PC Review | Koira

Get ready to befriend your newly found puppy and explore a truly beautiful forest filled with casual puzzles, musical phenomena, and various woodland creatures as you attempt to find your way home and to safety. The forest is full of traps and dangerous hunters who aim to capture your new companion, so it always pays to be vigilant and careful of your surroundings. Through many chapters, you’ll be tasked with solving different puzzles, navigating environmental dilemmas, and cautiously moving through enemy grounds. Koira gives you the responsibility to keep your puppy safe, fed, and petted while your puppy helps clear darkness and aims to ground you when things get too much. Now, time to get into my thoughts and feelings on Koira.

Things I liked!

• Impeccable audio |  It’s safe to say the harmonious audio in Koira brings the game to life and is an essential element to the gameplay. Not only are there environmental features like flowers which hold pleasant musical notes as you run through them, but also audio cues which you should pay attention to for puzzles and story progression. The music was forever changing to match the atmosphere and ambience of various situations: whether it was calm/hostile or joyous/tense, I always had an accurate idea of what to expect. Even the cold weather conditions matched the audio perfectly. The game does state it’s better played with headphones, and I 110% agree that you should immerse yourself in the game and take in the audio at every chance you get.

• Wholesome gameplay | Koira includes different gameplay features for you to interact with as you make your way through the game. There are puzzles which need to be solved, miscellaneous activities you can stop and partake in (which often are related to achievements), and a natural progression which will occur as you make your way through the enchanting forest. Koira allows you to play the game at your own pace, letting you explore and interact with your puppy should you like to stop for a game of fetch or hide and seek! Koira definitely creates an emotional attachment that can pull at the heartstrings in some instances, and I loved every moment of it.

• Hand-drawn visuals | The hand-drawn artwork in Koira is exquisite and captivating. It’s simple yet has a complex meaning with splashes of colour signifying positivity, while the constant patches of darkness that plague the environment add a sense of mystery and despair. The clear snow is a subtle middle ground that not only conveys the chilling winter weather but also somewhat of a neutral space. The scenes in Koira act as an expressive storybook, and with each page, the story expands and presents new scenery. I was positively taken aback by the visuals and appreciated every little detail, including the tiny footprints in the snow, which also acted as a reference point.

• Compelling companionship | From the very moment I came into contact with my puppy, I felt instantly attached; seeing how happy it was, with its adorable ears and light-up nose. The entire adventure is about getting to the safety of your home by working as a team. Whenever I found myself separated from my puppy intentionally for story purposes, I was always panicking about their safety, but seeing them return to me always made my heart melt. My puppy would be able to get to otherwise unreachable places and help guide me where possible. Without the puppy companion, Koira wouldn’t have held as much attachment or emotional value, so I was grateful for my little pet pal!

• Casual puzzles | Every puzzle I came across in Koira was straightforward to solve, with very little room for confusion, making the gameplay smooth and not holding you in one section for too long. The game is self-explanatory and doesn’t make you go out of your way to find out the solutions. Well, a couple of small treks around the forest never hurt anyone, right? It’s crucial to keep an eye on your surroundings, as what you may need usually isn’t all that far away. Curiosity is your friend.

• Chapter select | Koira has multiple achievements which can easily be missed when progressing through the story and accessing areas where you can’t turn back. Thankfully, Koira does have a chapter select option in the main menu, allowing you to access previously completed chapters at your leisure. This makes obtaining those pesky achievements much easier to return to, allowing a casual playthrough without worrying about having to do additional full playthroughs. The number of chapters is generous, and not overly long in playtime, meaning you can get to points of interest pretty swiftly.

Mixed & Disliked!

• Minor issues | During one of the later chapters of Koira, I encountered a problem which stopped me from obtaining one of the miscellaneous achievements for fully restoring the house. In Koira, you can pick up and throw some objects, and although it was partially my own fault, I accidentally threw an item into the abyss. I say the abyss because I honestly have no idea where it went, forcing me to restart my renovations by using the handy chapter select feature to make the item obtainable again – only a minor inconvenience, but still an issue nonetheless.

How long did I play the review before publishing? Approximately 5 Hours
How long to beat the story? Approximately 4-5 Hours
How many Achievements did I earn before publishing? 19/20
How long to complete? | Approximately 4-5 Hours
You’ll love this game if you like these | Planet of Lana, TOEM, Omno

Conclusion

Score: 90/100

Koira is an incredibly wholesome game, short but sweet, about companionship, trust, and working together. I cannot recommend this game much more if I tried; with its beautiful aesthetic (both visually and audibly), combined with an emotionally entrancing story that had me playing from beginning to end in one sitting. It’s certainly a hidden gem and a game I won’t be forgetting anytime soon.