It was at the invitation of Focus Entertainment that we were recently able to try our hand at Dordogne, the future narrative adventure game created by Cédric Babouche and his team from UN JE NE SAIS QUOI. Subsidiary of the UMANIMATION group since 2021 following their acquisition, the French studio continues to work on this singular odyssey that will be offered to us Dordogne which will be available this year.
Test conditions: The game was tested on PC for one hour and played on the controller. All the images on this page were provided to us by the publisher since we were not authorized to capture any ourselves. Sorry for you, because the game is beautiful!
In time, aren’t all memories good?
Childhood. This dream period where each discovery is magical, each trip is an expedition to the end of the world, and any surprise or fear will leave you with an unforgettable memory. The context doesn’t matter, but… Within our childhood memories, too many elements fade away. Our memory, altered by our ignorance and our perception of the time, tends to distort reality, and sometimes hides large parts of it. When circumstances get involved, whole sections of our lives can disappear…except when the conditions are met to allow memories to emerge. It is the logic of Dordogne.
If the demo we were able to try takes place on the first two chapters of the game, it nevertheless reveals very quickly what is at stake. Mimi, our heroine, is going to the Dordogne to visit the home of her recently deceased grandmother Nora one last time. Her father, at odds with his own parents, does not want her to go there and appoints movers to quickly empty the old building. But a letter addressed directly to Mimi by Nora will arouse her curiosity, to the point of pushing her to make the trip. To hell with the father, time is running out, direction the Dordogne!
Arriving on the scene, Mimi will have to inspect her grandparents’ house in search of clues and this is where the title takes an unexpected turn. The emerging memories of a discovery, however small, will allow him to relive episodes from his childhood. Dropped off by her parents on vacation twenty years ago with her grandmother when she has no desire (nor any memories as an adult), Mimi will relive her adventures through us in this magnificent setting that is the Dordogne. . And why not on the fly, grasp the origin of the family quarrel, perhaps explaining why she herself retains no memory prior to her thirteenth birthday.
Exploration et Scrapbooking
This is how obviously all the chapters unfold, from the little that we have been able to discover. We start with a phase of investigation in adulthood until we find the right trigger, then head to childhood in flashback. The puzzles so far are not very complex (that said, this is only the beginning of the game) even if sometimes the handling of the joystick is not optimal and makes certain manipulations hazardous. A slight defect quickly forgotten in front of the variety of actions to be carried out and especially the graphic journey to which we are invited Dordogne.
This title is atypically superb! The mix of hand-crafted, watercolor-painted 2D backgrounds and perfectly matched 3D characters hits the mark. We are instantly transported to this calm, colorful and contemplative universe. Forget your rocket launchers, Dordogne plays in a very different category. The small discoveries that you will collect during your adventures can be collected in a binder once it is discovered. Map, photo album, collection of stickers…this binder will be your companion throughout the adventure and an unwavering witness to your little treasures. If you ever asked yourself the eternal question: “VF full or not?” », Yes, the game will be entirely available in French. If the dialogues are not all played orally but appear in the form of bubbles, those that we might hear at the bend of some important scenes were perfectly interpreted.
Might as well make it short if it wasn’t already clear, Dordogne caught our eye. Supported by magnificent graphics and a French version worthy of the name, the next title of UN JE NE SAIS QUOI is eagerly awaited by the editorial staff. Dordogne will land on your screens in the spring of 2023 on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC, Playstation 5, Playstation 4 and Nintendo Switch.