Official Site || Level Archive
NOTE: There’s no video this time around as several large portions of this level contain copyrighted material.
Banishment is focused almost entirely on its story and atmosphere with a small amount of platforming near the start. The setup of Juni being accused of murder and banished after a villager dies in a mining accident is definitely on the dark side of things and allows for two particularly strong points for this level. First, the villagers have a nicely varied set of reactions when Juni approaches them as some believe she is a killer, others believe she is innocent, and others are neutral or don’t seem to know who Juni is, making for a world which doesn’t seem to revolve entirely around its protagonist. Secondly, the village itself is big and has many entirely optional places to go to, such as the mine and the farm; there’s no physical reward for exploration, but it helps to enhance the setting by making the village feel like a real place. The weakest part of the level by far is when Juni has to arbitrarily platform her way through a cave with some water hazards to get a key which will allow her to leave the village. The platforming challenges aren’t bad and are easy enough, though there’s no checkpointing, but it does feel like an unnecessary step which somewhat spoils the atmosphere. The second half of the game involves Juni’s journey across desolate lands as ancient ruins and dark caves intertwine with Juni’s own fears. The game uses sounds and visuals during this portion to great effect to convey the sense of fear and isolation that comes from banishment without relying on words. The ending is a little cheesy and the level could really do without the cave portion, but Banishment otherwise makes for a compellingly atmospheric short story.