The game might be familiar if you have played some of Sigono’s other works. For the record, I have not. But I am checking their new narrative adventure called OPUS: Prism Peak, where we step into a new land. All while aiding a young girl who isn’t able to recall anything from her past. I hope you brought some tissues just in case this one is a tear-jerker. The game is available on Steam now.
A single picture can hold a lifetime of memories.
Gameplay
OPUS: Prism Peak begins with us experiencing the memories of Eugene, who serves as the game’s protagonist. While travelling home to attend his grandfather’s funeral, he crashes his car and awakens in the Dusklands. It is here he meets our secondary protagonist, a mysterious girl who can not recall how she got there or her name. The game heavily focuses on taking photos, for puzzles and uncovering the lore of the world you are now in. Such as photographing murals and placing them in a journal that Eugene had stumbled upon while entering this world. You do meet various NPCs who you are able to connect with by doing both the story and totem puzzles.
The totems themselves will suggest specific pictures that the idle wishes to see. And in doing so, will give Eugene some more insight into their lives and how he is connected with them. Like the dog spirit, or a large bear. Now, new lenses are unlocked by offering seeds to a fire pit, but the player can also unlock more spaces for personal photos, and ashes that they can use to fulfill Eugene’s journal. So far little animal backpacks are also given from the bonfire, for the player to equip on the girl. Lastly, another function you will get for the camera is being able to change the shutter speed. This will be used to correct photo lighting in specific areas.
Graphics & Audio
OPUS: Prism Peak sports an anime-style look in its character models. The overall themes and earthy colour palette mirror an early summer’s day. The lighting throughout is superb, all the more complementing the key component of photography in the game. While the overall colours are very soft and muted, they’re by no means boring, and when something is brighter and more colourful, it truly stands out. Besides the lovely summery-looking environments, I also liked the designs of the anthropomorphic characters. They’re friendly and cute-looking, even the ones with more brash personalities.
Although very simplistic, the style was still aesthetically pleasing and both gentle on the eyes and ears. Most of the background music consists of gentle instruments, excluding the more dangerous or dramatic moments. However, they up the ante in those moments as well without making it sound too intense and stressful. The voice acting was a little dry, though and got old sometimes.
Longevity
There is a lot of room for replayability in OPUS: Prism Peak, since there is a lot of lore to uncover and bonds to make. The game also has multiple endings for you to get, with me unlocking one at the start of the game. But obviously, that was a joke ending. To get the true ending, I think you need to get max bonds with everyone. With 42 achievements to unlock, I can see the game needing additional play-throughs for sure. Most of these are earned by uncovering a lot of the journal, while some are unlocked when doing a specific task.
Even after beating OPUS: Prism Peak, there is still so much more for you to uncover. When 100% characters stories, you will get additional lore, and after the game some cool functions for the camera. To top it off my whole time with the game clocked me in at close to 10 hours.
Final Thoughts
I would say the story was rather predictable, but regardless of this, the ending I unlocked was still emotional and beautiful. Especially that last photo scene. OPUS: Prism Peak has a fun set of characters and does well to tell its story. The gameplay is simple, although certain segments seem like a bit of a chore to actually play. No issues while playing, besides the goat character not being sat in a chair properly.
OPUS: Prism Peak is definitely worth your time and deserves the Thumb Culture Gold Award. Although I don’t think I will be doing another run through it anytime soon. But on the other hand, I might also check out their other work.
Disclaimer: A code was received in order to write this review.
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