Old Man's Journey

Just about twenty years ago, David Lynch confused both critics and fans when he traded in his trademark nightmare aesthetic for a family-friendly movie called The Straight Story. The result was a delightful adventure about an elderly man who makes a long journey on his lawnmower to see his ailing brother. Ever since I saw that movie in 1999, I have wondered if that kind of story would work as a video game. It took 19 years, but thanks to a small Switch game called Old Man's Journey, I finally have a definitive answer. And while it may be similar to David Lynch's Oscar-winning film, I assure you that this story isn't all that straight.

This is one of those times when a name says it all. It all starts with an urgent letter addressed to the titular old man. We're not sure what the letter said or what's going on, but it's clear that the old man knows that he needs to pack his belongings and go on an epic journey. It doesn't matter if it's by foot, truck, boat or hot air balloon, because nothing is going to stop him from making this trip.

What the title doesn't tell you is that this is a puzzle game that involves you pulling and pushing parts of the background to help the old man find his way to his destination. He'll slowly walk along a 2D path, so it's your job to manipulate the different layers of the background to connect with that path and give him a place to go. But here's the catch, you won't be able to manipulate the road the old man is standing on, so the trick is to move him around in order to connect the paths and get to the next section.

This is a simple premise that only gets tougher as the game introduces more obstacles. On top of moving the foregrounds and backgrounds, you'll also need to contend with waterfalls and grazing sheep. Old Man's Journey never gets to the point where you'll be hopelessly stuck, but some of the later puzzles take full advantage of the unique mechanic.

The real draw here is the journey itself, which is a beautifully hand-drawn adventure that covers a lot of ground. It's only 90 minutes long, but you'll feel like you've gone on a truly epic quest. You'll tour small European villages, navigate the nearby dams, discover the gorgeous countryside by train and survive the rain-soaked mountains, all of which look stunning on the Switch's small screen.

Although there is no dialog in the game, Old Man's Journey manages to tell an emotionally rich story through a number of brief flashbacks. We see the man in his younger years, falling in love, raising a child and going on adventures. It's through these memories that we see the man at his best and at his worst, giving us a better understanding of who he is and where he came from. It all leads to a moving climax that is guaranteed to make you feel. The story may be short, but it sure is satisfying.

Click For the Full Picture Archive

It's worth mentioning that if you decide to play Old Man's Journey on the television, you'll end up using the left Joycon like a mouse. This brought back memories of the Wii remote, both in function and execution. The motion controls get the job done, but it's not the preferable way to go through this adventure. There are times when the cursor isn't very smooth and the motion is finicky, as well as moments when it loses calibration and you have to press the left shoulder button to re-align.

On top of that, the game has a hard time figuring out if I'm trying to move the background or move the old man. For some strange reason, the developers have decided to map both commands to the same button. This is dumb. You'll constantly set down a marker when you're trying to move the backgrounds and vice versa. It's not a deal breaker, but I strongly recommend going through it in handheld mode for the touchscreen.

Old Man's Journey may be short, but it's an emotionally satisfying adventure filled with gorgeous locations, clever puzzles and a story that is guaranteed to make you tear up. On a negative note, the puzzles are a bit on the easy side and the motion controls proves to be a bit finicky at times. That said, it's worth weathering the imperfections in order to experience one of the year's most moving adventures.