Qora

The key to Qora is to enjoy the journey, not the destination.

Qora is a quirky and mysterious exploratory game with beautiful pixel art landscapes. There is a lot of right button pressing, as well as the occasional chopping of tall grass or smashing of boulders. The small resolution, slow pace, and the chopping and smashing, which are really delaying mechanics, worked for me. All of it added to the feeling of a long, winding pilgrimage to the unknown.

I enjoyed about 95 percent of Qora. It’s a Kickstarter title, which I didn’t realize until I reached the end and the tone abruptly changed. I found myself walking through a series of large rooms and halls with giant pixel art portraits and cutesy descriptions. At first I thought it was a quirky-cute method of forcing the player to actually sit through the credits, then I realized it was worse than that. It was a gallery of Kickstarter backers who had been promised cameos. 

$100 bought backers the honor. “Your face in the game! All of the above rewards, PLUS an illustration of you in the game! An 8-bit rendition of you will be large and clear in one of the levels in the game to be memorialized for all eternity!“

Thus, Qora descends into nonsense around the eleventh hour mark.

I could post a review on Steam, but the programmer has taken it upon himself to respond directly to reviews on Steam, so here we are. Normally, I would say the writer did not have a clear vision for the ending of this game. Since the Kickstarter reward strongly implies this sort of ending was intended all along, I’m at a loss to conjecture why anyone thought it was a good idea. I won’t try. Qora’s nonsensical ending and cheevos shenanigans aside (two full playthroughs are required for one of the achievements, even though it is a linear game), I enjoyed the journey and the wonderful sense of mystery that permeated much of the landscape. I liked the characters I met and the way history was presented through a sort of mystical sight, where the player can see into the past upon arriving at certain locations.

Qora has been bundled a few times, and is currently discounted at Bundle Stars, so it is unsurprising only 30% of owners have played it. I got it in a bundle, so my annoyance with the ending–which I think hobbles an otherwise interesting game–is shallow. Endings are hard. I get it. It’s still a pretty game.

The reviews are mixed, about 60/40, and that’s fair and about what I’d expect. The bulk of the criticism is the ending, the pacing, and “it’s not a game,” and two of those are valid. People arguing Qora is not a game, or does not have “gameplay,” can wander off somewhere and go fuck themselves, etc., per usual.