It has been a bumper few months for new game releases and I have at times found Myself playing and recording 5 games at once. As such, when Keeper was released, I almost didn’t instantly pick up my Xbox controller. I can tell you now, that would have been a big mistake!
Keeper is brought to us by Lee Petty and Double Fine productions. Some of you may well recognise the name from another popular release, Psychonauts. The crossover in games styles is instantly apparent as the weird and wonderful theme is blatantly obvious from the get go with vivid colours and surreal landscapes. That’s before we get to mentioning that your playable character is actually a lighthouse!
Keeper manages to be many things in this one game – it is a third-person, puzzle-adventure, an atmospheric journey and a tale of change and companionship all told without words. It takes place on a world without people. Perhaps the time of man has passed, making way for the beautiful creatures that now inhabit the landscape. However, it is not a place of peace and tranquillity as a corruption is stalking the landscape, poisoning everything in its path with black tendrils. Is it because of this or in spite of this that the old lighthouse awakens? I do not know, but as the protagonist I will believe it is because he is destined to make the difference. Once awakened, free from its foundations and having mastered walking on newly sprouted legs, the lighthouse sets off with purpose. However, the lighthouse is not alone. A bird, seemingly separated from its flock by the movements of the corrupting Wither, forges an unlikely friendship with our character. This bird is given the name, Twig, and is a characterful, charming addition to the game.
There is a lot of walking in Keeper, but it never once feels laborious. I went into it hoping to see something visually stunning and surely nobody could say they left disappointed. There are a number of puzzles but they are not particularly difficult or time consuming to solve. They act more like pause points within an area than a true problem solving moment. It is during these episodes that Twig tends to come into her own. She is able to fly, to grasp levers and carry and place gems. Her dexterity enables a fluidity to be maintained that could never be possible with our lumbering lighthouse! In some ways, the role of Twig reminded me of that of Mui in Planet of Lana. This nimble companion opened up possibilities that would have been impossible without them and also gave an emotional connection that would otherwise have been rather diluted. Instead, Twig provides a real lightness – as you control the Lighthouse, she may fly off and take a bath or swoop overhead. As the game goes on she lays an egg and in time a baby is hatched who brings a charm to the final scenes.
The Lighthouse quickly finds that its light wards off the tendrils of the Wither. With that knowledge we are then on a journey towards the centre of the island and the mountain which is the heart of the corruption. As the Lighthouse traverses the landscape, it unlocks history of the past, reanimating machinery from long ago and bringing joy to the creatures as their homelands are freed from the grasps of the darkness. Yet your lighthouse will change along with the journey. As it is damaged, battered and at some points lost; it is rebuilt in new forms. I expected these metamorphoses to feel clunky, but it actually felt intrinsic to the journey. Each chapter remained fresh due to the ever changing status of your playable character, not just on a visual level, but with how it travels across the landscapes and its ability to complete tasks. At one stage you are left with nothing but the round disc of light, yet even so physically diminished, the hope for the land is not reduced. Maybe it is wishful thinking, but it almost highlights the idea that it is not the size of an individual that determines success or failure, it is the heart to do so that does.
This game is designed to be felt – it is not about fighting and there are no enemies to kill you. Clearly this won’t appeal to everyone but no game can do that. Thankfully a quick look at reviews on Steam shows it currently ranked as ‘very positive’ – an accolade I feel well deserved. If I could change anything it would be to have control of the camera. Sometimes, especially at scene changes, the angle suddenly feels awkward and counter intuitive to the direction you were moving in moments before. This however, is a rather small gripe in what was a very fun 4 hour game. I played Keeper as a day one release on the Xbox game pass but for those without that, the price tag may seem steep for the length of game. For those who do take the plunge, prepare to care a lot more than you ever felt you would about a lighthouse and his feathered friend.
A full playthrough of the game, including all achievements, can be found on my YouTube channel here.