Blackwood Crossing

The developers describe the game as a “magical journey through life, love and loss”, in which the player slips into the role of the youthful Scarlett and explores the environment from the first person perspective . Characterized by surrealism and with a very melancholy mood, Blackwood Crossing was first presented in June 2016. In April 2017, the adventure was finally published by Vision Games .

Gameplay

As a player you take on the role of the 15-year-old, red-haired Scarlett Blackwood. In the first person perspective you explore the environment and interact with objects and people. Regular puzzles rely mostly on appropriate combination and interaction to advance the plot. A direct failure in the game is not possible. The playing time is around three to four hours.

action

The two siblings Scarlett and Finn Blackwood lost both parents at an early age and so the orphans grew up with their grandparents, although only the older sister Scarlett can remember the parents. The game begins in a compartment during a train ride . Besides Scarlett and her younger brother Finn, there seem to be no other passengers on the train. After the death of their parents, a close relationship developed between Scarlett and Finn. But as she got older, Scarlett became alienated and more mature. This eventually culminated, to Finn's chagrin, in their first relationship. Finn reacts to this alleged defiance with anger and defiance. Finn harasses Scarlett with his childishly naive and playful manner and rages through the train.

Developer preview screen shot (Finn)

Suddenly Finn disappears and while searching, Scarlett meets a strange boy in a sailor suit and a rabbit mask, who tells her to follow him. To her confusion, Scarlett meets people from the past on the train, their parents and grandparents, Finn's elementary school teacher, a school rascal, and Cameron, Scarlett's first love. Strangely enough, they all wear disturbing masks.

Plants begin to spread on the train, meadows, ivy and trees. Through a rope ladder , Scarlett reaches the tree house of childhood. She experiences a memory in which she rejects Finn, who fails alone at the handicraft game. In the following game with him, he is happy, but accuses Scarlett of abandoning him, which led to the fact that he set the tree house on fire.

Little by little, Scarlett experiences experiences from the past, talks to the masked relatives and acquaintances. Ultimately, she arrives at a small island in a lake that Finn chooses as his playground. There is also the grave of Isaac, who died in 1894 at the age of eight. There she witnesses Finn sailing out onto the big lake in a self-built ship.

Back on the train, the mystery of the journey is gradually revealed. Her grandparents regret that they couldn't take better care of Finn and look after him. Scarlett's sweetheart Cam assures her to stand by her in this difficult hour, now that Finn has died. Dead Isaac, the boy in the rabbit mask, became Finn's comforting fantasy friend after he felt abandoned by Scarlett. Finn's sailing trip ended in his death when his boat capsized and he drowned.

After the credits, Scarlett wakes up in a train compartment at the entrance to a train station. Everything was a dream for her to come to terms with the death of her beloved brother.

synchronization

Developer preview screenshot (Scarlett)

character	speaker
Scarlett	Rosie Jones
Finn	Kit Connor
Isaac / Simon	Clare Corbett
Steve / Jacob	Jamie Ballard
Lucy / Dorothy / Annabelle	Louiza Patikas
Cameron	Steven France

reception

Magazine / website	Rating
GameStar	80%
GIGA	7 out of 10
GamePro	80%
Games Mag	88%
Metacritic	78% (Xbox One)
Metacritic	70% (Windows)
Metacritic	71% (PS4)
M! Games	70%

Developer preview screenshot

Blackwood Crossing was well received by the trade press . The narrative strength of the game, the touching, emotional story, the careful background music and the surreal imagery were particularly praised. For example, Elena Schulz in GameStar calls the game an “emotional borderline experience” and “beautiful to cry”. However, puzzles that were too easy, a partly imprecise control and the strict linearity were criticized negatively.

“Thoughtful journey through the relationship of a sibling pair with little puzzles. (...) The great strength remains the soulful story, which gives me as a player a lot of time to think about interpersonal issues such as alienation, guilt and loss. "

- Michael Herde : Criticism in the M! Games

“The story of the PaperSeven adventure is one of the best and most emotional that we have played in recent years. (...) We will not soon forget what we have experienced and seen. (...) We learn bit by bit more about the tragic story of the parentless siblings and their struggle for a place in the world. While Scarlett is already on the threshold of becoming a woman and wants to grow up, Finn is drawn back again and again to their childhood - that drives a painful gap between the two, which makes them clash again and again in the game. (...) Blackwood Crossing confronts the serious theme of letting go and growing up with childish memories. On the one hand it lets us be children again, but on the other it also reminds us of the bittersweet sadness of getting older. (...) That works so well mainly because Blackwood Crossing leaves a lot of room for interpretation. Hardly anything is actually said, but a lot is suggested or symbolized, if we look carefully. That is exactly what makes the story so powerful. (...) And we will definitely never forget our experiences at Blackwood Crossing. (...) Blackwood Crossing is already one of the surprises of the year for me - the positive ones, even if my lacrimal gland says something different. The adventure managed to really touch me. And all without fuss, excessive theatricality or sentimentality. Rather, it cleverly hides its statements in supposedly small moments, dialogues, gestures and symbols that gradually come together in my head to form a picture. This is precisely why the story of Blackwood Crossing hits me with such force. It is not told to me, but I learn to understand it the more I find out about the characters and their lives. It also comforts me that there is so little to do in the game itself. I may not be challenged playfully, but the story challenges me and brings me emotionally to a point that only a few games can reach. "

- Elena Schulz : Criticism at GameStar

Web links

Official website (English)
Blackwood Crossing at MobyGames (English)
Nightmare bunny on the train to nowhere at SZ.de.

Individual evidence

[1] ttp://www.blackwoodcrossing.com/about/

[2] ttps://www.polygon.com/2016/8/17/12523420/blackwood-crossing-trailer

[3] ttp://www.gamestar.de/spiele/blackwood-crossing/endung/54201.html

[4] ttp://www.giga.de/extra/indie-games/artikel/blackwood-crossing-im-test-eine-schaurig-traurige-zugfahrt/

[5] ttp://www.gamepro.de/playstation/spiele/ps4/blackwood-crossing/wert/54203.html

[6] ttp://games-mag.de/blackwood-crossing-bei-uns-im-test/

[7] ttp://www.metacritic.com/game/xbox-one/blackwood-crossing

[8] ttp://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/blackwood-crossing

[9] ttp://www.metacritic.com/game/playstation-4/blackwood-crossing

[10] M! Games, issue 284, May 2017, page 88

[11] M! Games, issue 284, May 2017, page 88

[12] ttp://www.gamestar.de/artikel/blackwood_crossing,3312474.html