residents. However, there are two other flavors which lend themselves more towards the point and click, or cozy genres respectively. Each day is broken into several times, such as early morning, afternoon, evening, etc. During these time blocks, Kai can freely wander around and examine her surroundings. While she can use this time to talk to residents, she can also use it to gather seeds from various plants spread across the map, or as a reward for being a good friend to the residents. The seeds are planted by Kai in small gardens, in a very cozy, almost bordering on idler, style of gameplay. Kai has a small set of planting areas, which she grow plants in, and these plants each reverberate a unique melody. Thus, one could have a garden with a lot of harmony within the same melody type, or mix it up with many conflicting sounds. Unfortunately, there's really no reason given by the game to experiment with these mechanics, as Kai will often only need to grow a single specific plant at various moments in the story, making the rest of one's efforts in the garden purely intrinsically-motivating. Mutazione is a game I would have trouble recommending to most, unless someone is particularly fond of "artistic" games with a heavy narrative focus. One thing I haven't mentioned yet is that the game world itself is beautifully constructed, with a surprising amount of animation put into every scene. While it was frustrating having to chase down the residents numerous times to experience the full story, I felt the end result was a decently written game.