Scarlet Deer Inn Review
“An Embroidered Escapade” Written by: Hunter (@ReaperHunter23)
I’ve been following the development of Scarlet Deer Inn for years at this point. It was one that just happened to cross my feed. The thing about it that piqued my interest was its unique artstyle. I also came to discover that the story was going to be based on Slavic folklore, which is a mythos I am less familiar with so it became an even more interesting prospect. Well the game is out now so let’s see how they stitched everything together.
Image Credit: Attu Games
Scarlet Deer Inn follows the story of Elise. She is a recently widowed mother of two, living in a small medieval village running the titular Scarlet Deer Inn. The game’s story is kicked off when Elise stumbles upon a rather unsettling secret regarding one of her neighbors. Elise’s discovery puts both her and her children at risk, and the game revolves around finding the children and returning them to safety.
I’ll be honest, I don’t think I was expecting this game to be as sinister as it turned out to be. The influence from Slavic folklore does a wonderful job at filling in more of the tone. Truthfully, if a few different decisions had been made this would have been a pretty good horror game. It doesn’t take very long for the other shoe to drop in this story but once it does it instills a level of paranoia. The interactions with other characters give off this feeling that they are just barely maintaining the social contract. Like if some disaster were to beset the village it would be every man for himself. Even Elise herself is kind of terse with people when they are asking her for help. She has every right to be because her kids are in danger but still it contributes to an interesting tone throughout the game.
Overall I would say the story of the game is about experiencing adult cruelty to children through the eyes of a parent. I think that’s an interesting angle to come from. Usually a story like this would position a child as the protagonist and then make the adults in the story either antagonistic or completely feckless. Elsie’s interactions with the other villagers tends to paint them as more apathetic than anything else. Everyone is so wrapped up in what they are doing that they don’t really look around to notice that something’s gone wrong for someone else.
Image Credit: Attu Games
Scarlet Deer Inn plays like a pretty standard 2D adventure game. There’s a light bit of platforming and some puzzle solving. There are a few chase sequences but they function more as tests of your observation skills rather than platforming prowess. I would almost describe it as being similar to an old cinematic platformer, rather than a traditional faster paced 2D platformer. One mechanic I did enjoy was the darkness induced damage. Anytime your torch goes out you are given a grace period of a couple of seconds before the cave critters start eating you. I think it was a respectable way to introduce an element of tension. The distance from one brazier to another was never too ridiculous but they were far enough apart that you would have to be paying attention to what you are doing.
I found the level design of Scarlet Deer Inn to be the most impressive quality of its gameplay. Truthfully I was expecting something a little more Point A to Point B with the level design. In reality there were a number of times I’d hit a switch or pass through a door and say “Oh, I’m back here now”. Most of the game’s environments were fairly similar looking cave networks, and despite all of that I never found myself getting lost. I would say that it speaks to how intuitive the level design is. The locations felt tangible and real after I had spent some time steeped in them.
The only minor critique I have for the gameplay is that there is a segment about two thirds of the way through the game that sends you back to the village for a series of quests that drag on a little too long. It did a good job at illustrating that the people of the village are even more messed up than we thought. But by the time I was searching for the final item the game wanted me to find, I felt like I already got the point they were trying to get across.
Image Credit: Attu Games
The art style of Scarlet Deer Inn is its shining star. It's the aspect of the game that initially caught my interest. The neat thing about the art in this game is that all of the characters were made via embroidery before being filled into the game with digital painting. The vibe of a quaint medieval village is brought to life spectacularly through this artstyle. It is a really unique look that lets the game stand out from other games that might seem visually similar.
The music also does a great job at setting the mood. There’s a moment early on after the story had properly gotten started where Elise is running from one of the cave exits back home to find her kids and this folk song kicks in with an intense vocal element. The music playing when you are meandering around the village is suitably whimsical as well. It does a good job at generating a contrast since the caves are mostly scored by simple ambient noise unless it's a chase sequence.
Image Credit: Attu Games
Summary
I would recommend Scarlet Deer Inn if you like artistic narrative games. It competently achieves what it sets out to do. The methodical platforming and puzzle solving make navigating the caves suitably tense. The story is dark and unsettling in a manner I wasn’t expecting. And it is all wrapped up in an incredible art style that elevates the game wonderfully.