Europa Review – Cozy Platformer

When it comes to 3D platformers, we really don’t see too many from big studios aside from Nintendo and Sega these days, and the genre has largely fallen into the indie developer sphere. Developed by Chozabu and Novadust Entertainment, Europa is the latest indie platformer, drawing quite a few visual inspirations from the works of Studio Ghibli with its lush, vibrant landscapes all rendered with soft edges and bright colors.

Europa isn’t meant to be a particularly challenging platformer. Rather than offering up some difficult obstacle courses that players will have to master their movesets to overcome, Europa instead draws players into its young protagonist’s goals of exploration, and hopefully, wants its players to feel the same sense of wonder that our hero, Zee, feels.

Gameplay wise, Zee has access to just about his entire moveset right from the start of the game: the ability to jump, a charged up jump move to reach higher places, the ability to glide, and if he has enough juice in his jetpack, the ability to levitate for more sustained exploration by flight, and the ability to expel energy to light small torches and braziers. Just about every obstacle in the game makes use of one or more of these abilities, and you’re not going to be unlocking new traversal mechanics over time.

While this lack of progression might put some players off, the general game design in Europa showcases the elegance of these abilities. The game stretches these abilities to their ultimate breaking points and comes up with new and unique ways to make use of the same jumping and gliding mechanics you’ve been doing throughout your time spent on Jupiter’s moon.

Movement feels quite floaty, but this tends to vibe well with the general peaceful atmosphere present throughout the game. While there are some things out there that might want to harm you, you’re not going to be dodging attacks and slashing things around in Europa. Instead, just about every threat can either be outright avoided by taking an alternate path or dealt with by finding ways to deactivate them. For example, turrets from early on in the game will shoot you after spending a long time locking on even if you stand still. These attacks by turrets are incredibly easy to dodge by simply just moving around, they can be disabled by finding their switch somewhere nearby.

"Zee has access to just about his entire moveset right from the start of the game"

So, moving around in Europa can be quite fun once you start learning things; like how to transition from the end of your glide into a slide down a hill whilst maintaining velocity, or how the blue spheres all over the place encourage you to take flight and explore the ruins that might be scattered around you from every possible angle you can imagine. This also gives way to the game’s collectibles, including around forty emeralds that are waiting to be found, as well as crystals that boost the jetpack’s fuel capacity.

It is easy to imagine that Europa is instead taking glee in showcasing its peaceful adventure thanks to its downright stunning vistas and gorgeous sights.

Puzzles throughout Europa also tend to be rather simple and will seldom have you standing in one place and scratching your head. Most doors, for example, can be opened up by lighting a few braziers that might be close by. Some paths will only open up once you find three wisps and bring them to a switch. There are also a few jumping puzzles throughout the game, but none of them get any more complicated than, for example, a block appearing and disappearing depending on when you press the jump button, forcing you to trigger these blocks at specific moments.

"Puzzles throughout Europa also tend to be rather simple"

The visuals are definitely one of the highlights in Europa. While not a high-fidelity game by any stretch, the Ghibli-inspired visuals of the game will make you feel just as cozy as watching any of the studio’s famous movies. There is quite a bit of variety in the visuals, ranging from idyllic, rolling hills, to a field where a battle took place ages ago, littered with giant dormant robots that might have been warriors in this battle, to even underwater levels. All of these zones are also populated by its own ecosystem, with the game emphasizing this by having you sketch out new creatures you might come across during your travels.

It’s worth noting that the game seems to be very well aware of just how good it looks and will constantly present vantage points to show off its different levels. Every time you enter a new zone, for example, you’ll get a fly-by of the entire zone to show you just what you’re up against, and even letting you scout out some collectibles you might want to grab along the way.

All of this is wrapped up in a story told almost entirely through a third-party narrator. Rather than featuring cutscenes or other characters to talk through, the story is essentially told through your own exploration thanks to the plethora of visual cues, along with a voice that claims to be Zee’s father. The game takes place on Jupiter’s eponymous moon, Europa, which has seemingly been terraformed by humans quite some time ago. This has led to the moon forming its own ecosystem over time and has even given way for empires to rise and fall, their ruins being evidence of their once great status.

"The game takes place on Jupiter’s eponymous moon, Europa"

Following notes from his father, Zee sets off on an adventure to rediscover Europa for himself, and maybe along the way figure out the goals of his life. The father’s notes tend to act as the most important form of collectible throughout the game. While they tend to be incredibly easy to find, since they’re not particularly well hidden and are often sitting around next to the path you would take to progress further into the game, they can also be ignored completely if you would prefer to play the game at your own pace and not be interrupted by the ramblings of an old man.

Generally speaking, the story felt like the least important aspect of Europa, with the visuals and chilled out gameplay providing a much better incentive for me to find out more of what the game might have to offer. A particularly important motivation for me ended up being the desire to sketch out just about every single part of the wildlife that might be present on Europa, from its own strange, almost robotic butterflies to more traditional animals, like what might be a reindeer.

Europa is not a very long game, and it took me around four hours to complete it. Besides collectibles, not many players will have a reason to take up another run. Regardless, Europa is fun game that not only manages to offer up a peaceful experience for its players but might also be a great way to introduce younger players, or even non-gamers into the medium. Since there’s no real danger in the world, exploring becomes an activity that’s fun, rather than stressful, and at no point does the game even force you to continue down its own narrative, letting you enjoy the game the way you want to enjoy it, while taking in the gorgeous landscapes it has to offer.

This game was reviewed on PC.