Giraffe and Annika Review – Is This the Real Life? Is This Just Fantasy?

I like games that make you think, wonder, and analyse. Giraffe and Annika easily falls into this category; a rare example of a game that actually successfully invited me back in for a second playthrough, simply so I could put together the pieces of the game’s narrative puzzle all over again, and really digest what they wanted to tell us the first time around.

Introduction

Giraffe and Annika is an indie action-adventure game with rhythmic elements, developed by Atelier Mimina and published by NIS America in the west. It released on August 25th, 2020, for PlayStation 4. Despite being a clear action-adventure title, the game adopts a pacifist method of gameplay by not granting us offensive capabilities, urging us to play defensively instead.

Story

After awakening from a strange dream outside the cottage she shares with a woman named Lisa, young cat-girl Annika quickly discovers most of her memories are gone, along with Lisa herself. Confused and disoriented, Annika explores the cottage to gather supplies before heading back outside where she is met by a friendly older animal-boy named Giraffe, who claims to be her friend.

Giraffe asks for Annika’s help in recovering three special star fragments which protect the island and can also grant Annika new abilities and supposedly restore her memories. He also reveals that only Annika can harness the power of these star fragments as she is the last of a subspecies of cat-people known as the Felycans, who have spiritual ties to the mystical island of Spica, the haunted land where they live, cut off from the outside world.

Annika agrees to help Giraffe, and the pair begin exploring the island. Annika finds the island is a strange fusion of fantasy and reality elements, and she also begins having flashbacks of memories which reveal a human version of herself alongside a loving family, while newspaper clippings reveal evidence of a modern world outside and stories of a tragic boating accident nearby.

During her travels, Annika is hindered by a beautiful young witch named Lily, who appears to have a score to settle, and knows far more than she lets on, but then, perhaps the same could also be said about Giraffe. Spica is a riddle wrapped in an enigma, and Annika will need to play her part to solve this puzzle, one piece at a time.

Gameplay

You’ll be playing as Annika throughout the adventure, who will gradually learn new abilities throughout the story which include jumping, sprinting, and swimming. The game uses a pacifist battle system where Annika has no combat abilities in normal encounters against the island’s ghostly inhabitants who will drain Annika’s life gauge if they touch her. Annika is quick and agile enough to evade most encounters, though this can feel rather loosely mapped to the thumbstick.

Annika will need to avoid enemy encounters, timing her approach around enemies and running away quickly if discovered. Fortunately, Annika can quickly recover lost life energy by touching the countless life stones dotted around the island, which are very easy to find. Not all ghosts are hostile, and many will actually help Annika progress if you do a favour for them in return. These friendly NPCs will offer different services, such as providing tips or offering side-quests.

Boss fights work differently, and are performed through rhythm-based action. These encounters are both musical and magical. Annika will spawn a magical staff and be required to dispel and counter-attack enemy magic projectiles to the rhythm of the background music. Each music track will usually be themed around the environment in which we find ourselves.

Graphics/Sound

For a single island, Spica is a cleverly diverse place, sporting a variety of environments with unique features, gorgeous scenery and exceptional detail. For a lower budget title, the world of Giraffe and Annika looks absolutely superb; It’s just a shame that all the little details crammed in to the game didn’t extend to the character models, and the frame-rate could also benefit from a hefty boost.

Annika doesn’t look too bad in motion, responding reasonably well to light and shade and possessing a variety of outfits to switch to, yet the game really struggles with facial features. All characters have blank, emotionless baby-faces, which look a little odd. To combat this, the game instead uses the lazy method of comic book-style cutscenes, which while very well drawn, are a weak substitute for solid animation.

The music is beautifully atmospheric throughout, bouncing between serene, mysterious and playful on the fly, utilising a variety of orchestral instruments which always suit the mood. Sadly, the game isn’t really voiced, with only the occasional recorded gasp, sigh, and joyful “Yay”. It seems budgets can only stretch so far.

Replayability/Trophies

While it’s tempting to make a leisurely playthrough for your first run of the game, you’ll likely beat yourself up if you miss something following the game’s point of no return. The game will warn you beforehand, but it helps to make a separate save file in case you missed something as the last two dungeons run back to back.

You are going to need to backtrack through the dungeons in order to grab the collectable ‘Meowsterpieces’, and you’ll also need to make sure to unlock the swimming suit by having 20 meowsterpieces, as this will make swimming much faster and will make it easier to collect certain items underwater. There are a lot of different collectables, and you’ll need to grab everything to master the game and unlock their respective trophies.

Collectables aren’t the only time-sensitive tasks that trophy hunters will need to tackle, as there are a few limited-time errands and actions to be done too. A trophy guide is absolutely essential for this one, but then, scoring ‘S’ rank performances in the hardest difficulty music stages really puts the odds against most players scoring the platinum trophy. It’s a tough one.

Conclusion

The story of Giraffe and Annika is one big puzzle to solve, and the characters, setting, and environmental macguffins are all puzzle pieces for you to play around with. There’s something brilliantly fresh about how the game teases you with clues throughout its short runtime, which will have you kicking yourself when the ending assembles all these pieces for you, revealing the truth of what’s really going on.

Obviously, spoiling the ending is a big no-no since it’s surprisingly powerful stuff. I did, however, have mixed feelings about the ending. I adored the ideas that the game explores during its run, yet the ending can come across as rather abrupt, and all too similar to modern deus ex machina tropes. Still, my disappointment soon passed, and the ending played on my mind for days, until I came back to revisit the brilliantly bizarre narrative, hungry to find more clues and backstory teasers.

I’m reminded of eccentric, child-friendly Disney stories such as The Wizard of Oz and Alice In Wonderland which deliver twisted worlds of fantasy and reality components combined, as well as the thoughts and feelings the protagonists experience during these adventures. Annika’s cast will also struggle with memory and identity, viewing themselves in strange and even fantastical roles which are as surprising as they are entertaining.

Giraffe and Annika has a few issues, though nothing potentially game-breaking. It’s a magical adventure with a story that will stay with you for years to come. With a bit more polish, and obviously a bit more budget, I’ve no doubt we could be looking at a masterpiece here, but as it stands, we’ll have to make do with a beautiful story that has to cut a few corners here and there.