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.
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Mac OS
Nintendo Switch
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Playstation 4
Playstation 5
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Reviews
- Beautiful art style and engaging visuals that enhance the emotional storytelling.
- Simple yet satisfying gameplay that allows players to feel like a gibbon while swinging through trees.
- The game effectively raises awareness about environmental issues and gibbon conservation, making it both educational and entertaining.
- The main story is very short, taking only about 1-2 hours to complete, which may not justify the price for some players.
- Gameplay can become repetitive and lacks diversity, with limited mechanics and a reliance on only a few buttons.
- Technical issues such as inconsistent controls and input delays can lead to frustrating experiences during gameplay.
- story174 mentions
- 46 % positive mentions
- 52 % neutral mentions
- 2 % negative mentions
The story of "Gibbon: Beyond the Trees" is a poignant and visually captivating narrative that addresses real-world issues such as ecological destruction and the plight of endangered species, particularly gibbons. While the main story mode is relatively short, lasting about an hour, it effectively evokes strong emotions and raises awareness through its wordless storytelling and beautiful art. Players appreciate the game's ability to blend gameplay with a meaningful message, although some find the gameplay repetitive and the story lacking depth beyond its brief presentation.
“The game does a wonderful job of visual storytelling, conveying effects of ecological destruction and habitat loss through simple shifts in scenery.”
“Gibbon: Beyond the Trees tells a hugely important story wordlessly and effortlessly, combining the gameplay and story in ways that inspire both powerlessness and hope.”
“The story progresses and along come emotions, as you realize even monkeys experience deep hardships.”
“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.”
“The story itself is rather simple since it's a short game without any dialogue or portrayal of gibbon thoughts whatsoever.”
- gameplay103 mentions
- 66 % positive mentions
- 30 % neutral mentions
- 4 % negative mentions
The gameplay of the game has received mixed reviews, with some players praising its simple yet enjoyable mechanics and fluid movement that effectively convey the story's emotional weight. However, others criticize it for being overly simplistic, repetitive, and frustrating due to clunky controls and a lack of skill progression. Overall, while the game offers a beautiful experience with a meaningful message, its gameplay may not satisfy everyone, particularly those seeking more dynamic mechanics.
“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 might be simple, but thanks to the fun and fluid movement, it feels great to play.”
“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.”
“The gameplay novelty wears off after 10 minutes and 30 minutes later you wonder why you're still playing.”
- emotional49 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game is widely praised for its deeply emotional narrative, with many players reporting that it made them cry and provided a heartfelt experience. While the visuals and gameplay mechanics are often described as beautiful and engaging, some reviewers caution that the emotional weight may be overwhelming for those who are sensitive. Overall, it is considered a touching and meaningful journey, though some find the gameplay repetitive.
“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.”
- graphics43 mentions
- 86 % positive mentions
- 7 % neutral mentions
- 7 % negative mentions
The graphics of "Gibbon: Beyond the Trees" are widely praised for their beautiful and colorful art style, which effectively enhances the game's emotional narrative and ecological message. Players appreciate the engaging visuals and smooth animations that complement the gameplay, creating a captivating experience. Overall, the game's stunning artwork and thoughtful design contribute significantly to its charm and impact.
“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.”
“A game with a really touching story, gorgeous visuals and audio, and smooth and fun mechanics.”
“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.”
“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.”
- music24 mentions
- 83 % positive mentions
- 17 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The music in the game is consistently praised for its calming and emotional qualities, enhancing the overall experience alongside the beautiful artwork and smooth gameplay. Reviewers highlight the music's ability to accompany players effectively throughout their adventure, contributing to a joyful and immersive atmosphere. Overall, the combination of lovely music and strong messaging makes the game highly recommended, especially for younger audiences.
“The simple and elegant movement mechanic and beautiful artwork with surprisingly enjoyable peaceful music makes this game a joy to play.”
“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.”
“Beautiful art, calming music and a strong message.”
- replayability5 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 40 % neutral mentions
- 60 % negative mentions
Overall, players find the game's replayability to be moderate, enhanced by features like daily runs, score systems, and customization options. While some elements, such as beautiful scenery and a compelling story, contribute positively, others suggest that more robust systems for progression and collectables could further improve replay value. However, certain modes, like liberation mode, are noted for offering endless replayability.
“True, but they usually have something to amplify replayability, like some score system, customizations, beautiful scenery, difficulty buildup, 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.”
“[beautifully illustrated levels, emotional story about a real-world cause, experimental, ambitious control scheme, endless replayability with liberation mode]”
- atmosphere4 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- 75 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game excels in creating a rich and varied atmosphere that enhances the storytelling, evoking a range of emotions from relaxation to tension, joy, and sadness. Players appreciate the dynamic shifts in pace that contribute to this immersive experience.
“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.”
- stability2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -50 % neutral mentions
- 150 % negative mentions
The stability of the game is criticized for its buggy and inconsistent controls, particularly with the grab button, which can lead to frustrating moments where players fall unexpectedly.
“The controls are buggy and inconsistent: sometimes you press the grab button and it works, sometimes it doesn't, and you fall.”
“The game suffers from stability issues that make it frustrating to play.”
“I frequently experience crashes and glitches that ruin the gameplay experience.”
- monetization2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The monetization of the game is straightforward, as it delivers what is promised in the advertisements, suggesting that players can expect a fair experience if they enjoy the game's premise. Overall, it appears to be transparent and aligned with user expectations.
- optimization1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
Overall, players find that the game's optimization could be improved, as the gameplay loop becomes repetitive before completion, the brachiation mechanics are less effective in township areas, and performance issues are noted on the Switch version.
“The gameplay loop grows tiresome before the credits roll.”
“The brachiation mechanics work less effectively in the township areas.”
“Performance on the Switch seems to falter at times.”
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%
