Drizzlepath: Genie

About

"Drizzlepath: Genie" is a first-person puzzle adventure game that follows the journey of a young man seeking to fulfill a promise to his dying mother. The game features a beautiful, atmospheric world with minimalist design and a focus on story and exploration. Players must solve puzzles and make choices that will affect the outcome of their journey, with multiple endings available.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

+21

59%

Audience ScoreBased on 121 reviews

story29 positive mentions

optimization5 negative mentions

The game features beautiful scenery and a vast world to explore, providing a visually stunning experience.
The narrative is poetic and thought-provoking, offering deep themes about life and existence.
The auto-walk feature allows for a more relaxed gameplay experience, letting players enjoy the atmosphere without constant input.

The pacing is extremely slow, which can lead to boredom and frustration during long stretches of walking.
The voice acting lacks emotion and can feel monotonous, detracting from the overall immersion of the story.
There are numerous bugs and collision issues that can disrupt gameplay, including getting stuck in the environment.

story
114 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
66%
9%
The game's story is a poetic and introspective journey that unfolds as players explore, though it often suffers from convoluted narration and a lack of coherence, leading to mixed reviews. While some players appreciate the atmospheric storytelling and philosophical themes, others find the plot unengaging and poorly executed, with significant pacing issues and a lack of meaningful choices. Overall, the narrative is seen as a blend of beautiful writing and frustrating execution, making it a hit or miss depending on player expectations.
- “There's a wonderful story in this one, beautifully written and nicely narrated.”
- “The story is quite poetic and descriptive.”
- “Drizzlepath: Genie is a fascinating and very atmospheric game that offers exploration along two different paths and a well-presented and narrated storyline for both of them.”
- “The narration was bad, the story was not captivating at all, and the landscape unimpressive at max settings.”
- “There is nothing to do except keep traveling down the 'drizzlepath' till you get to the end where there is a sort of silly, amateurish storyline with silly looking, inanimate figures.”
- “The story, and I use the term incredibly loosely (even by walking sim standards), would struggle to be called threadbare.”
music
64 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
63%
5%
The music in the game is widely praised for its beauty and atmospheric quality, enhancing the overall immersive experience with a diverse soundtrack that shifts to match different environments. However, some players noted issues with volume levels, repetitiveness, and occasional overpowering of voiceovers, which detracted from the experience. Overall, while the music contributes significantly to the game's ambiance, its execution could benefit from more variety and better volume control.
- “The music is beautiful!”
- “The music is rather special; the soundtrack seems to be synthetic and shifts between different styles of music to fit each section.”
- “The sound of the constant rainfall, the soothing music, and the relaxed speed at which the scenery passed me by all combined to put me in a trancelike peaceful state.”
- “The music got repetitive.”
- “The music loops too often; it's really an issue when the game is trying to create atmosphere using music and it just cuts off and starts over with the same song for the next 15 minutes.”
- “By the end of the game, I felt I was asking my own questions about life itself... for example: 'What would life be like if I were to rip my ears out right now to avoid hearing this music play any longer?' Ok, that's a bit harsh I admit, but the music was overpowering, loud, and indeed atmospheric in a world without atmosphere which made it feel out of place.”
graphics
60 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40%
55%
5%
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with many praising the beautiful landscapes and immersive visuals, particularly in comparison to its predecessor. However, some players note issues such as overcooked graphics, poor optimization, and distracting light flares that detract from the overall experience. While the game offers stunning visuals that appeal to fans of the genre, performance problems and a lack of graphical options can hinder enjoyment for some players.
- “This game included a surprising number of missteps, but no game is perfect, and one can't be too critical of a walking simulator that fulfills its purpose with gorgeous visuals.”
- “By far the main reason to play the game is its lush graphics, even though the light flares mar it slightly.”
- “The game is indeed beautiful, nice graphics as always with the Unreal Engine.”
- “The graphics, even on maximum settings, appear so overcooked that you would be better off buying Morrowind (the original).”
- “But the graphics as a whole are seriously underwhelming.”
- “Graphics are okay, but not nice enough to make the journey worthwhile.”
gameplay
29 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
14%
72%
14%
The gameplay of "Drizzlepath: Genie" is primarily characterized as simplistic and largely consists of walking along predetermined paths while listening to narration, with minimal interactive elements. While some players appreciate the calming atmosphere and scenic visuals, many criticize the lack of engaging mechanics and the overall tediousness of the experience, often feeling disconnected from the gameplay due to its monotonous nature. Technical issues and poor voice recording quality further detract from the overall enjoyment, leaving players wanting more depth and meaningful interaction.
- “Whilst the game could use more sources of information (by increasing interactions) and encourage more exploration by giving players a meaningful story-related reason to do so, the overall implementation of mechanics was smooth and it played well.”
