Navigating the Peaks and Troughs of the Adventure Genre
The humble point-and-click adventure game has experienced its fair share of ups and downs since its birth in the 1980s. The genre has its roots in text adventures like The Hobbit, but it was titles like King’s Quest that paved the way with fancy graphics and the ability to navigate your character around the screen with the mere click of a mouse.
The genre seemingly died out in the 2000s, only to be revived by the indie market over the last decade, bringing back its famous blend of obtuse puzzles and epic adventures.
NubiaPhobia is a short little journey that pokes fun at the point-and-click formula, all while managing to deliver a tidy adventure of its own.
More Adult Than it Appears
Tonguç Bodur is arguably one of the most prolific and diverse independent game developers out there. He has produced numerous titles since 2014, tackling a wide array of genres from narrative adventures to shooters. NubiaPhobia is an old-fashioned point-and-click adventure that, at first glance, looks like a game designed for the younger gamer. However, that assumption would be a mistake; it is much more adult than it appears and frequently serves as a sharp satire of the genre itself.
Nubia is a happy little girl who lives in a picture-postcard village with her grandpa. The calmness is suddenly shattered when a witch arrives in town and threatens to kill him. Nubia is tasked with travelling the globe to collect five ancient keys, which will open a chest in the village and release trapped souls. So, she hops into her airship (logic is not really a thing here) and sets off to explore different regions. We travel to a snowy mountain range, a sprawling desert, an eastern region, a dense jungle, and even hell. Along the way, Nubia meets a colourful cast of characters who help her locate the keys.
It is a lighthearted story with a tongue-in-cheek attitude and a wacky sense of humour. The characters are genuinely fun to meet, including the real Santa Claus and a rather stupid genie. Humour abounds, and while some jokes land perfectly, others do miss the mark. There are a couple of great meta moments, such as when one character breaks the fourth wall to describe exactly how point-and-click adventures work while criticising players who look online for walkthroughs. Ultimately, it is a breezy, enjoyable adventure that serves as a fun way to spend a couple of hours.
Point-and-Click Fundamentals
The gameplay is as easy as pie, so if you are looking for a highly refined gaming experience, you might want to look elsewhere. That is not to say it doesn’t work well – because it does – but it can feel a bit basic at times. You point Nubia around the 2D environments, looking for things to interact with or people to talk to. There isn’t a tutorial as such, so it took me a little while to locate the inventory, which you access by moving your cursor to the top of the screen. Occasionally, this pop-up inventory gets in the way of what you are actually trying to look at.
You must carefully move your cursor around each environment to see what you can interact with. It is very easy to miss things, as there isn’t a dedicated button to highlight all interactive points like you find in many other games in the genre. Some of the puzzles are incredibly simple to solve – a person needs a specific item, you go and fetch it, and the problem is resolved. Others are a bit more complicated, requiring a lot of backtracking and creative thinking to work out. Thankfully, the solutions are never as infuriatingly obtuse as those found in the most classic adventure games.
Childlike Visuals
Visually, NubiaPhobia does its job very well with bright, shiny colours and an almost childlike, hand-drawn art style for the characters. I really liked the small bits of animation sprinkled throughout, such as one character’s overly dramatic reaction to Nubia’s lengthy explanation of her ongoing quest. Do not be fooled, though; it is a simple-looking game, but I believe that is entirely the point.
The same applies to the sound design, which features region-themed soundtracks that loop continuously as you explore each level. Some tunes are pleasantly relaxing, while others can become quite annoying.
A Breezy, Budget-Friendly Diversion
I had a good time playing NubiaPhobia for an hour or so. It never really taxed my brain too much in terms of puzzles, but in the same breath, it wasn’t a complete walkover. NubiaPhobia certainly moves in a different direction to other Tonguç Bodur games, but the storytelling is fun, and the mechanics work fine, which perfectly reflects its budget-friendly price.
So, if you want an easy 1000G in achievements and fancy a small, globe-trotting diversion, NubiaPhobia could well be for you.
Important Links
NubiaPhobia Launches With A Curious Mix Of Horror, Humour And Point-And-Click Chaos – https://www.thexboxhub.com/nubiaphobia-launches-with-a-curious-mix-of-horror-humour-and-point-and-click-chaos/
Buy from the Xbox Store, Optimised for Series X|S – https://www.xbox.com/en-gb/games/store/nubiaphobia-xbox-series-x-s/9nzlpqc0x0wb
There’s an Xbox One version too – https://www.xbox.com/en-gb/games/store/nubiaphobia/9phstm5v601c
