The Notes of Nathalie Will Kickstarter Feels Frigid

Survival games has somehow become my jam. There’s just something satisfying about going against the elements from the safety of your desk. Unfortunately, the Kickstarter campaign for The Notes of Nathalie Will doesn’t seem to offer much satisfaction in gameplay or story.

Let’s get this out of the way, the graphics are weak. In fairness I’m not a fan of the 8-bit style that seems to be making a comeback in indie circles, but The Notes of Nathalie Will looks like a fleshed out version of Skifree, without the excitement of yeti attacks.

Or course a game doesn’t have to have amazing graphics to still deliver a worthwhile experience. In this case the game’s title gives the impression that you’ll be discovering the story of the protagonist, Nathalie Will, as you explore and survive the difficult circumstances she finds herself in. Unfortunately, the game’s creator felt that objectives or story would take away too much from the nitty gritty crafting for survival aspects.

From the Kickstarter;

“This game has no back story or mandatory quest, it’s all about survival. I started this project because I wanted to make a survival game that I wanna play. A game where you don’t have to follow a story or complete quests. In this game you simply survive for as long as you can.”

So far the game offers crafting, harvesting, and cooking, all menu based, which doesn’t do much for the gameplay. There is definitely potential for this type of game, but without a strong story or compelling graphics it’s hard to find a reason to care about Nathalie’s survival or the campaign’s success.