Genre: Point-and-Click Adventure
Release date: August  8, 2017
Platforms: Windows, Mac

Peregrin is the tale of a young woman named Abi who has left her home and headed for parts unknown to discover the fate of her people. Her story is told through narration, scripted conversations via radio, and recorded transmission logs that she finds along the way. We soon learn that a cataclysmic event occurred in the past and Abi has arrived at The Divide – a haunted wasteland that was at the epicenter. Other members of her tribe have attempted this same quest but no one has ever returned.

Peregrin is played from a top-down view, as you move Abi through a landscape of devastation. The interface is easy to use and clear instructions are provided for game mechanics. There is no inventory to manage, no complex fighting commands, and no dialog trees to navigate. You simply point, click, and occasionally use the space bar.

The Divide is a magical place, with helpful creatures and malevolent guardians. By clicking on a totem, magic is activated in the current area and Abi gains the skill of Eloheem Possession. This enables her to control the actions of creatures within the totem’s sphere of influence.

There are three primary “friendlies” – Grub Trolls for heavy lifting, Cliff Goats for pushing, and Nab Toads for activating items or reaching out-of-the-way objects. Enemies can also be controlled and directed to fight each other. Abi herself cannot do much more than run/walk, attack, and control creatures. The challenge of the game is to use your possession skills to survive passage through The Divide. As you progress, the story unfolds.

Combat is fairly simple, with minimal strategy required. Guardians come in several forms, some with shields, and some more powerful than others. The trick is to use hostile creatures against each other until only a single weakened enemy remains for Abi to attack.

Initially, the game is intriguing as each scenario presents a different combination of obstacles to overcome. You must solve problems using only what can be controlled within the area of a totem. This requires planning a sequence of actions and assessing the best way to use the creatures at hand. Many scenarios also include groups of guardians that must be vanquished. If you do not strategize correctly, you are killed and given a chance to try again. And so it goes, for five chapters.

At some point you realize that this is it. The scenery changes and there are slight variances between the structures you encounter. There are buttons to push, bridges to activate, and doors to open. However, you are performing the same basic actions throughout the entire game. Peregrin simply requires that you direct creatures to act on your behalf, fight the guardians, and then move Abi to the next scene. Repeat and repeat…

At its core, Peregrin is a classic heroic quest. A single individual strikes out into a mythical wilderness in search of the truth. She is brave and strong and succeeds where others have failed. In the end, she bears witness to the ultimate folly of the human condition and learns what happens when mankind attempts to compete with the gods.

Despite repetitive gameplay, Peregrin is still a delightful adventure. The story, soundtrack, and artwork come together in a wonderful way.  Dan Waters and the Domino Digital team have done an impressive job of creating a beautiful environment with a compelling story. Based in the U.K., their previous titles include Calvino Noir and Morphopolis. This game features the artistic talents of Gareth Davis and Connor Sheehan. Add in original music by Chris Randle and professional voice acting, and you have an immersive fairy tale that you will want to follow to the very end.

+ Unique artwork and original music combine to create a beautiful place to spend time  + Complex and detailed story that unfolds as you travel   – Very repetitive gameplay – Fairly short adventure that can be finished in under 4 hours

System Requirements