Koira is a musical adventure filled with heart | Hands-on preview
Although the demo I played was short, Koira left an impression on me. It’s a musical adventure with no dialogue, where you make your way through a forest with a cute little dog by your side. You wake up far from home, lost and alone, and it feels as though you’re hope disappeared when you opened your eyes in this strange place. It doesn’t take long before you find a puppy tied up, hanging in the air, lost and alone like you were mere moments ago. After rescuing doggo, you embark on a short and sweet adventure that gives you a good idea of some of the mechanics of the game.
This demo of Koira is playable now, and I highly recommend you give it a go. Some of the puzzles revolve around finding golden musical notes around the forest to awaken statues. By feeding the dog apples, his little red nose lights up and can clear away shadows, but it’ll also find these golden notes you need to find. One area had me calling out to the birds who dropped them for me, and once gathered I was able to recite the melody needed to wake up these chonky statues.
We played fetch with sticks, had a game of hide-and-seek, slid down snowy mountainsides, and even built a snowman. In such a short amount of time, I fell in love with how charming Koira is. It’s not always clear to know where to go, but the forest is far from some labyrinth. If you walk around long enough you’ll find the route you need to travel on, and with wonder all around you, there’s always something beautiful to look at.
The sticks were used to knock down apples, activate a bear trap, and use for arms on my snowman. Other than running and communicating to my dog through a sung note or melody, it’s simple enough to grasp. For those that might be thinking that this sound good and all, but can you pet the cute little fella? Of course you can. Pat his head as much as you want, you’ll never get bored. For something so basic in its design, he’s such a wonderful animal, and you’ll do everything you can to protect him, especially when you encounter the Hunters for the first time.
In the latter moments of the demo, I bumped into two Hunters with a bigger, scarier dog, hellbent on catching my pooch and trying to hurt me in the process. When I did get caught for the first time, I was a bit surprised at how emotional it was, especially when they throw a bag over Noodles (yeah, I called him Noodles) and carry him off. For a game that started off looking like there were no real threats, these Hunters certainly put the fear of God into you.
After the 25-minute demo, I was enamoured with Koira. It’s a simple yet effective puzzler with a gorgeous hand-drawn art style. I loved exploring the forest and playing games with my dog, but there’re also some nice little moments that provide small breaks from wandering around, such as the moment we climbed into a tall treehouse and watched the clouds go by, all resembling either a house, a dog, a stick, or an apple. Boy, Noodles sure does love his apples.
