Developer: Team Delusion
Initial release date: April 8, 2024
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, Microsoft Windows
Genres: Adventure game, Puzzle, Indie game, Adventure
Publisher: Dear Villagers
Engine: Unreal Engine 4
I despise it when a great premise is wasted on a gameplay loop that causes me to lose interest in a game after a while. I enjoy it when a game tackles a completely new type of mythology that I’ve never heard of before, or when it tells the story of a less “mainstream” ancient society. Guayota, created by the Spanish studio Team Delusion, serves as an example. It is a game set on the Canary Islands about the people who lived there before the Spaniards arrived, and it is rife with mysticism and folklore. Unfortunately, it was spent on a dull gaming loop.
You will be here a lot.
The first impression had a really good impact on me. The game begins by promising a story full of adventure and magic. You’re assigned to investigate a mystery island in the Canary Islands. The game begins with a shipwreck and some excellent voice acting. After waking up from the shipwreck and investigating the neighboring beaches, I discovered a small passageway to a completely different location. Given the opening location and top-down perspective, I expected to play something like Link’s Awakening.
I was taken to a snowy mountain, with a temple at the end of a corridor-like region. Quite anticlimactic, as if a portion of the game had been deleted during creation; nonetheless, there is a temple nearby, so I considered how interesting the riddles and interior could be. And, yes, at first, these problems were extremely engaging. The interior of the temple is completely black, but given that the puzzles included activating systems with light stones, the contrast was pretty nice, even if the limited field of vision hampered gameplay.
Guayota can look gorgeous at times. Unfortunately, it spends far too much time on pitch-black temples rather than the beautiful and spectacular locations.
The trouble with that concept was that the puzzles just kept coming. One light-related problem after another, with the occasional trap you won’t be able to see adequately owing to your limited field of vision. Even though there was some exposition, telling me more about the origins and intricacies of the Guanche (the pre-Spanish people who lived in the Canary Islands), at the end of each room, Guayota began to tire me out. It was puzzle after puzzle following the exposition part. And things only got worse with each successive room, as traps grew increasingly difficult to detect, resulting in my death on numerous times.
In Guayota, dying does not end the game. You’re just moved to a “alternate version” of the identical room, with a different challenge to solve. There is no way to get wounded in these portions, but they are much difficult, frequently centering around special walls that solidify after passing through them. The issue with these portions was that they felt more difficult to solve, and because I was thrown at them after dying, I became even less inclined to finish the puzzle. I felt as though I was being punished for my own inadequacies.
If you come across a problem like this, it implies you died to a series of traps. Don’t worry, it will be more normal than you expect.
This was when Guayota began to lose me even more. I wanted to truly like the game because the notion is fantastic. The plot was intriguing, and several puzzle portions resulted in satisfying “a-ha” moments that made me feel like a genius after finding out how to solve them. Unfortunately, the sheer number of tedious puzzle portions, along with the slow pacing, caused me to lose interest in what would happen next. If the game had been shorter and more focused on what it actually wanted to be, I believe it would have been a lot more entertaining. As a result, I can only recommend it if you want to go through a maze of puzzles without worrying about why you’re doing it or where the riddles are leading you.
Review Overview
Gameplay: 80%
Controls: 77%
Aesthetics: 85%
Content: 78%
Accessibility: 82%
Value: 80%
Overall: 80%
VERY GOOD
Summary:
“Guayota” is a graphically gorgeous action-adventure game based on Canary folklore. The game effectively blends action, exploration, and puzzles to create an immersive experience, albeit it can occasionally feel repetitive. Its excellent plot and beautiful art direction keep the player interested throughout, even if some scenes go on for longer than they should. “Guayota” stands out for its unusual location and atmospheric design, which combine smooth controls and hard puzzles. While it may not be for everyone, aficionados of mythology and exploration-based games will find enough to appreciate.