Games are amazing. They can take you on fantastical adventures in fictional worlds with alien creatures, but they can also develop themselves based off real-time events, in history or in the present.
A Painter’s Tale: Curon, 1950 focuses on the real events of the town of Curon. This is a place in Northern Italy, a small village that had a terrible chain of events in 1950. It was decided by the Italian authorities to flood the village and build a dam. 160 homes were displaced and formed a new village, but to this day the 14th-century church spire can be seen sticking out of the lake. It’s inspired a Netflix series and now a game.
A Painter’s Tale: Curon, 1950 starts with you, Tommaso, a painter in the modern day. You are at the site of the lake which used to be home to the village, painting the church steeple sticking out of the water. A strange light appears in the water and so – as you do – you investigate. Suddenly you wake up in the village in the year 1949. What takes place then is a journey through the last few months of Curon’s life before the flooding, as you meet all the residents and experience their stories.
The writing is extremely good and places you deep into the heart of the village and the terrible, nightmarish situation they have been put into. It also focuses on narratives about greed, betrayal, and the loss of a loved one. There are some lovely touches found within, like a moment when the lead character walks through the night to represent the passing of time and we get eyes on a myriad of story headlines from the last couple of months. I loved his story and the way it seamlessly mixed fact and fiction. There are also narratives you can collect, which provide the player with real facts about the town, and exactly what happened.
The gameplay isn’t that hard at all, and far from tricky to understand. Firstly you just take part in several fetch quests, as you travel around the village. You can talk to anyone you meet, learning about their situation – from the vicar to the school teacher. It’s all very simple and as the game isn’t very long, you’ll probably be able to complete it in just under a couple of hours.
There are also – at various points – tiny puzzles that you’ll need to complete, but never is there anything that should be too strenuous on the old noggin. There is a nice section that introduces a stealth element to the game, where you are taking part in an almost Metal Gear Solid mode, watching the routes of guards as you try and safely get to an objective.
Ultimately, A Painter’s Tale: Curon, 1950 is a narrative experience, rather than an exciting piece of gameplay. It is the exploration beats it explores, as well as the rich history of the village and the chance to take in the lives of residents before the great flooding, that should be seen as the main focus. There are some fascinating little extra collectibles to find in the journey as well: Paintings that the artists have drawn, facts about the real place and its residents and some brilliantly hand-drawn pictures of the residents and characters from the game.
The visuals that you’ll see in the screenshots don’t really do A Painter’s Tale: Curon, 1950 justice. On first viewing, it just looks like a Minecraft type of mod; the characters are block-styled, as are the buildings and the world. But the lighting and the design work brilliantly and are very effective. In fact, at times, it is all very beautiful with some amazing skies as the developers use their tools to obtain a wonderful result.
The music is beautifully scored too, capable of reflecting the somber and magical sense of the game.
A Painter’s Tale: Curon, 1950 has a gentle and reflective pace to its storytelling. There are no action sequences or high-impact set pieces, instead providing access to a game that is all about the journey and the sequence of events of a small village in 1950. I do feel the game feels a bit rushed, and I wished for more to do, but perhaps that is a testimony to the enjoyment. The story is engrossing too, providing access to something many may not know about.
If you are looking for something a bit different and are after a slice of history in your gaming, then A Painter’s Tale: Curon, 1950 is for you.
