Apocalipsis: The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil
Developed by Klabater
Published by Punch Punk Games
Released for Xbox One (9/6/2019)
Also on PC/PS4
Apocalipsis: The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (could you have possibly made a longer title?) was released for the Xbox One in early September 2019. Brought to us by Poland-based developer and publisher Klabater, this version of Apocalipsis contains the bonus "One Night in the Woods" episode that was released as DLC for the original PC release. Featuring visuals inspired by 15th century engravings, Apocalipsis is a point & click adventure featuring several dark themes including heartbreak, redemption and the end of the world as we know it...
The story in Apocalipsis is heavily inspired by Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy and starts off showing our character, a young man named Harry, grieving as his girlfriend has been hung after being accused of witchcraft. Harry is desperate to bring his love back and will do whatever it takes to accomplish this. It won't take but a screen or two in before you realize that Harry is prepared to make a deal with the devil in order to be reunited with his lost love. Those offended by dark and occult imagery will probably want to avoid this game, as it obviously delves heavily into this subject matter.
The art has a hand-drawn medieval look and does a fine job portraying the strange and at times spooky atmosphere of Apocalipsis. The narration was done by Negral from the rock band Behemoth and there is also an Easter egg featuring a song from the band in the game as well. The soundtrack is somber to match the dreary visuals and dark story and fits the mood of the game quite well, just don't go in expecting a heavy rock soundtrack due to Negral's involvement.
In the gameplay department, Apocalipsis is much more linear than your standard point & click adventure. Rather than having a large world to explore, the puzzles are structured in a linear level format. Each level will have its own set of items to interact with, so you'll never have to fumble through too many items to figure out what to use with what. Those who typically find the puzzles in point & click games too convoluted will appreciate the simplicity, though genre veterans may find the game too easy. Harry can be manually controlled using the analog stick or, with the click of the trigger, can be navigated around using a pointer. Personally, I found the pointer much more intuitive but it's nice that there are options for the control.
Apocalipsis plays and controls just fine, but besides the lack of much challenge there are a few other things worth griping about. While the game is generally quite easy, there were a few puzzles I found obtuse enough that I had to resort to looking up the solution, but maybe you'll fare better than me. There's some nasty v-sync issues which causes tearing when the screen scrolls, something we really shouldn't still be encountering in the era of the Xbox One. Some of the items you can pick up are quite small and the game never actually labels them at any point, making it difficult to tell just what the heck some of these things are supposed to be. The flint used to light fires is a good example, which I was only able to find its purpose by simply trying everything.
In summary, Apocalipsis is a rather simple point & click adventure with a striking, unique visual style and an interesting story that deals in the occult. While it's certainly not bad, it doesn't do much to really make it memorable outside of the visuals. If the graphic style interests you, I'd say it's worth a playthrough, but even then I'd still recommend holding out for a sale since the game is so short, clocking in at around 2-4 hours for a complete playthrough. Veterans of the point & click genre might find the game too straightforward and too easy, but there are plenty of other entries in the genre on the Xbox One to choose from. Achievement hunters will be happy to know that you can knock out all of the gamerscore within a few hours.
Final Verdict: Apocalipsis is a point & click adventure that deals with a young man trying to resurrect his lost love. The dark themes, moody soundtrack and dreary visuals will appeal to some, but the actual gameplay is set up in a simple, linear fashion that may turn off point & click veterans.
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