When I was 7 or 8 I found a book of fairy tales my great-grandmother had hidden in a corner of her bookshelf. I was told not to read it, so naturally I did. Or rather I had my older sister read it to me because she was better at it. It was a book full of traditional German folklore (think Hansel and Grettel), but absolutely not the version of the tale that’s read to children. At least not anymore. This was old testament folklore and reading it gave me and my sister nightmares for weeks.
Well… Bramble: The Mountain King is exactly like that.
Story of Bramble: The Mountain King
The synopsis of the story you’ll experience is a boy, Olle, trying to find his beloved sister, Lillemor after she wanders into the woods by herself one night. You will play as Olle while he uncovers the secrets of a king in this magical land in which he finds himself, but digging deeper it’s a story about facing fear, death, and the value of life.
It’s all based on Nordic folklore and the tale of the mountain king isn’t the only one you’ll be encountering. Miniature, self-contained fables will keep your dark journey interesting and horrific. Even though the characters don’t speak, the story is narrated beautifully and reinforces the fairy tale atmosphere of the narrative.
Atmosphere in Bramble: The Mountain King
The game oozes a fairy tale atmosphere with an impressive level of cohesion between art direction, a beautiful score, and a commitment to being unsettling. The developers chose a beautiful tilt-shift style to present realistic environments that appear subtly diorama-like and always make you question the scale of what you’re seeing. Olle is transformed to be much smaller than human in this fantasy land, but your brain never quite knows to what extent until you’re right next to an object.
This adds to a feeling of disorientation, that you’re somewhere you don’t belong and you don’t know what’s around the next corner. You’ll encounter gnomes, trolls, fairies, and unspeakable monsters as you meander under giant mushrooms and over lily pads. The dark, gruesome moments are often followed by moments of beauty and serenity with the score giving life to a well-lit magical forest for a brief respite.
Gameplay in Bramble: The Mountain King
It’s pretty clear that Dimfrost wasn’t trying to greatly test your skills of puzzle-solving or platforming abilities. While there are a few obstacles or monsters that will make you wince as you steer poor Olle to an accidental and gruesome death, the checkpoints are very generous. The puzzle mechanics are fairly straightforward and didn’t cause me any hang-ups or head-scratching moments. There’s no new ground being broken here, but the gameplay is entertaining enough to keep you interested for a 6(ish) hour playthrough. The only thing that I would critique is the slightly jarring loading screens that you encounter often and can take you out of the experience between gameplay and cutscene.
Conclusion:
Bramble: The Mountain King is a beautiful, unsettling, atmospheric experience that’s sure to make you thankful you were given watered-down versions of the fairy tales you were told as a child. It tells a worthwhile story about overcoming fear and facing death. The beautiful narration, art style, and subtle gameplay make for a great experience that emphasizes quality over quantity in this relatively short game. I’d highly recommend it to anyone who can tolerate “scenes of infanticide, suicide, violence on children, and general scenes of horror and gore that may be upsetting and disturbing to some players.”