- “The majority of the gameplay involves walking along one of both paths (with possibilities to explore alongside it), listening to beautifully delivered and voiced narration, and finding scenic views while you wander.”
- “For the beauty of the scenery, for the boundless world, for the calming music combined with the narration, for the quite lengthy gameplay that it offers (2-4h for the red path, 3-5h for the blue path), I consider the price to be very affordable.”
- “Pretentious text and tedious gameplay with horrendous voice-over work.”
- “There's not really much to say regarding gameplay.”
- “Wow this game is bad... literally no gameplay except for holding W to go forward or pressing Q to auto-walk through a boring environment with occasional short text read by a girl (whose voice is literally the only good thing here)... I should have just left it minimized to get cards instead of trying to play it.”
atmosphere
25 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
68%
20%
12%
The atmosphere of the game is widely praised for its breathtaking scenery, relaxing rain-soaked environments, and harmonious soundtracks that enhance the immersive experience. While the overall ambiance is described as cozy and contemplative, some users noted issues with repetitive music and occasional lifeless voice acting that detracted from the experience. Despite these minor flaws, the game's atmosphere remains a significant draw, inviting players to explore its beautiful world and uncover its story at a leisurely pace.
- “The music is pretty, atmospheric... the atmosphere overall is breathtaking.”
- “The scenery is extremely beautiful and the rain-soaked atmosphere is quite relaxing.”
- “It offers you very pleasant voice acting, a harmonious soundtrack, a fascinating, surreal, weird atmosphere, and decent graphics.”
- “Although the voice acting is sometimes lifeless and at other times doesn't convey the correct emotions (sometimes to comedic effect), on the whole it works rather well and fits the general contemplative atmosphere.”
- “The rain-soaked atmosphere is very relaxing.”
- “Music loops too often; it's really an issue when the game is trying to create atmosphere using music and it just cuts off and starts over with the same song for the next 15 minutes.”
optimization
17 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
18%
53%
29%
Overall, the optimization of the game has received mixed reviews. While some players appreciate the improved performance compared to its predecessor, many report significant issues such as fluctuating frame rates, stuttering, and poor performance even on high-end systems. There is a consensus that further optimization is needed to enhance the gaming experience.
- “In terms of graphics, the world created by this engine is just as beautiful; however, unlike its predecessor, the game is now greatly optimized and has a smooth performance throughout.”
- “Players have access to a lot of in-game settings and they may tweak them until performance is flawless.”
- “I think there is still room for optimization for this game in that regard.”
- “But the performance of the game is horrid. I have a fairly strong computer, and I experienced horrible FPS (jumping from 20 to 50) at all graphic sliders set to medium or less, even with shadows turned off.”
- “Horrible performance, even at the worst possible settings.”
- “I am also not very happy with the performance, as I experience weird stuttering even on my Titan X when I turn around.”
grinding
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and frustrating, primarily due to the slow walking pace and lengthy traversal times. While occasional speed boosts provide some relief, the overall experience is marred by repetitive gameplay and a lack of engaging content, making the journey feel unnecessarily prolonged.
- “Just the sound of rain; too much walking got tedious.”
- “Absolutely tedious.”
- “A tedious and frustrating walking simulator.”
stability
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game suffers from significant stability issues, including frequent bugs, poor collision detection, and frustrating gameplay glitches that can lead to players getting stuck or falling into unescapable areas. These problems detract from the overall experience and suggest a need for substantial improvements in stability.
- “Be careful at some points; it's really buggy and you can easily get stuck on rocks.”
- “Some gameplay glitches made me start the game twice – when leaving the prescribed path, I was falling into a trench and could not get out of it.”
- “The collision detection was bad, the invisible barriers were frustrating, and the constant lighting glitches were very problematic.”
replayability
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
75%
Overall, the game offers a mixed assessment of replayability, with some users noting a significant replay value while others point out its limitations. The consensus suggests that while there are opportunities for replay, they may not be extensive or varied enough to sustain long-term interest.
- “Limited replay value.”
- “At least you can’t complain about lack of replay value.”
- “Replayability: 4”
emotional
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The emotional aspect of the game is significantly enhanced by its dynamic soundtrack, which features soothing and mysterious music that adapts to the scenery, alongside immersive sound effects like rain and wind. This auditory experience creates a relaxing atmosphere that deeply resonates with players, allowing them to fully engage with the environment.
- “However, what really 'spoke' to me was the music that follows you almost all the time; a soothing, relaxing music, sometimes emotional, other times mysterious, always changing according to the scenery. The sound of the rain and thunder, the sound of the wind whooshing when you're on a high peak of a mountain.”
humor
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is appreciated by users, with some reviewers encouraging others to follow their curator page for more entertaining content. Overall, the comedic elements seem to resonate well with players, adding to the enjoyment of the game.