Did you ever feel that some games are better with specific weather? I am sure some of you know how it is and a few games appeared on the mind while reading this. Just before I started my playthrough of Two Falls (Nishu Takuatshina) it was hailing out here, it was rough for a moment and chill after that. You could feel the breeze in the air. That was the moment I thought this was the perfect time to start this game, hop into this mystery and road story. Most of you are probably thinking right now, why am I telling you all this? You may find the answer to that at the end of this review.

Two Falls (Nishu Takuatshina) is an atmospheric, interactive story game that is set in the 17th century. Starting from the main menu and ambiance, you can tell it is something unique. While exploring the wilderness and learning historical details, you begin to realize that this game is not just a walking simulator. We get into character details, gameplay, and other stuff... But for a start, the first impression that the game infused in me is intriguing.

The game starts on the beach, where we can see the remains of a shipwreck. And with the company of Jeanne's lovely voice, Capitanie walks among salvages. This is where we met the two main characters of the game. Jeanne starts mentioning "Daughters of the Kings", a small briefing for us regarding historical details, and how she ended here. Meanwhile, Capitanie wakes her up by licking her face and our journey with Jeanne begins. Covering the gameplay basics are simple and there are prompts will guide you about these. You can just start wandering around and seeking more for what is going on. After a short while, you'll have access to the "Codex". Codex is one of the most important parts of this game. It is very detailed, well worked on it, and if you really want to learn everything about this game, that is your source. And not just about the game, but also relevant events during the era too. Codex will provide you some information about characters, fauna, flora and history. In the Codex, a detail caught my attention, as someone who loves history. On some codex pages, you can find historical facts section which includes some more details about that topic, location or item. This is a cool detail and does not make you feel like you are suffocated by text while going further in the journey. It is optional to read, of course, but I can say it is a nice content.

As you guessed from the cover, Jeanne is not our only main character and not the only one we control either. After a short while, you'll meet Maikan from the Innu community. He is a good tracker and while playing as him you can feel how each character is unique in their own way. Their reactions, abilities or emotions... From the moment that the game introduces you to Maikan, you also learn the remaining mechanics such as sprint and after that moment game also gets more pace. Whether you choose to play with a controller or keyboard/mouse, the game doesn't have any challenges to make you struggle. You don't need to deal with complex mechanics and you also won't likely will feel lost in the game world. You can just relax and enjoy the storytelling. And for this, my recommendation will be to use a controller. Haptic feedback is successfully implemented in the game and when the moment adrenaline peaks, you may get advanced experience with the vibrations from your controller.

Since there is no challenge or complex mechanics in this game, you may ponder the question, what makes this game any different than a walking simulator? First of all, in this game, you can make choices. And you will observe the differences between the choices you make. Sometimes as a character reaction or as a trust level from another character's eyes. To be honest, these choices don't seem crucial enough to affect the ending and it seems like it will end all the same but still, choices matter is always nice entertainment in such games. Another thing is the action, adrenaline and storyline. It's not like just the narrator talks and we walk all the time. This is a visual novel and the dynamics between scenes are very good. Cliffhangers at the end of episodes are exciting. I purposely don't go into detail, since this is a spoiler-free review. But I can say that the game handles the winter spirit subject not badly and uses the mystery to keep you in the game. And... The last thing I will mention in this part is... you can pet your dog in this game! Yes. We heard some of our dearly Opium writers having issues petting animals in other games. But don't worry, in Two Falls you can pet Capitaine as much as you want. All you have to do is find the right moment. And not just pat, you can even watch the sunset or a campfire while mumbling lullaby to him. Thank you devs for adding this to the game!

Let's talk about general tone. This game has some spooky, thrilling moments in it. But it is definitely not a horror. You may feel the tension, you may feel the cold, that breeze I mentioned at the start, you may encounter stranger things but these are all the elements that give the game a good taste. Also, you most likely get curious too. About Maikan's duty of the mystery behind the land’s defilement, about winter spirit, about how these two characters' roads are going to cross. Did I mention it was hailing just before I started this game? Spooky... With all these, the game also feels like trying to teach things to you. Not just teaching but also giving a message. In my personal opinion, delivering the message became a priority at the end and when I finished the game, I felt like they left some things in the air. Although, the character growth is nice. And, even though it gets slow sometimes, overall action is good.

The art design of Two Falls (Nishu Takuatshina) is quite impressive. The game is using Unreal Engine 5 and I love the visual aesthetic. When I checked my screenshots after finishing the game, most of them were landscapes or Capitaine. So, yes, you could say this game will provide a visual novel to us. But character designs are mediocre. I didn't really feel the 17th-century vibe. Also, the characters on the cover and the actual artwork in the game are way more different. Honestly, I couldn't find a reason behind this choice. On the performance side, there are some minor issues occurred. I noticed some texture issues and glitches during my playthrough. Also some instant drops but these are not constant and didn't undermine the whole gameplay. One bug caused a softlock which cost me losing 6 min of my playthrough before the last checkpoint but this only happened once. There is a crosshair on default which you really do not need in this game. Thankfully, there is an option in the menu to turn the reticle off. But some more accessibility settings, such as being able to skip cutscenes or selecting a chapter after finishing the story wouldn't be bad. Also, there is no custom design cursor. These would have been nice small touches to give players more freedom and finesse. Other than that, graphic options are efficient enough. Music and SFX are pretty good. You can feel how tense the rhythm is and it fits. And voiceovers are also nice. Especially Jeanne. The game has supporting two language options, which are English and French. Both text and voice. UI is also user-friendly, easy to navigate and I like the font.

Completionist Corner

Here we are back to our completionist series. After one review break, I managed to complete this game %100. My total playtime is 5.1 hours. There are 12 achievements and 7 of them story related. For your interest, there are some missable achievements. Unfortunately, there is no chapter select feature, you either might want to go for a second playthrough or you can check them beforehand. It might be hard to spot, but the difficulty level of the achievements is easy. Obviously, the devs also managed to get some achievements by developing this game. A bunch of awards and nominations included Indie Cup and GDWC ones, which I will put down here for the ones who are curious about it.

Failed it or Nailed it

Well, I am kind of in the middle for this one. I can't say nailed it but I definitely can't say that this game has failed me either. Despite the weak ending, it was a good taste after all. And if you are still curious about the things I said at the beginning or did the winter spirit haunts me. Well... Don't worry, you'll be fine if you decide to play. Probably I said that those to make this review more mysterious. Or did I? If you are interested, only one way to find out. Besides PC (2024), Unreliable Narrators also released Two Falls (Nishu Takuatshina) on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S (May 2, 2025).

My Review Score : 6/10

Game Title               : Two Falls (Nishu Takuatshina)

Developer                : Unreliable Narrators

Publisher                  : Unreliable Narrators, Indie Asylum

Release Date          : 8 Nov, 2024

OS                                : Microsoft Windows

Platforms                 : Steam, Epic Games, Playstation 5, Xbox Series X/S

Current Price         : $ 19.99 / € 19.50