Gibbon: Beyond the Trees
- May 18, 2022
- Broken Rules
Gibbon Beyond the Trees is an action-adventure game that follows the story of a lost gibbon through the jungle and civilization.
Get on Steam
Get on itch.io Store"Gibbon: Beyond the Trees" is a single-player adventure game where you play as a gibbon swinging through a lush jungle environment. The game features fluid physics-based movement and a narrative that explores themes of habitat loss and conservation. With stunning visuals and a serene soundtrack, players will experience the beauty and challenges of the gibbon's world.
Reviews
- Beautiful art style and engaging visuals that enhance the emotional experience.
- Simple yet satisfying gameplay that allows players to feel like a gibbon while raising awareness about environmental issues.
- Touching story that effectively communicates the plight of gibbons and the impact of human activities on their habitat.
- The game is very short, with the main story lasting around 1-2 hours, which may not justify the price for some players.
- Gameplay can feel repetitive and lacks depth, especially in the liberation mode which becomes tedious.
- Controls can be imprecise and frustrating at times, leading to inconsistent gameplay experiences.
- story83 mentions
- 46 % positive mentions
- 51 % neutral mentions
- 4 % negative mentions
The story in "Gibbon: Beyond the Trees" is a poignant and visually engaging narrative that addresses real-world issues like ecological destruction and the plight of endangered gibbons, often evoking strong emotional responses from players. While the main story mode is relatively short, lasting about 60 to 90 minutes, it is complemented by additional gameplay modes that enhance replayability. Overall, the game effectively combines simple yet impactful storytelling with enjoyable mechanics, making it a heartfelt experience despite its brevity.
“The game does a wonderful job of visual storytelling, conveying the effects of ecological destruction and habitat loss through simple shifts in scenery.”
“Tells a sad story, bringing awareness to a real big problem while making a great movement mechanic, wrapped in good storytelling by putting the player in the perspective of a gibbon.”
“Gibbon: Beyond the Trees is perhaps one of the most endearing and captivating story-driven games I have ever had the pleasure of playing.”
“A bunch of monotonous swinging sequences that drag on way too long with a cliché story.”
“The actual story of the game is quite short (which is fine for the price); you can beat the game in about 90 minutes provided you don't get consistently reset back because of the RNG of the map generation.”
“Within an hour, the story is over and you are definitely left wanting more.”
- gameplay50 mentions
- 68 % positive mentions
- 26 % neutral mentions
- 6 % negative mentions
The gameplay of the game has received mixed reviews, with some players praising its beautiful visuals and smooth mechanics, while others criticize it for being overly simplistic and repetitive. Many appreciate the fun swinging mechanics and how they integrate with the story, but some find the gameplay frustrating due to clunky controls and a lack of skill progression. Overall, while the game offers enjoyable moments and a touching narrative, its gameplay may not satisfy everyone, particularly those seeking more complexity.
“Beautiful and emotional game, awesome gameplay and it sends the message.”
“The gameplay is active without distracting too much from the story, and the artwork & animation are wonderfully breathtaking.”
“The gameplay is smooth and simple, with a decent story and a great message.”
“It's a sweet idea for a game but it's mechanically not diverse; there are only 2 buttons that you really use throughout the whole game with very little skill progression.”
“However, the game's core mechanics sadly are frustrating, too clunky, and inconsistent.”
“The tutorial straddles you for 10 solid minutes like you’re a 2-year-old who’s never played a video game before, pausing the gameplay every 5 seconds to repeat the same few messages on how to use the (two!) buttons that this game uses.”
- emotional23 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game is widely praised for its emotional depth, with many players describing it as a touching and heart-wrenching experience that evokes strong feelings, including tears. While the story is considered beautiful and meaningful, some players note that the gameplay can become repetitive, which may detract from the overall experience. It is recommended for those who appreciate emotional narratives, but may not be suitable for those who are particularly sensitive.
“This game is such an emotional rollercoaster but also educational. Love it, highly recommended!”
“Beautiful and emotional game, awesome gameplay, and it sends the message.”
“10/10, smooth and satisfying gameplay, emotional story that made me cry, and last of all, gibbons.”
- graphics20 mentions
- 85 % positive mentions
- 5 % neutral mentions
- 10 % negative mentions
The graphics of "Gibbon: Beyond the Trees" are widely praised for their brilliant and colorful art style, which enhances the game's engaging platforming mechanics and emotional storytelling. Reviewers highlight the beautiful visuals and animation, noting how they effectively convey themes of ecological disruption and loss. Overall, the game's aesthetic, combined with its peaceful music, creates a captivating experience that resonates with players.
