(This article contains spoilers)
There’s a lot of good games out there, from outstanding art to compelling storytelling and innovative gameplay, and it’s not an easy task to create a game that will find its place among them. Herdling, Okomotive‘s third game, manages to place itself in a very specific category of games, those that tell a unique story, share a piece of an unknown world, and feeds the imagination.
The game starts in a city that seems to be mostly abandoned (we know people still live there as we see lights in windows in the morning). The outside world is a bit more active while still showing signs of a past life, with car wrecks here and there and abandoned buildings. The agriculture seems to still be practiced as we see tractors in fields, some cars are also driving on the few roads we encounter. There is human life but it’s scarce and faceless, and stays in the background. Here, the focus is on Via (a name meaning “way” or “path” in Latin, very appropriate), the playable character that will guide creatures called Calicorns to their ultimate destination: the top of the mountain.
Guiding the herd through the different places can be tricky as Via points a direction on an axe using the herd as a central point. The concept is explained via the menu of the game so that people struggling with it can understand how it works. It’s a pretty unique game mechanic that is challenging. I requires you to always anticipate the path to guide the herd, sometimes slaloming between deadly dangers. Patience is a must, and stopping the Calicorns or making them slow down is often the way to go.
As we go through different landscapes and pictures, we meet new Calicorns that join the herd. They all look lost and afraid, far from their peers. Adding a Calicorn to the herd helps them be stronger together, their combined energy serves the entire herd and let them travel farther faster. The group also has the ability to open physical portals along the way and reveal murals telling what seems to be their story thanks to specific flowers. It’s all a matter of symbiosis. Resting together also becomes a group activity. Some immediately go rest next to the campfire while others ask for pets before settling down for the night. One even will ask you to play with them. All of this builds a sense of belonging to the herd, not just as a guide or a caretaker, but also as a friend.
As a nature lover, I was a bit apprehensive about some aspects of the story. In our world, herd animals living close to humans are usually cattle, animals mostly raised for human consumption. In Herdling, Calicorns seem to be spiritual beings, with their own lore. Via is a guide but wouldn’t be able to guide the Calicorns without the magic of what the creatures are made of, as the staff they use is intrinsically tied to the Calicorns. This relationship is based on respect, mutual trust and love.
Kindness and compassion go a long way, and not just with Calicorns. We soon meet what is first introduced as a deadly threat. Birds that look like a dangerous mix of the wonderful harpy eagle and an owl are perched on rocks overlooking the herd as we go through a mountain pass. Disturbing their habitat leads to them attacking us. This threat is, however, reversible as we have the opportunity to save one of them, showing once again that respect and love for nature can only be a positive thing for everyone involved.
Creatures, flowers, guiding spirits, Herdling also seems to verse into a sort of animism, giving the world and everything it’s populated with their own spirits that connect them together. Spirituality is everywhere in the game but never really addressed. Decorated cairns line the path to the mountain top, providing items to decorate the Calicorns, landmarks, but also more magical purposes like making flowers bloom even in the snow. Calicorn spirits are tied to decorated larger standing stones that purify their surroundings once activated and allow the group to rest near them.
The use of primary colors also reminds us of Tibetan Buddhism, that people also associate with rocky mountains. Even the Calicorns seem to have a bit of yak in them! (or maybe a bit of Krampus depending on who you ask) The spirituality of the game is subtle in its manifestation. It’s in the wind, in the rocks, in the flowers, in the animals themselves.
Herdling has this little something that makes it stand out. No dialogue, a colorful world full of quiet life, poetry everywhere. It has heart. This game is reminiscent of Fumito Ueda’s iconic games, from Ico to Shadow of the Colossus, but more especially The Last Guardian, with a healthy amount of what made Journey an outstanding game. Don’t get me wrong, Herdling is its own game with its own lore and imagery, a unique story carried by a wonderful soundtrack, composed by Joel Schoch, that conveys all the emotions we go through and converses with the storytelling in a very gracious way. What a joy.
The simplicity of the game makes it all the more precious: no impossible achievements, no race for the best stats, it’s all about the journey and the relationship with other beings and their surroundings. Herdling is a beautiful, wholesome tale.
Herdling is available on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch.
