Koira was provided by DON'T NOD for review. Thank you!
Sometimes it's nice to just kick back and get lost in a simple but heartwarming game. These are some of the best titles to play on the Steam Deck, allowing us to cuddle up in bed, dim the lights, grab some hot tea, and enjoy the adventure. Koira is going to be a perfect game for this, and while it is a bit on the simple side, it tells a compelling, emotional tale that I think is very worth experiencing for yourself.
Koira is a simple game at its core. We control our unnamed protagonist as they wander through a forest with their new puppy. There isn’t much gameplay depth past the walking around, throwing objects, solving puzzles, and telling your pup to take certain actions, but there’s an alright amount of variety with the puzzles and little mini-games scattered throughout that is enough to please throughout its short runtime. I was actually a bit surprised by some of the extra activities you can partake in, like cloud watching, fetching, and hide and seek, which was quite nice.
There is no hand-holding in-game, so you’ll have to figure out where to go or what to do next. This largely wasn’t an issue, and I was able to figure out where to go and what to accomplish without difficulty. There were maybe one or two moments I got a little lost, and one time I felt a minigame overstayed its welcome, but it was never enough to completely detract from my enjoyment. It’s a mechanically simple game, and it never felt too challenging.
However, Koira truly succeeds in telling a moving story paired with some gorgeous visuals. That simplistic art style mixed with a watercolor-esque tone helps highlight the uniqueness of each location and brings out the tonal shifts in the story as you progress. It pairs especially well with the soundtrack to create the necessary atmosphere that kept me invested, while also making me curious about what I would see next.
The actual story itself also brought me close to tears as I realized the intricacies woven in. On the surface, this is a tale about befriending a dog and escaping the hunters chasing you through the forest. However, the way the bond develops is beautiful and what sold me on the story. Just as our puppy relies on us to feed and take care of it, the opposite is true and made obvious the more we play. Our controllable character relies on the pup to keep them sane as they struggle to keep emotions in check. I don't want to go into much more detail, but I like how Studio Tolima gave us both angles to show the symbiotic relationship between them and how they help each other out.
I found it odd how quickly they bonded in the very early moments of Koira's story, but as it continued, I started to see more of the puppy opening up and being more playful, which felt more realistic. By the end of the game, their bond was undeniable, and I love how the story concluded. It's a moving, heartwarming tale that made me start to miss my puppies, and I am even considering getting a pup of my own now.
As I initially expected, Koira will have no problems at all running on the Steam Deck! It runs out of the box at 90 FPS with around 8W - 10W battery drain, and stays stable the entire time. I did bring the framerate down to 60 FPS to see if that saved any extra battery, but it was around 1W of savings here and there, so I don't see a reason to reduce it if you are on an OLED Steam Deck. On OLED, you will most likely average around 6 hours of battery life on a full charge, while LCD will get around 4 hours.
Koira doesn't have a ton of settings to choose from, but you can change the language, audio sliders, and toggle screen shake.
The game doesn't support 16:10 resolutions, but it does have cloud saves and controller support. There are no HDR settings.
Koira is a beautiful game wrapped in a simple package. It tells an emotional tale about bonding with a dog and how they can affect us as we go through hardship. It's heartwarming to see how the friendship develops, and is highlighted by the gorgeous world and soundtrack. The gameplay is on the simple side, and it isn't perfect, but it does the job and keeps the story front and center.
It runs extremely well on the Steam Deck, getting to 90 FPS with ease and sticking around a 10W battery drain. This is definitely a perfect game to play in bed when you want to relax, and I can happily recommend it.
Our review is based on the PC version of this game.
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Koira is a short, sweet, and emotional game that feels a bit simple to play at times, but it is perfect for the Steam Deck!
