When I first laid eyes on Blanc during a Nintendo Direct Mini last year, the art style and adorable protagonists immediately drew me in. It’s been one of my most anticipated indies for 2023 but, having now finished the 2 hour experience, it’s left me more than a little cold.
Blanc is the first game from French developer Casus Ludi. The cooperative puzzler follows the journey of a wolf pup and fawn, who’ve been separated from their families. The unlikely duo have to work together to brave the snowy wilds and reunite with their pack/herd.
There isn’t much in the way of story. The duo follow the tracks left by their respective families, helping each other navigate obstacles as well as assisting other animals they meet along the way.
Somehow though, in its 2 short hours, it still manages to repeat one of the few story points in the game. Without spoiling too much, there’s a moment where you’re worried for the life of one of the ‘NPC’ animals. Later on, the accident happens again, in almost the exact same way, which really lowered the impact and removed all tension from the scene.
With an uneventful ending, the story plays it far too safe and doesn’t venture off the beaten (very snowy) path.
‘Blanc’ is the French word for ‘white’ and there sure is a lot of white in this game!
The monochromatic, minimalist, ‘sketch-pad’ design works so well in a snowy environment where white is so dominant and all encompassing.
I enjoyed the simple design of the two protagonists and thought the developers did a good job drawing emotion out of the pair; even if they didn’t have those adorable, baby animal eyes that make us go ‘AWWWWW’.
At almost any point during the game you could take a screenshot, print it out and frame it for your wall. The art style is simply gorgeous in its own unique way and is easily the highlight of the game.
The animations are also excellent. The way the fawn prances through the snow, the little tail movements of the wolf cub, the clear struggle as the companions battle against turbulent winds. These animations build up to give much needed character to the game.
Unfortunately the distinctive visuals are often undermined by regular frame rate issues and a haphazard camera.
I played through the game cooperatively with my brother-in-law and, for a game as short as this, it’s a real shame that the final coat of polish was missing.
The camera is automatic and tries its best to follow the two characters on screen at once, but seems to struggle with the task. Regularly one of us would be left behind as the camera followed the other player too closely.
The camera would often jolt around violently to get back to the ‘optimal’ angle; or appear to get caught on the environment whilst tracking our movement. This was quite jarring and often spoiled the peaceful mood of the game.
Gameplay wise, you choose to play as either the wolf cub or the fawn. The wolf is smaller and squeezes through tight spaces, can pull objects and bite through ropes to help solve environmental puzzles. The fawn is able to jump higher, push objects and use its back to boost the wolf to higher platforms.
The puzzles were all pretty straight forward and we never really felt challenged by the game, it was mostly pushing and pulling objects to form platforms for the other player to jump on.
Those few mechanics are overused and more than a little repetitive, which is all the more apparent given its fleeting run time.
I also tested the single player mode (for science) and would strongly recommend against playing the game this way.
In this mode you will have to control both characters simultaneously, one joycon for each, which felt like too much at once and too confusing. Though maybe I just need to work on my multitasking!
The game has an atmospheric, instrumental soundtrack that fits perfectly.
Sliding down a mountain, weaving around your co-op partner, while listening to the twinkling of a piano… It felt almost meditative.
There is also almost no UI and zero collectibles, allowing you to focus completely on the characters, environment and atmosphere; a nice change of pace from a lot of games.
Blanc is a beautiful game with endearing characters but it’s gameplay and story ultimately disappoint. Far too easy and repetitive for anyone familiar with the puzzle genre, though with its straightforward mechanics, it could be a nice introduction to gaming.
