Macrotis: A Mother’s Journey by Proud Dinosaurs is a platformer puzzle following the mother of three wee bilbies. If you have no idea what a bilby is, I was right there with you. Macrotis/Bilbies are an endangered species of marsupials from Australia. My first thought was of mice based on the artwork. Thank you, Proud Dinosaurs for bringing attention to the Macrotis family!
Our main objective is to get back to our babies on the surface. A hurricane is raging and its waters have dragged us underground. We are met with obstacles and dangers, so we need to think about our actions carefully. The level design is clever, almost like a mouse maze, and can be solved with some out-of-the-box solutions. We even get to ride on the back of a turtle. There is a feature in the game that lets you restart the individual puzzle you are on. Sometimes you won’t quite know what you need to do until you fail the first time.
I don’t think the graphics are much to write home about, but the artwork from the opening cutscene is very well done. I don’t mean that in a negative way. The style is what it needs to be to establish a clear setting. I wouldn’t say it possesses cutting edge graphics. You can see the colors are saturated in order to pop out at you.
The score is very good. I really liked how the music was scripted to establish the tone from one scene to the next. I first noticed it when a timed sequence started, when I was following the turtle in Chapter 1. The ambiance/foley was fitting as well. The voice acting is also well done, from the narrator in the beginning to the mom, whom we play as. However, repeating dialogue may cause you to get annoyed with the mother’s voice.
I am a little disappointed in the controls. On PC you use the arrow keys to move and space to jump, however the space key did not work as intended. Simply put: nothing happened when I pressed it. I plugged in a controller, and then I was able to play properly. I did not mind having to switch, but I could not even access the main menu without a controller set up. When we consider the gameplay as intended, everything works very well. You can interact with rocks, driftwood, turtles, moveable debris, and climbable threads/roots. Some areas on the ground require some tact, causing you to walk rather than to run. There are also wall jumps that allow you to climb objects parallel to each other.
At the end of the day, I enjoy puzzles. Macrotis: A Mother’s Journey is a challenge that requires some thought in certain scenarios, but it is a relaxed experience. I enjoy the message of motherly devotion and the drive to be reunited with loved ones. I also enjoy the design of the game, its characters, and its sound. I would only suggest to the developers to allow users to modify the keys. That way, if someone has an experience like me, they can try to fix it. Overall, I think a fair rating for this title should be an 8.5 out of 10.
Check Out the Macrotis: A Mother’s Journey Trailer:
Macrotis: A Mother’s Journey is available for PC via Steam for $9.99.
Steam Review
I like to think of myself as the average Joe who grew up alongside video games. I have fun playing strategy games, RPGs, shooters, sandboxes, the whole shebang! Every game provides an experience whether it strikes you as profound, mundane, or someplace in between. I'd like to weigh in my two cents before you spend a single penny.
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