Europa (PC) - Review

Lately I seem to be in the mood for games that are on the short side. I recently played through the first Duck Detective game, and when I saw that Europa, which was on my wishlist, had gone on sale, I figured this was the time to try it.

Just watching the trailer for Europa, I was struck by the gorgeous art style, which is clearly inspired by Studio Ghibli, and in particular the movie Laputa: Castle in the Sky, right down to the humanoid robots that are deactivated and growing moss and grass on them, one of the most striking key visuals of the movie. The art style was one of the main motivators for me to continue playing just a little bit further, to see what the next area would look like!

In this game you play a young boy on his way to an island in the sky. You’re not given much more information that that, but along your journey you’ll find journal pages scattered around from your father which fill in the world building and plot. Traversal is fairly simple, you’re given a jump and a charged jump, as well as a flying/gliding ability that can be upgraded by finding these light spark things during gameplay. Most of the game you’ll be doing simple platform jumping, or simple puzzles such as lighting all the torches to open a doorway. The challenge is kept pretty breezy, but it feels like it’s certainly by design, and it keeps a good flow of gameplay going so you’re never truly stuck anywhere for long.

I will say that there’s something in the gameplay that I found a bit lacking? The game never really pulled me in entirely, and I’m not sure why. I will say the jumping never felt quite right to me, it never felt as snappy as I’m used to with a 3D platformer, but it never prevented me from playing just fine. The journals you find from your father, along with the visuals, were one of the true motivations for me to continue on, as I started becoming invested in what had happened here for my character to be here at this moment. I should also mention that the soundtrack complements the art style well, with many soothing piano pieces as you play.

In addition to platforms and puzzles, there are some enemies in the game, but nothing too dangerous. I don’t think you can actually die? At least I never did. When an enemy such as the guardian like turrets shot me, I was momentarily stunned, but recovered quickly. Once again, I feel like they are there to evoke mode, and add tension, but not interrupt the flow of the game.

This is a short, three hour game that ran great on my Steam Deck. If you’re looking for a short game, something brief between larger titles, this might be a good one to try.