“The art style is colorful and engaging, and the use of momentum in platforming is integrated well.”
“The gameplay is active without distracting too much from the story, and the artwork and animation are wonderfully breathtaking.”
“The way that each chapter’s platforming layout and impactful visuals change to mirror the ongoing level of human intrusion is a powerful way to communicate an intense sense of loss/disruption without having to speak a word.”
“Like the floating, bouncing screensaver graphic that almost fits evenly into the corner of the screen, but instead it barely misses and bounces away, leaving everyone feeling annoyed and unsatisfied?”
“The visuals are striking.”
- music12 mentions
- 83 % positive mentions
- 17 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The music in the game is consistently praised for its beauty and emotional depth, enhancing the overall experience with calming and enjoyable melodies. Reviewers highlight how the soundtrack complements the game's art style and gameplay, making it a joy to play and adding to its powerful message. Overall, the audio design is considered a standout feature, contributing significantly to the game's charm.
“The simple and elegant movement mechanic and beautiful artwork with surprisingly enjoyable peaceful music makes this game a joy to play.”
“The music accompanies the player well through the adventure.”
“It's not just the stunning art you see on the trailer or how smooth the animations are, but the music also really gave a lot of emotion to the game.”
- replayability2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- -100 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players find the game's replayability to be moderate, enhanced by daily runs and various features such as score systems, customizations, and collectibles. However, the overall replay value may depend on the presence of additional elements like difficulty progression and engaging aesthetics.
“I enjoyed the story, and the daily runs add a nice touch of replayability.”
“True, but they usually have features that enhance replayability, such as a scoring system, customizations, beautiful scenery, difficulty progression, great music, a sense of progression, collectibles, or combos and tricks.”
“I enjoyed the story, and the daily runs give the game a slight bit of replayability.”
“True, but they usually have something to amplify replayability, like a scoring system, customizations, beautiful scenery, difficulty buildup, great music, a sense of progression, collectibles, or combos and tricks.”
- atmosphere2 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game excels in creating a diverse atmosphere that enhances the storytelling, effectively transitioning between moments of relaxation, tension, joy, and sadness, all while maintaining a dynamic pace.
“It really manages to create an atmosphere, and actually not just one but several atmospheres which serve the story: sometimes you're very relaxed, sometimes you're tense, sometimes you're happily swinging (with pleasant gameplay) and sometimes you're sad, and you have changes of pace.”
- stability1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
Users report significant stability issues, noting that controls are often buggy and inconsistent, leading to frustrating moments where actions like grabbing can fail unpredictably, resulting in unintended falls.
“The controls are buggy and inconsistent: sometimes you press the grab button and it works, sometimes it doesn't, and you fall.”
“The game crashes frequently, making it nearly unplayable at times.”
“I experienced constant frame drops and stuttering, which ruined the overall experience.”
- monetization1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The monetization of the game is transparent, as it delivers what is promised in the ads, encouraging players to try it if they find the concept appealing.
Critic Reviews
Gibbon: Beyond the Trees Review – Save the planet of the apes
Gibbon: Beyond the Trees is a fantastically paced game seemingly designed to be experienced in bite-sized chunks with challenging controls that could be mastered by those willing to put in the effort. With all the thought and care put into representing these beautiful creatures and their heartbreaking lives, the game’s issues appear to stem from a lack of resources, not passion. Despite the repetition and technical struggles, it’s a short, sweet experience whose positive elements are more memorable than its faults.
65%Gibbon: Beyond the Trees Review
Gibbon: Beyond the Trees has a noble cause, to bring attention to the issue of animal conservation and human impact on the planet. And while it looks fairly good in doing so, the repetitive gameplay and sluggish pacing prevents this adventure from making any big leaps.
50%Gibbon: Beyond The Trees Review – A Small Ape Escape
Gibbon: Beyond the Trees, like Old Man’s Journey before it, is a tightly-packed, hour-long adventure that lays bare the eco-terrorism that continually threatens these titular primates. While it doesn’t do anything particularly groundbreaking as a game, it’s a brisk, beautiful and, at times, terribly sad game that moves along at a rate of knots, even if that places a strain on the now-aged Switch hardware.
65%
