Keeper Review – A Soothing Walk Through a Surreal World

Guardian review

It seems like it's been a long time since we've had a real walking simulator, and Baby Steps doesn't count. You know, it's a casual game that's not entirely without goals, but it's more about tone than combat, about atmosphere more than action. Guardian meets all requirements. There is no combat, no failure, no spoken or written dialogue. There is a narrative, although it is somewhat evasive, and puzzles, although they are never mind-bending. According to Double Fine's Tim Schafer, Keeper is “weird, but cool.”

Under the wrapper

The Keeper follows a traveling lighthouse and a seabird as they journey together through the most colorful post-apocalyptic landscape imaginable. Perhaps post-apocalyptic is an exaggeration. There are ruins of buildings, abandoned cars and no people, so you can do the math. In any case, the landscapes are inspired by surrealist artists and cinema. This story is a post-Covid reflection on the importance of connections.

In Keeper's case, the story is a journey, so I won't spoil it with details. Discovery is the key to experience. As the pair venture into the distant mountains and uncover several mysteries, the biomes change. Sometimes they are covered with lush daytime vegetation, and often painted in rich dark shades.

The lighthouse moves with the ungraceful motions we associate with stop-motion animation, although that's not the style. Any game or movie that doesn't express emotion through faces or familiar shapes is a problem. Keeper does a good job of helping the player understand the subtle emotional landscape without words or familiar gestures. Music and soundscape help convey changes in emotional temperature.

Is there a game?

While the core of Keeper is simple forward movement and guided exploration, there are a few mechanics that remind us that we're playing a game. The lighthouse has a kind of multi-tool in the form of a flashlight that can illuminate important objects. Focused light can change the world, such as opening blocked paths. You can also send your avian companion to help manipulate objects, emphasizing the thematic importance of teamwork.

There are many environmental mysteries, but in most cases the solutions are explicitly suggested. The game presents its palette of mechanics well, but rarely allows the player to use them creatively.

This really gets to the heart of one problem with Keeper. Too often, puzzles feel like minor moments of hard work with no real payoff other than moving forward. Sometimes they reveal some environmental stories, but not often enough. Sure, I can send a seabird to pick up a trinket and insert it into a statue to open a door (as the game dictates), but that doesn't make me feel smart or savvy.

Hunt and Peck

Meeting the mechanical demands of solving a puzzle leads us to yet another frustration. The beacon's beam is incredibly inaccurate and awkward to use, and often feels like it has a mind of its own. Additionally, the game determines where the camera is facing, and there is no free rotation. This gives the game a very limited sense of movement. Telling the player what they can look at takes away the sense of agency and discovery. Games about finding something new should allow the player to get lost and reward them for doing so. It also eliminates even the slightest chance of a repeat.

Keeper's music and ambient sound do a good job of filling out the dialogue and providing some much-needed emotional reinforcement. The Xbox Series XI did have a few strange graphical anomalies that will hopefully be fixed at or before launch.

Journey or destination

It's almost always a pleasure to play a game like Keeper, where there's no carnage or frantic energy, and the pacing and tone are kept down. Keeper is a colorful game, and the creators have definitely succeeded in achieving their goal of creating a weird and cool game. It's also kind of a boring experience, with too little player agency, some frustrating mechanics, and a sense of discovery muted by too many restrictions and landmarks. Keeper is an overall enjoyable journey through a psychedelic landscape and isn't too thematically heavy. I just wish the journey was a little more fun.

***Xbox code provided for review by publisher***