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EGX Highlights: Pine Hearts is a cosy hiking holiday with the occasional nostalgia tripMemoryvania
Memoryvania
Image credit:Hyper Luminal Games
Image credit:Hyper Luminal Games
Sometimes, the ability to push over a tree was inside you all along. Retrieving woodland traversal skills from the depths of memory is key toPine Hearts, an easygoing adventure/exploration game that I’ve spent a very relaxing half-hour with in theEGX 2023Rezzed Zone.
You are a cute lil’ bean of a camper, returning solo to the isometric splendour of Pine Hearts Caravan Park for the first time since a series of childhood trips with your larger bean father. The map is open, but in traditional Metroidvania/Zelda fashion, most of the paths are blocked off until you can find the tool or remember the ability to clear them.
Image credit:Hyper Luminal Games
I also appreciate the little twist on the explore-get item-explore routine. Functionally and tonally, Pine Hearts comes awfully close to other cosy adventures likeA Short HikeandSmushi Come Home– not inherently a bad thing, as both of those are great. But exploring the same places as both a capable grownup and a starry-eyed youngster, seeing them the same but different, gives this particular escapade a more distinct emotional bent. Consider me a cautiously interested bean.
